# RapidSwitch - full content bundle

> UK bare metal dedicated server hosting from owned and operated datacentres in Maidenhead, Glasgow, Manchester, central London, north London, Nottingham, Gosport, and Dallas (USA). Trading as RapidSwitch since 2003.

Source: https://www.rapidswitch.com/llms-full.txt

## Datacentres

### Maidenhead Data Centre
Location: Maidenhead, United Kingdom
Tier: Tier 3
Size: 2,800 m² (30,139 ft²) across nine data halls

Our flagship UK facility and one of two primary RapidSwitch sites. Purpose-built west of London, Maidenhead offers 2,800 m² of high-quality, resilient and secure space across nine data halls, with diverse high-speed connectivity to a wide range of Tier 1 national and international carriers.

URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/datacentres/maidenhead

### Gosport Data Centre
Location: Gosport, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Tier: Tier 2
Size: 631 m² (6,790 ft²)

The second of RapidSwitch's two primary sites. Located on the South Coast near Portsmouth and Southampton, Gosport offers 631 m² of resilient and secure space with multiple Tier 1 carrier interconnections and a 24/7 on-site Network Operations Centre.

URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/datacentres/gosport

### Glasgow Data Centre
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Tier: Tier 2
Size: 768 m² (8,267 ft²) across two data halls

Located approximately 5 km from Glasgow city centre, our Glasgow facility spans 768 m² across two data halls with diverse fibre entry and cross-connections to multiple Tier 1 carriers.

URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/datacentres/glasgow

### Central London Data Centre
Location: City of London, United Kingdom
Tier: Tier 3
Size: 1,517 m² (16,329 ft²)

Located in the heart of the UK's financial district, just minutes from Liverpool Street, Moorgate and Old Street stations. London is among the world's premier connectivity hubs, offering rapid cross-connects to multiple Tier 1 carriers.

URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/datacentres/central-london

### North London Data Centre
Location: Brent Cross, North London, United Kingdom
Tier: Tier 2
Size: 1,600 m² (17,222 ft²) across four data halls

Located in Brent Cross just outside central London, our North London data centre spans 1,600 m² across four data halls, with diverse carrier interconnects and direct peering to the major London exchanges.

URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/datacentres/north-london

### Nottingham Data Centre
Location: Nottingham, East Midlands, United Kingdom
Tier: Tier 2
Size: 400 m²

Under 10 miles from the M1 and 10 minutes from the main rail station, our Nottingham data centre offers 400 m² of resilient and secure space with diverse Tier 1 carrier connections.

URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/datacentres/nottingham

### Manchester Trafford Wharf Data Centre
Location: Trafford Wharf, Manchester, United Kingdom
Tier: Tier 2
Size: 540 m² (5,813 ft²)

Our Manchester Trafford Wharf facility offers 540 m² of resilient space with diverse fibre routing and direct peering to the major London exchanges.

URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/datacentres/manchester

### Dallas TX1 Data Center
Location: Garland, Texas, United States
Size: 21,368 m² (230,000 ft²)

Our US deployments are hosted at NTT's Dallas TX1 facility - a 230,000 ft² carrier-neutral data centre in Garland, Texas, providing 16 MW of critical IT capacity and direct access to leading public, private and hybrid cloud networks. This is a third-party site operated by NTT Global Data Centers under partnership.

URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/datacentres/dallas

## Case studies

### Isotoma
Industry: Software consultancy
Location: York & London, UK
Customer since: Mid-2000s
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/case-studies/isotoma

Isotoma builds bespoke applications for Channel 4, Endemol, Mindshare and a roster of pharma and financial clients, all on a Debian and Ubuntu stack that hosting providers were once reluctant to support. RapidSwitch's Maidenhead team built the infrastructure around them.

#### Background
Founded in 2005 by Doug Winter and Andy Theyers, both veterans of operational roles at the BBC and EMI, Isotoma builds bespoke web, mobile and online applications for the enterprise community.
With 40 staff across offices in York and London, the consultancy works with clients ranging from Channel 4, Endemol and Mindshare to charities like Action Aid and Netbuddy, plus a heavy roster of pharmaceutical and financial sector customers.

#### Challenge
When Isotoma was getting started, the team wanted to standardise on the Debian operating system, a choice many hosting providers shied away from at the time, viewing it as non-commercial.
Isotoma needed a partner that understood Debian properly and could install and manage it at production scale, with the flexibility to keep evolving the platform as the consultancy's workloads grew.

#### Solution
RapidSwitch's Maidenhead technical team was one of the few that understood Debian deeply enough to build and run it as the standard platform. Rather than slot Isotoma into an off-the-shelf hosting product, the team built out the bespoke infrastructure the consultancy needed and refined it as the workloads scaled.
Isotoma was also one of the first Maidenhead clients to deploy Solid State Disk, and RapidSwitch helped the team test Fusion-io for their largest applications. The relationship eventually moved on to Ubuntu, with some of Isotoma's servers now well beyond the scope of any normal hosting agreement.

#### Outcome
Isotoma now runs more than 80 servers in RapidSwitch's Maidenhead data centre, powering everything from simple websites to complex content management systems and applications for enterprise customers.
Andy points to one incident as emblematic of the relationship: when Isotoma needed to reboot their servers to roll out a new OpenSSL build, the Maidenhead team spotted that the new Debian kernel was incompatible with Isotoma's network cards, manually booted the machines into the previous kernel, brought them back up without a hitch, and offered a free PCI network card to anyone who needed one.

> "It's the difference between having a clue and not having a clue. The guys at RapidSwitch have a clue!" - Andy Theyers, Co-founder, Isotoma

### Streaming Wizard
Industry: Live streaming & broadcast
Location: Leamington Spa, UK
Customer since: 2002
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/case-studies/streaming-wizard

Streaming Wizard produces live webcasts for Procter & Gamble, Citroen, the NHS, government bodies and universities, including satellite launches and broadcasts to the International Space Station. They needed bandwidth that could burst hard for a single event without locking them into a permanently high commitment.

