As I noted in my original posting of the PowerEdge VRTX, the Chassis Management Controller, or CMC, is available with an “Express” license and an “Enterprise” license. To help you determine which would be best suited for your environment, check out the chart below.
Updated 6.28.2013 with additional details and link to Users Guide.
|
Feature |
Express |
Enterprise |
|
CMC Network |
Yes |
Yes |
|
CMC Serial Port |
Yes |
Yes |
|
CMC Stacking Port |
Yes |
Yes |
|
RACADM (SSH, Local and Remote) |
Yes |
Yes |
|
WSMan |
Yes |
Yes |
|
SNMP |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Telnet |
Yes |
Yes |
|
SSH |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Web-based Interface |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Email alerts |
Yes |
Yes |
|
LCD Deployment |
Yes |
Yes |
|
CMC settings restore and backup |
No |
Yes |
|
Remote System log |
No |
Yes |
|
Directory Services For non-default directory service setting, only Reset Directory Services is allowed with an Express license. Reset Directory Services will set the Directory services to factory default. |
No |
Yes |
|
Single Sign-On Support |
No |
Yes |
|
Two-Factor Authentication |
No |
Yes |
|
PK Authentication |
No |
Yes |
|
Remote File Share |
No |
Yes |
|
Enclosure level power capping For non-default power cap setting, only Restore Power Cap is allowed with an Express license. Restore Power Cap will reset the Power Cap settings to factory default. |
No |
Yes |
|
Dynamic Power Supply Engagement (DPSE) For non-default DPSE settings, only Restore DPSE is allowed with an Express license. Restore DPSE will reset the DPSE to factory default. |
No |
Yes |
|
Multi-chassis management |
No |
Yes |
|
FlexAddress Enablement For non-default FlexAddress settings, only Restore Default is allowed with Express license. Restore Default will reset the FlexAddress settings to the factory default. |
No |
Yes |
|
PCIe Adapter Mapping |
Limited |
Yes |
|
Virtual Adapter to Slot Mapping For non-default mapping of Virtual Adapters, only Default mapping is allowed with an Express license. Restore Default will change virtual adapter mapping to factory default. |
No |
Yes |
|
One-to-many server firmware update |
No |
Yes |
|
One-to-many configuration |
No |
Yes |
|
Open Manage EssentialsVRTX Geographic View Enablement |
No |
Yes |
For more information on PowerEdge VRTX, visit http://www.Dell.com/VRTX
For more details on the features listed above, download the Dell PowerEdge VRTX CMC Users Guide.
Kevin Houston is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of BladesMadeSimple.com. He has over 15 years of experience in the x86 server marketplace. Since 1997 Kevin has worked at several resellers in the Atlanta area, and has a vast array of competitive x86 server knowledge and certifications as well as an in-depth understanding of VMware and Citrix virtualization. Kevin works for Dell as a Server Sales Engineer covering the Global Enterprise market.
Disclaimer: The views presented in this blog are personal views and may or may not reflect any of the contributors’ employer’s positions. Furthermore, the content is not reviewed, approved or published by any employer.
Okay, so from that feature matrix I can not plug in any PCIe extension cards, because I won’t be able to map them if I only have the Express license?
The user can map PCI slots to servers via the CMC. Depending on the CMC licensing, there will be various levels of flexibility. At the minimum, each server will be mapped to two non-shared slots by default. With the Enterprise licensing, a server can map to as many as four PCIe slots. The PCIe slots are non-shared, i.e. are dedicated to one server in the system. Thanks for the question.