[Beowulf] Re: recommendation on crash cart for a cluster room:fullcluster KVM is not an option I suppose?

[Buccaneer for Hire.]

> In past experience the only time I need non-ssh access is
> for initial BIOS setup and MAC address extraction. Nowadays,
> the vendors will ship with the BIOS settings I ask for and 
> also provide the MAC address externally (or I can autoextract 
> from the initial PXE discovery packets).
> 
We have found that vendors are very helpful there. Setting the node to PXE is a big help, specially for new types of nodes. We require the latest firmware on the box (so I don't have to spend countless hours upgrading firmware), and a spreadsheet with Mac address/Asset information. We use a script to upload the info the DB.  Connect power, gigE,10gE,serial.  Then on box and it starts installing...

So if I can't ssh or rsh to the box. I try the serial console. If that does not work I look at the history of what's been going on (serial buffer). If I have to reboot at this point I can try the ILO/LOM/ROAMER/DRAC, etc. If that does not work I can remote cut the power.  If that does not work, THEN I get off my all-too-comfy chair and head to the cluster room.