#### Background
Established by James Cunningham in 2002, Streaming Wizard is a leading provider of streaming solutions to brands and organisations including Procter & Gamble, Citroen, the NHS, and across local government and university sectors.
The team has produced live webcasts for everything from satellite launches in northern Russia to pupils at The King's School Canterbury chatting live with a British astronaut on the International Space Station: the kind of one-off broadcasts where the infrastructure absolutely has to hold up.

#### Challenge
Streaming Wizard's clients have wildly different needs: live event streaming to global audiences, on-demand TV channels, and video conferencing. Some events are predictable, others are not.
James needed a hosting partner that could provide flexible, burstable bandwidth without locking him into a permanently high traffic commitment that would have made competitive pricing impossible for one-off broadcasts.

#### Solution
RapidSwitch was the only provider James found that could offer a high burst rate of bandwidth suitable for live streaming, while only charging in line with the traffic he actually used. As Streaming Wizard's audiences have grown, RapidSwitch has scaled bandwidth and infrastructure in step.
Streaming Wizard now runs a combination of dedicated and customer-supplied servers in our Maidenhead data centre, which carries ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification. The facility is connected to the wider iomart network of fully owned and managed data centres by a 20 Gb fibre ring, with automatic monitoring of network, transit links and servers, and a NOC team on site around the clock.

#### Outcome
The combination of low-latency network, flexible bandwidth and the MyServers control panel keeps Streaming Wizard's team on top of their streaming services in real time. Hardware is built in-house from hand-picked components, and customers can upgrade as they grow without paying for capacity they don't need yet.
"We specialise in the optimal delivery of media content for our clients, some of whom are very famous names," James concludes. "They demand, and we expect, that our streaming is flawless."

> "We expect the highest quality, cost-effective and flexible service from our hosting provider, and we get that from RapidSwitch." - James Cunningham, Founder, Streaming Wizard

### TrueAchievements
Industry: Gaming & online community
Location: East Grinstead, UK
Customer since: Late 2000s
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/case-studies/trueachievements

TrueAchievements is a social network for the Xbox gaming community: 850,000 unique monthly visitors, almost 20 million page views, and a side project that turned into Rich Stone's full-time job. RapidSwitch has scaled with him from a single 1U self-hosted box to a multi-server leased platform.

#### Background
TrueAchievements is a fully-fledged social network for the Xbox gaming community. Developed by Rich Stone, a software developer from East Grinstead in West Sussex, the platform recalculates a gamer's Xbox Live GamerScore using a formula tied to the rarity, and therefore the difficulty, of the achievements they've earned. The harder an achievement, the more points it's worth.
What started as a leaderboard side project quickly turned into a passionate online community that advertisers wanted to tap into. Today the platform serves over 130,000 achievement solutions, 200,000+ community gaming events, 6,000+ game reviews and more than three million forum posts.

#### Challenge
Rich was juggling a full-time job, building the site, and hosting it himself on a single server. As traffic kept climbing, that quickly stopped being sustainable.
He needed a hosting partner that could deliver three specific things: the ability to host his own hardware, great value for money, and a south-of-England location to keep latency low for his largely UK audience.

#### Solution
Rich started by hosting a single 1U server of his own at our Maidenhead data centre. As TrueAchievements' traffic climbed, it became clear that running his own hardware wouldn't keep up, so RapidSwitch's technical team transitioned him to leased dedicated servers.
The team built a high-performance database box specifically for the workload: Dual Intel Xeon Hex-Core L5640, 128GB of memory, and 8 × 2.5" 600GB 10k drives in RAID 10. Three leased servers in total now handle the platform, with on-site spares and engineers on hand whenever hardware needs attention.

#### Outcome
TrueAchievements now serves over 850,000 unique visitors a month and close to 20 million page views, without ever advertising. The new database server cut the platform's heaviest number-crunching jobs from over 14 hours to under two.
A PlayStation companion site, TrueTrophies, is in the works, and Rich is set to expand his RapidSwitch infrastructure to support it.

> "When I was just colocating, if a drive failed it was my responsibility, and that could take days. Now there are spares at the data centre and experts on hand to replace them in good time. It's a good place for TrueAchievements to be." - Rich Stone, Founder, TrueAchievements

### Cambrian Robotics
Industry: AI infrastructure
Location: UK
Customer since: 2023
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/case-studies/cambrian-robotics

Cambrian Robotics is building an automated AI training platform for a growing customer base. Since 2023, RapidSwitch has provided the secure, scalable GPU infrastructure behind that platform, starting with a Proof of Concept environment and scaling in step as demand has grown.

#### Background
Cambrian Robotics builds an AI training platform that lets customers provision and run their own workloads through a self-service web portal. What began as a search for affordable, high-performance GPU infrastructure quickly became a strategic partnership built on flexibility, collaboration, and a shared commitment to long-term growth.
Today, RapidSwitch continues to provide the foundation that enables Cambrian to innovate, scale, and prepare for international expansion.

#### Challenge
As Cambrian developed its AI training platform, it needed infrastructure capable of supporting demanding GPU workloads while remaining commercially viable for a growing business. Public cloud GPU services offered the performance required, but the economics did not support Cambrian's long-term ambitions.
The business needed a UK-based partner that could provide high-performance bare metal GPU infrastructure, capacity to scale alongside customer demand, and commercial flexibility during the early stages of growth. Finding a provider prepared to support that journey was just as important as the technology itself.

#### Solution
RapidSwitch worked closely with Cambrian from the outset, providing a Proof of Concept environment that let the team test, refine, and validate its AI training platform before making a larger infrastructure investment. That early flexibility significantly reduced the barriers to entry.
Rather than committing to expensive cloud GPU resources, Cambrian was able to develop its platform on dedicated GPU infrastructure that delivered the performance it needed at a commercially sustainable cost. As customer demand increased, RapidSwitch continued to support Cambrian's growth by responding quickly to requests for additional capacity and providing infrastructure capable of scaling alongside the business.

