Users Guide

DRAC 5 Overview 17

DRAC 5 Overview

The Dell™ Remote Access Controller 5 (DRAC 5) is a systems management hardware and software

solution designed to provide remote management capabilities, crashed system recovery, and power

control functions for Dell PowerEdge™ systems.

By communicating with the system’s baseboard management controller (BMC), the DRAC 5 (when

installed) can be configured to send you email alerts for warnings or errors related to voltages,

temperatures, intrusion, and fan speeds. The DRAC 5 also logs event data and the most recent crash

screen (for systems running the Microsoft

Windows

operating system only) to help you diagnose

the probable cause of a system crash.

The DRAC 5 has its own microprocessor and memory, and is powered by the system in which it is

installed. The DRAC 5 may be preinstalled on your system, or available separately in a kit.

To get started with the DRAC 5, see "Installing and Setting Up the DRAC 5."

What’s New in DRAC 5 in this Release?

For this release, DRAC 5 firmware version 1.20 supports the following:

• Standard Schema with Microsoft Active Directory

— Provides standard Active Directory objects

for use in managing DRAC 5 users and user privileges. See "Standard Schema Active Directory

Overview."

• Single Forest, Multiple Tree Support for Active Directory — Provides support for user

authentication across multiple trees in a single forest in Microsoft Active Directory. See "Using

DRAC 5 With Active Directory: Frequently Asked Questions."

• Disabling Local Video — Provides the capability to turn on or off the video output to a server’s

local monitor, which is useful when managing remote systems. See "Disabling or Enabling Local

Video."

• Drive Letter Assignment in Virtual Media — Provides new functionality for Virtual Floppy drives.

A Virtual Floppy drive is recognized as drive letter A: or B: by Windows operating systems and is

enumerated as a floppy drive rather than a removable disk drive that takes drive letter C: or higher.

See "cfgFloppyEmulation (Read/Write)."