#### Outcome
With RapidSwitch providing the infrastructure foundation, Cambrian has been able to focus on building its AI platform rather than managing the underlying environment. Customers now provision and run their own AI training workloads through the Cambrian web portal, creating a highly automated experience that requires minimal operational intervention.
Cambrian's next phase includes expanding GPU capacity across Europe and establishing infrastructure in the United States to support international customers, alongside ongoing architectural reviews and resilience planning to keep the platform ready for increasingly demanding AI workloads.

> "We've grown our customer base on a stable, fully automated AI training platform that now requires very little day-to-day management." - Cambrian Robotics

### Evolving Networks
Industry: Managed networking & Zero Trust
Location: UK
Customer since: Early 2010s
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/case-studies/evolving-networks

Evolving Networks delivers secure managed connectivity and its fully managed Zero Trust platform, Evolving ZERO, to hundreds of organisations across the UK. For more than a decade, RapidSwitch has been the infrastructure partner behind that platform, hosting the physical Network Fabric Routers that keep thousands of users connected every day.

#### Background
Evolving Networks began by building a Network-as-a-Service platform designed to deliver secure, resilient connectivity to organisations across the UK. The business has since transformed alongside a changing technology landscape shaped by cloud adoption, hybrid working, and the rise of Zero Trust security.
That journey led to Evolving ZERO, a fully managed Zero Trust platform that brings networking, security, and cloud access together in a single architecture. Today it supports hundreds of schools, organisations, and businesses across multiple sectors, providing secure connectivity to thousands of users every day.

#### Challenge
When Evolving Networks first engaged with RapidSwitch more than 10 years ago, the objective was clear: create a resilient, secure environment capable of supporting customers around the clock. The team needed high-quality UK-based facilities that could deliver the availability, physical security, and resilience their customers expected.
Technical capability alone was not enough. Evolving Networks wanted a provider that understood their long-term vision and was prepared to build a genuine working relationship rather than simply supply colocation services.

#### Solution
At the heart of Evolving ZERO are physical Network Fabric Routers hosted within RapidSwitch's UK data centres. This architecture lets Evolving Networks deliver the performance, resilience, and UK data residency its customers expect, while maintaining full confidence in the environment supporting their services.
As customer requirements have evolved, from software-enhanced connectivity to a fully managed Zero Trust platform, RapidSwitch has continued to provide the flexibility needed to scale alongside the business. New services, additional capacity, and changing technical requirements have all been accommodated without locking Evolving Networks into any particular service model.

#### Outcome
Over the past decade the relationship has helped support the continued growth of Evolving ZERO, enabling Evolving Networks to deliver secure connectivity to hundreds of organisations across the UK. RapidSwitch and Evolving Networks now collaborate on joint customer engagements, and RapidSwitch delivers Evolving ZERO services as part of its own managed service offering.
Over more than a decade, technical and commercial teams have built trusted relationships based on openness, responsiveness, and honest conversations, turning what began as a supplier relationship into a genuine long-term partnership.

> "RapidSwitch are part of the foundation on which we've built our platform. As we've grown, they've grown with us. That kind of stable, long-term infrastructure partnership is very valuable." - Evolving Networks

## Guarantees

### Low-price guarantee
- We own our own data centres
- We own and manage our entire network
- We have massive procurement power
- We employ all of our data centre staff

### SLA response targets
- unmanaged: 120 mins
- proactive: 60 mins
- premium: 30 mins

### SLA matrix
- Lifetime hardware replacement - unmanaged, proactive, premium
- Unlimited SMS / Email alerts - unmanaged, proactive, premium
- Unlimited reboots - unmanaged, proactive, premium
- 24x7x365 Staff Monitoring and alerting (10 mins) - proactive, premium
- On-site proactive diagnosis - proactive, premium
- Proactive reboot - premium
- Proactive hardware replacement - premium
- Permanent KVM / management connection - premium
- Operating system updates - premium
- Free OS re-installs - premium

URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/guarantees

## Blog

### RapidSwitch Dedicated Hosting Supports Xbox Gamers Social Network Boom
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/blog/xbox-gamers-social-boom-2013
Published: 2013-07-24T00:00:00.000Z
Author: RapidSwitch
Category: company-news

How RapidSwitch's Maidenhead datacentre helped TrueAchievements scale to 850,000 monthly visitors and 20 million page views on its fifth birthday — and launch a PlayStation sibling, TrueTrophies.com.

TrueAchievements celebrates 5th birthday with beta PlayStation network launch

RapidSwitch, the leading supplier of self-managed dedicated servers which is part of iomart Group plc, has helped a social network for the Xbox gaming community hit huge visitor numbers on its fifth birthday.

TrueAchievements provides a more skill-related scoring method for Xbox games by re-calculating Xbox Live GamerScores using a formula related to the difficulty of the achievements that have been won. It gets 850,000 unique visitors a month and almost 20 million monthly page views.

TrueAchievements is hosted by RapidSwitch in its Maidenhead Datacentre. It has grown from a single colocated 1U server to three leased servers, including one 'behemoth' created by the RapidSwitch technical team which has Dual Intel Xeon Hex-Core L5640 CPUs; 128 GB Memory; and 8 × 2.5" 600 GB 10k Hard Drives in RAID 10.

"The site now runs like a rocket. Number crunching jobs that were taking upwards of 14 hours to complete are now done and dusted in under two!"

— Rich Stone, developer of TrueAchievements

"RapidSwitch provides the bandwidth, low latency network and bespoke technical support that has helped TrueAchievements become the go-to Xbox community site. The site is online at all times, the hardware can withstand the huge demands placed upon it and most important of all, Rich and the TrueAchievements team know that we are there to support them as they grow."

— Neil Christie, Commercial Director, RapidSwitch

Rich Stone now has a PlayStation version of the site called TrueTrophies.com in beta and will be expanding his RapidSwitch infrastructure to cope with its expected popularity.

"Launching a site with this much functionality is unprecedented in gaming. We're in the process of testing everything thoroughly before we take the PlayStation world by storm!"

— Rich Stone

Browse our current range at /shop.

## FAQ

### Abuse Reports
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/abuse-reports

### Abuse Reports - How Do I Deal With An Abuse Report?
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/how-do-i-deal-with-an-abuse-report

#### How Do I Deal With An Abuse Report?
If
a third party believes that any illegal, malicious or fraudulent
activity is taking place on a server within our network, they are
able to raise an Abuse Report through our MyServers control panel,
against the offending IP address(es). If an Abuse ticket is raised
against your account, you must resolve the issue outlined in the
ticket by removing the offending material, then respond to abuse
ticket to let the complainant know this has been resolved. 

If
an Abuse Ticket is raised against your account, you should first log
in to your MyServers account and then open the abuse ticket. Any open
abuse tickets will appear on the My Account tab of MyServers. Please
note that on some occasions multiple abuse tickets can be opened
against a client account at once and multiple abuse tickets can be
opened about the same issue. If this is the case, you must deal with
and respond to every abuse ticket. Failure to do so will leave
you at risk of suspension. To open an Abuse Ticket, click on the
ticket’s reference number. 

Once
you have opened up the abuse ticket, you will be presented with the
details inputted by the claimant. These include the IP address linked
to the malicious/fraudulent activity, the type of abuse, the details
of the reported malicious/fraudulent activity, any linked domain and
a description of the malicious/fraudulent activity. You will also be
able to see when the abuse ticket was opened, the server it is linked
to and the current status of the abuse ticket. Please see below for
an example; which outlines a report of copyright infringement. 

If
an abuse ticket has been raised against your account, you must take
appropriate action to resolve the issues outlined in the abuse
ticket, within a reasonable time frame. Please note the ‘reasonable
time frame’ given depends on the seriousness of the
reported activity and if any legal action have or will be taken by
the complainant. 

How
you resolve the issue(s) outlined in the abuse report is up to you.
Some examples of how our clients have dealt with reports of abuse on
their devices include:

 

 Re-installing the server’s/VM’s operating system

 

 Removal of the individual offending content

 

 Suspending the server/VM until the content is removed

We
can assist in certain ways of dealing with abusive content, by
re-installing an operating systems or suspending a host device, so if
you do require assistance in one of these two ways please feel to
raise a support ticket. 

While
dealing with an abuse report and removing any offending content, you
must also reply to the abuse ticket. Under the section which outlines
the details of the reported abuse, there is a section for you to
reply to the abuse ticket. You can use this section to respond to the
complainant. Please note that the abuse ticket and this response
section is to be used to communicate with the complainant only, not
our support or abuse teams.

There
are three set type of responses you can add to an abuse ticket.
Please see below a description of each type of response and when you
should use them. 

Will
be Resolved

You
should use the ‘Will be Resolved’ response when you have
yet to resolve the issue, but you do intend to resolve the issue as
soon as possible. You should use this response type to keep the
complainant updated on your progress, if the issue cannot immediately
be fixed. It is good practice once you have read the details of the
abuse ticket and acknowledge the abuse report has been correctly
assigned to one of your devices, to reply to the ticket using the
‘Will be Resolved’ response stating that you have
acknowledged the abuse report and that you will investigate the
issue. You should use the ‘Further Details’ box to add a
message to your response. 

Resolved

The
‘Resolved’ response should only be used once you have
completely dealt with the issues raised in the abuse report. Once you
have 100% dealt with the issue outlined in the abuse report, you must
use the resolved response to update the abuse ticket, to inform the
complainant that you have dealt with the issue. Once you have dealt
with the issue and are inputting a response to show you have done so,
you must enter how you resolved the issue (e.g. re-installed the VM
to remove the offending content) and how you plan to stop this issue
occurring in future (e.g. you have suspended the client and warned
them not to do this in future). When you enter a ‘Resolved’
response, the abuse ticket will be passed back to the complainant to
review. 

Incorrectly
Assigned to me

The
‘Incorrectly Assigned to me’ response is used when you
believe that the abuse report has be in-correctly assigned to
yourselves. If you believe that an abuse ticket has been wrongly
assigned to you, you can use this response to pass the ticket back to
the complainant, informing them that this is the case. You must make
it very clear, using the further details section, why you believe the
abuse report has wrongly been assigned to you. Please note that if
the abusive behaviour/content is being hosted on a device linked to
your account - even if it is one of your own clients actually
performing the illegal/fraudulent/malicious activity on one of your
devices, if your device has been hacked and the content has been
added to your device without your knowledge/permission, or if the
device’s hosted content is managed by a third part, etc. - it
is still your responsibility as our client to resolve the abuse
report. If you use the ‘Incorrectly Assigned to me’
response, the ticket will be passed back to the complainant to
review. 

Once
you have replied to the abuse ticket, setting the response to either
‘Resolved’ or ‘Incorrectly Assigned to me’,
the ticket and your reply will be emailed to the original
complainant, for them to review. The complainant should then review
your reply; then either ensure the offending activity has ceased or
check if they wrongly assigned to abuse to your client account. The
original complainant can then proceed in one of three ways:

1.
The complainant reviews your response, sees that you have taken
appropriate action and closes the ticket.

2.
The complainant does not reply or close the abuse ticket. This is
normally interpreted as they have accepted the content has been
removed. The ticket will automatically be closed after 3 days and the
matter is considered closed.

3.
The complainant reviews your response, and does not feel the matter
has been satisfactorily resolved and escalates this up to our abuse
department. Our abuse team will then get in touch with you to
determine the appropriate course of action.

In
the case of instance one and two, the abuse case has been resolved
successfully and our abuse team will take no action. In the case of
instance three, you will have to continue to try and resolve the
issue, until the case has been resolved. Please make sure you are
always updating the abuse ticket throughout this process. 

If
you have any further questions about our abuse report ticketing
system, feel free to raise a separate ticket with our support team,
and we will be happy to help.

### Abuse Reports - What is an Abuse Report?
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/what-is-an-abuse-report

#### What is an Abuse Report?
If
a third party believes that any illegal, malicious or fraudulent
activity is taking place on a server within our network, they are
able to raise an Abuse Report through our MyServers control panel,
against the offending IP address(es). This will then create an Abuse
Ticket on the client account linked to this IP address. Our abuse
report ticketing system is designed to allow our clients to directly
liaise with any complainants regarding any
illegal/malicious/fraudulent activity that is being hosted on one of
their devices. The abuse system in anonymous between the client and
the complainant; so both the complainant’s details and our
client’s details (company name, etc) are hidden from each
other. 

If
an abuse report is ever raised against one or more of your devices/IP
addresses, the first thing to remember is not to panic. If an abuse
ticket is raised against one or more of your devices, our system will
not suspend your server automatically; as we know that it is not fair
on any other customers you may have hosted on this device, when only
one of them is acting irresponsibly. We will provide you with an
appropriate timeframe to respond to the report and resolve the issue
before our abuse department steps in. Please note that the
‘appropriate timeframe’ is based on the seriousness of
the reported abuse.

One
thing that is key to remember throughout the abuse report process is
that it is your responsibility to respond to abuse tickets and ensure
that they get resolved in a timely fashion. This also means replying
to the ticket once you’ve removed the offending client/material
and selecting the correct option in the response section. Failure to
do this places your service at risk of suspension, even if you’ve
already dealt with the matter.

If
multiple Abuse Reports are raised against one or more of your
devices, please note that you must reply to every abuse
report with appropriate updates; even if multiple abuse reports are
raised against the same address(es), regarding the same issue. 

If
you do not reply to an abuse ticket within a reasonable time frame,
or if you do not remove all the offending content within a reasonable
time frame, the abuse ticket will automatically get escalated to our
abuse department, who will then take steps to ensure it gets
resolved. As a managed infrastructure provider, we will only step in
if the issue cannot be resolved directly between the client &
complainant. 

Please
note that the abuse system is setup to allow client’s to
communicate with the complainant only; please do not use the abuse
tickets to communicate with members of our teams. Please raise a
separate support ticket if you have any questions or need any help
from us.

If
an abuse report is raised against your account, you will be notified
by an email from MyServers. The next time you log into your MyServers
account you will also see an “Active Abuse Ticket”
section with details of any active abuse tickets. Below is an example
of an abuse report ticket, which would appear on the My Account page
of MyServers. 

You
can click on the abuse Ticket Reference to open up the ticket and
view the full details of the report.

If
you have any further questions about our Abuse Report ticketing
system, please look through our FAQ section or feel free to raise a
support ticket (this must be a ticket separate to the abuse ticket),
and we will be happy to help.

### Accounts & Billing
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/accounts-billing

#### What payment methods do you accept?
We
offer a variety of payment options; allowing you to pay in the most
convenient way to you. 

One
of our most popular payment methods is to pay with either a debit or
credit card. We accept the majority of debit and credit cards as a
payment option; however, I am afraid that we cannot accept payment
from an American Express card. To add a card to your account, you
simply need to pay an invoice through your account. 

If
you pay an invoice using a debit or credit card, the details of this
card will automatically be stored on our system for your convenience,
allowing payments to automatically be taken from this card for all
future invoices. If you no longer wish to pay with a specific card
which has been added to your account, please raise a ticket asking
for this card to be removed, so a member of our team can delete these
card details off our system on your behalf. 

Bank
transfers can also be made to make payment; even if you are not based
in the UK. If you do not want to manually pay through bank transfers
each month, for your convenience you can ask us to set up a direct
debit with your bank, so payments can be taken automatically each
month from your account. If you would like us to set up a direct
debit, please feel free to get in touch through a ticket. 

We
now also offer PayPal as a payment option. If you wish to pay via
Paypal, please get in touch through a ticket, as we will need to
allow PayPal payments on your account. 

If
you have any further questions about payment options, please feel
free to get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help.

#### How does your billing cycle work?
Our
billing cycle is designed to bring customers to the point of having a
single invoice, issued on the first of each month, for all services
and products listed on their account. As a result, the initial
invoices and billing cycle can be confusing when a new service is
taken out. To help explain the billing cycle, we’ll run through
how our system works, along with an example below.

After
taking out a new product with us, your first invoice will be for one
month in advance. For new customers, who currently do not have any
services with us, this invoice will be paid prior to the service
being set up. For existing customers, the invoice will be issued with
the usual 30 days payment terms.

Once
the service has commenced, the system will use the date on which the
service was activated as a billing date and will raise an invoice for
any remaining days in the following month, which was not covered by
the original full month invoice raised. This effectively brings the
billing up to the first of the month.

The
system will then issue a single invoice on the first of each month,
for the next month's services. In the event of a cancellation, all
unused service periods will be credited and, if necessary, a refund
will be issued.

Below
is an example:

A
service is ordered on the 16th of April.

The
first invoice will be for one full month. 

The
service is then live on the 17th of April.

The
system will use the 17th as the start point for billing
and treat the initial invoice as being up to the 17th of May.

The
system will then raise an invoice for the period of May 18th
to May 31st. This brings the billing up to the first of
the month, for future invoices.

On
the 1st of May, the system will invoice for the full month
of June. On the first of June, the system will invoice for the full
month of July, and so on.

If
you do have any further questions relating to our invoicing system,
please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll be happy
to advice.

#### How do I add a new card to my account?
In
order to add a new card to your account, you simply make a payment
with this new card on an invoice that is unpaid, through your
MyServers account. Once you have completed the payment the card will
be automatically stored for future payments on the account.

If
you require further assistance, please feel free to get in touch and
a member of our support team will be happy to help.

#### How do I remove a credit card / debit card from my MyServers Account?
To
have a card removed from your account, simply contact us through a
ticket and request that we remove your credit / debit card from your
account. You will need to supply the last three digits of the card
number and the expiry date of the card you wish to be removed. We
will then remove this card and advise you of other payment methods
available to you.

If
you require further assistance, please feel free to get in touch and
a member of our support team will be happy to help.

#### How can I reclaim overspends on my account after I cancel?
Any
amounts that are due to you following the cancellation of services
can be reclaimed and be repaid to the original card used; or in the
case of BACS payments, sent to your bank.

To
reclaim the overspent amount, please send us a ticket with all the
relevant details and we will arrange for a refund to be issued.

If
you require further assistance, please feel free to get in touch and
a member of our support team will be happy to help.

#### Do you store my card details?
When
a payment is made with a new debit / credit card on your account, the
card details will automatically be stored within our MyServers
control panel, and payment will automatically be taken from this card
for future invoices. 

We
operate in this manner for your convenience; as it allows payments to
be made automatically each month without your manual intervention. 

Your
card details will be stored in a very secure, industry standard
manor. 

In
regards to storing your card details, a message stating that the card
details will be automatically stored appears, when you make a payment
using a new card. The following message will also appear when making
a payment, which informs you that “Payment will be collected
automatically for future invoices” using this card.

By
adding a new card and progressing beyond these two messages, you are
agreeing that this card can be used for future invoices and that this
card’s details can be stored on our system.

If
you do not wish for us to take automatic payments from a card that is
stored on our system, or if you wish for a card to be removed from
your account, please raise a support requesting that your card be
removed from your account. You can then pay future invoices through
one of our other accepted payment methods. 

If
you have any further questions, please feel free to raise a ticket
through your MyServers control panel and a member of our team will be
happy to help.

#### Can you split up my invoice into multiple separate invoices?
I
am afraid we are not able to split up your invoices, into multiple
separate invoices, in any way. Our billing system is designed so that
clients are billed for all products and services within a single
invoice, once a month. 

If
you have any further questions about invoices, please look through
our FAQ page for further help, or please raise a ticket and a member
of our team will be happy to help.

#### How can I see my invoices?
You
can find your invoices through the MyServers control panel. They are
found under the My Account tab and then under the Invoices sub-tab. 

Here
you will be able to see all of you invoices and credits associated
with your account, sorted by the year they were raised. The table on
the Invoices page displays the unique reference number of each
invoice, when they were paid (if they have already been paid), when
they are due, if they are late and how much by, and the amount of the
invoice. 

You
can also download your invoices as a PDF file; by pressing the PDF
icon in-line with the invoice you wish to download. On the PDF
version of the invoice, you can see the breakdown of the products and
services being invoiced for and their associated costs. 

If
you have any further questions about your invoices, please feel free
to get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help.

#### How does the billing system work once I cancel off one of my services?
When you request a cancellation for one of your services with us, we will cancel it from 30 days of the date requested. To stay pro rata, an automatic credit note is raised for the days not used within that billing period. 

 

Please see the following example: 

 

Customer requests cancellation on the 06/05/2019, 30 days from that date would be 05/06/2019. 

Our billing system works a month in advance so the customer would have a credit note raised for the remaining 25 days of that month. 

This credit is then assigned against the pending invoice so that the customer would only have to pay for the days used.

#### How credit notes work?
When a credit note is raised on your account, the credit automatically is assigned to the oldest outstanding invoice first. 

 

If there is an older invoice than the invoice that has been credited, it may look in the system that you need to pay this invoice off still, but this is just due to how our credits are applied in the system.

You can always click into the relevant credit note in myservers for a full breakdown of what the credit was actually for.

#### Can we change the date for automated card payments?
We cannot change dates for automated card payments, as our system is designed to attempt payments upto 3 times if a payment fails.

This is generally attempted on 26th, 28th & the 2nd of every month, which is standardised for all customers throughout the business.

### ECS - Cloud Storage
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/ecs-cloud-storage

### ECS - Cloud Storage - Accounts & Billing
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/accounts-billing-76

#### How does the lifetime pricing work?
Pricing will be 1p/GB for life.

#### Do you have any reporting available around usage and cost per bucket?
ECS can do detailed billing

#### Whats the monthly usage billing?
Based on storage use only. No ingress/egress charges, unlike AWS.

### ECS - Cloud Storage - Features
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/features

#### Load balancing considerations?
It is recommended that a load balancer is used in front of ECS.

In addition to distributing the load across ECS cluster nodes, a load balancer provides High Availability (HA) for the ECS cluster by routing traffic to healthy nodes. Where network separation is implemented, and data and management traffic are separated, the load balancer must be configured so that user requests, using the supported data access protocols, are balanced across the IP addresses of the data network. ECS Management REST API requests can be made directly to a node IP on the management network or can be load balanced across the management network for HA.

The load balancer configuration is dependent on the load balancer type.

#### What’s the product configurations?
Configurations for availability, durability, and resilience.

Depending on the number of sites in the ECS system, different data protection schemes can increase availability and balance the data protection requirements against performance. ECS uses the replication group to configure data protection schemes.

Local Protection

Data is protected locally by using triple mirroring and erasure coding which provides resilience against disk and node failures, but not against site failure.

Full Copy Protection

When a replication group is enabled with the Replicate to All Sites property, the replication group makes a full readable copy of all objects to all sites within the replication group. Having full readable copies of objects on all VDCs in the replication group provides data durability and improves local performance at all sites at the cost of storage efficiency.

Geo-Active

Geo-Active is the default ECS configuration. When a replication group is configured as Geo-Active, data is replicated to federated sites and can be accessed from all sites with strong consistency. If you have two sites, full copies of data chunks are copied to the other site. If you have three or more sites, the replicated chunks are combined (XOR'ed) to provide increased storage efficiency. When data is accessed from a site that is not the owner of the data, until that data is cached at the non-owner site, the access time increases. Similarly, if the owner site that contains the primary copy of the data fails, and if you have a global load balancer that directs requests to a non-owner site, the non-owner site must recreate the data from XOR'ed chunks, and the access time increases.

Geo-Passive

The Geo-Passive configuration always includes exactly three sites and is available where you have at least three sites. In this configuration, two sites are active. The third site is passive and is a replication target. You can designate a specific site as the backup site and achieve the storage efficiency (2.0 times storage overhead) of three sites. The storage efficiency is the same as the Geo-Active three-site configuration. In the Geo-Passive configuration, all replication data chunks are sent to the passive site and XOR operations occur only at the passive site. In a Geo-Active configuration, the XOR operations occur at all sites. If all sites are on-premise, any of the three sites can be the replication target. An important use case for the Geo-Passive configuration is when the passive site is hosted by a third party and the hosted site is selected as the replication target. This configuration can be modified by using the ECS Management REST API to select an on-premise site as the replication target.

#### Whats the product overview?
Storage engine

The storage engine component layer provides an unstructured storage engine that is responsible for storing and retrieving data, managing transactions, and protecting and replicating data. The storage engine provides access to objects ingested using multiple object storage protocols and the NFS and HDFS file protocols.

Fabric

The fabric component layer provides cluster health management, software management, configuration management, upgrade capabilities, and alerting. The fabric layer is responsible for keeping the services running and managing resources such as the disks, containers, firewall, and network. It tracks and reacts to environmental changes such as failure detection and provides alerts related to system health.

Infrastructure

The infrastructure component layer uses SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 as the base operating system for the ECS appliance, or qualified Linux operating systems for commodity hardware configurations. Docker is installed on the infrastructure to deploy the other ECS component layers. The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is installed as part of the infrastructure because ECS software is written in Java.

Hardware

The hardware component layer is an ECS appliance or qualified industry-standard hardware.

#### What is the ECS platform?
The ECS platform is composed of the data services, portal, storage engine, fabric, infrastructure, and hardware component layers.

#### What is the Portal feature in ECS?
The ECS Portal component layer provides a Web-based GUI that allows you to manage, license, and provision ECS nodes. The portal has the following comprehensive reporting capabilities:

Capacity utilization for each site, storage pool, node and disk

Performance monitoring on latency, throughput, transactions per second, and replication progress and rate

Diagnostic information, such as node and disk recovery status and statistics on hardware and process health for each node, which helps identify performance and system bottlenecks

#### Namespaces feature?
ECS has a feature called Namespaces. Namespaces provide a way to organize or group items for purposes of segregating the space for different uses or purposes. It allows for the multi-tenancy feature in ECS. Each client bucket is created in a separate Namespace and other clients cannot access buckets in a namespace that isn’t theirs.

ECS provides several features to enable security of customer’s data such as platform lockdown and retention, etc. 

ECS provides server-side encryption to protect data on disk. Key management is either done automatically or specified by the user. Enabling encryption is done at the namespace level or bucket level, allowing customers to have a level of control at what level to handle encryption

ECS provides Audit Events – basically, it records a change in the system configuration, tracks logins, and sudo commands run on a node, bucket operations such as setting bucket permissions, and user operations such as set/delete the password.

### ECS - Cloud Storage - Product & Services
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/product-services

#### Can you set up test accounts?
Yes, we can setup test accounts for 1 Month to allow for performance testing to see what suits business needs, after this, the account will either be deleted or upgraded with added billing.

#### Does Object storage support Veeam backup repository?
Veeam does say it supports S3 compatibility, however, this has not been tested but could be looked into at a later stage depending on demand.

#### What API is used for the Object Storage?
for example, if you are currently using Amazon S3 on Linux and have the S3 API installed onit to sync files over to amazon. We have got it to work with our ECS object storage as long as your using the AWS S3 client.

For this to work with our Object storage, the client needs to write there own AWS detail file. We are currently creating a template which will help the client install AWS client and then replace the AWS default with our object storage.

#### How many data-centres is the data stored in for redundacy?
There will be options for multiple sites for site-level redundancy.

#### Can Co-located servers using ftp/sftp, be replaced with S3 equivalent?
Yes you can if you move from SFTP to S3.

#### Can this service be mounted to existing servers as a datastore ie. NFS/GLUSTER?
This is API only. API documentation if required

https://www.emc.com/techpubs/api/ecs/v2-0-0-0/S3BucketListUploadsOperations_ba672412ac371bb6cf4e69291344510e_overview.htm

#### Does the file system grow with demand?
Yes, this can.

#### Can we still increase our disk space in the future at the same price if we transfer from Amazon?
Yes, you can increase this in the future for the same price.

#### Will there be a feature much like IAM users?
Different users can be created and each individual can be given different rights

#### Are you able to set bucket policies?
Bucket ACLs can be set.

#### What protocol can be used to access the storage from the application servers?
It supports S3 ATMOS SWIFT HDFS

#### Could you please elaborate on the multi-region redundancy?
We only have one region just now

#### SLA's?
Standard RapidSwitch SLAs as per our terms - https://myservers.rapidswitch.com/Terms.aspx

#### Currently which sites offer this service?
ECS storage is only in Maidenhead. However, there's a possibility to deploy a second unit in a different DC to provide geo-redundancy, as per demand

### ECS - Cloud Storage - Security & Networking
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/security-networking

#### ECS network?
ECS network infrastructure consists of top of rack switches allowing for the following types of network connections:

Public network – connects ECS nodes to your organization's network, providing data.

Internal private network – manages nodes and switches within the rack and across racks.

#### How is the data protected with ECS?
ECS protects data within a site by mirroring the data onto multiple nodes, and by using erasure coding to break down data chunks into multiple fragments and distribute the fragments across nodes. Erasure coding (EC) reduces the storage overhead and ensures data durability and resilience against disk and node failures.

#### Will this be able to handle multiple auth tokens for access to different buckets?
Yes it can, ECS calls these users

#### Does ECS support encrypted storage?
Supported by D@RE - EMC's Enterprise Encryption

Which we license and enable on all ECS storage packages by default.

#### Is ECS Storage ISO Regulated?
Yes this is

### ECS - Cloud Storage - Support
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/support

#### Can we extend archive platform using NFS?
We do not have anything like Storage Gateway in front of the ECS,

The ECS does have the ability to present NFS storage but setting this up was not in the original requirements so It has not been set up.

NFS would very much require more integration with the control panel as unlike the S3 protocol there would be no way for the user to handle permissions or modify the IPs that are able to mount the exports without having to go via support ticket.

ECS NFS mount point would not be encrypted however this has not been confirmed yet, still under testing, so the data would likely be transferred in clear text into the ECS array over the public DC5 networks

#### Can Object Storage be mounted to Windows, as shared storage?
its recommended not to, as the request for new data written and then trying to access it will cause the platform to work incorrectly.

Normal filesystems used with windows, for example, adding or editing simple text files and then opening after saving work perfectly fine with filesystems ontop of block devices.

However, if this was the case with mounting the object storage to windows, this would cause instability and panic the file system. This is due to the object storage wanting to use different nodes each time when accessing it, so when you save something node A - will become aware of the change and take a few milliseconds for all nodes to update the change, however if a file is opened and a node has not updated correctly, the filesystem will panic, hence why we don't recommend mounting object storage to windows as shared storage.

#### Do you have any documantation on object storage?
Yes we do, we have created a simple guide on how to set up our storage with existing customers using S3 browsers and Winscp 5.16.2

### Managed Infrastructure Services & Other Managed Services
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/managed-infrastructure-services-other-managed-services

### Managed Infrastructure Services & Other Managed Services - Managed Infrastructure Services
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/managed-infrastructure-services

#### What is your standard management package?
We
are a managed infrastructure services provider; who provide
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Our managed infrastructure
service provider package is included, free of charge, with all our
dedicated devices. Our standard management package means we are
responsible for the physical hardware of any dedicated device and the
site’s infrastructure. We also supply other management
packages, for an additional monthly costs. 

If
you have any more questions about our management packages, please
read through our FAQ section or raise a ticket, and we will be happy
to discuss this with you.

#### What is Managed Infrastructure Services?
We
are a managed infrastructure services provider; who provide
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). 

As
a managed infrastructure provider, we are responsible for the
physical hardware of any dedicated device and the site’s
infrastructure. If you have a hardware failure with your dedicated
server/device, or believe that you are experiencing network issues,
we will replace any failing hardware free of charge and investigate
any network problem that may exist within our network infrastructure.
However, we are not responsible for any configuration of the server
(or other devices), the server’s operating system, nor any data
hosted on your equipment.

Our
SLA as a managed infrastructure service provider can be found on our
Terms and Conditions page, under ‘Support and Maintenance’:

“Maintenance
and support shall not include services for problems arising out of
(a) tampering, modification, alteration, or addition to the Hardware
or Software, which is undertaken by persons other than [us as the
hosting company] or its authorised representatives; or (b) software
programmes or hardware supplied by the Client.

The
Client shall document and promptly report all errors or malfunctions
of the Services, Hardware or Software to [us as the hosting company].
The Client shall take all steps necessary to carry out procedures for
the rectification of errors or malfunctions within a reasonable time
after such procedures have been received from [us as the hosting
company] provided the procedures specified are reasonable. The Client
shall maintain a current archive copy of all software and data, and
shall properly train its personnel in the use of the Services,
Hardware and Software.

Any
problems caused by the Client to the Services, (which include, but
are not limited to, deletion of necessary operating system files,
accidental or intentional infection by a virus/Trojan) may result in
extra charges to The Client at £30 per 30 minutes, or part
thereof. For any work that will take more than two hours we will seek
prior authorisation from the Client by telephone, email, fax, or
post.”

Although
as standard we are a managed infrastructure services provider only,
we can provide a fully managed service packages, which involve
different support experiences from our managed infrastructure
services. See below in the “What management options do you
offer?” section for more information about this. 

As
we are not responsible for any data hosted on our dedicated
equipment, we strongly advise that all our clients back-up any
important data or configuration, onto a device not physically
connected to the main hosting device. If you would like to speak to
someone about what back-up options we provide, please get in touch
and a member of our team will be happy to help you. 

If
you have any questions about our SLA or what it means to be a managed
infrastructure services provider, please feel free to get in touch
through a ticket and a member of team will be happy to help.

### Managed Infrastructure Services & Other Managed Services - Other Management Options
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/other-management-options

#### What management options do you offer?
Our
standard package, as a dedicated Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
hosting company, is a managed infrastructure services package. This
means that we are responsible for the physical hardware of any
dedicated server/device and the site’s networking, power and
environmental infrastructure. For more information on this, please
see the “What is Managed Infrastructure Services?”
section of our FAQ.

Although
as standard we are a managed infrastructure services provider, we can
also provide a fully managed service any customer, which involves a
different support experience from our managed infrastructure
services.

If
you wish to migrate to a fully managed service or have a fully
managed service setup, a member of our team would first discuss your
requirements with you to determine what level of management is
required. The biggest problems surrounding a managed service is when
the lines are blurred on responsibilities, so we avoid this by
agreeing upfront exactly what the platform needs to do for you and
where you will need our assistance.

We
then provide you with tailored logins, if you still wanted to be able
to administer basic changes - perhaps via a control panel, but the
majority of changes would be performed by our teams in order to track
the history of change management.

If
you'd like to discuss your management requirements in more detail
then a member of our team would be more than happy to help. If you
have any more questions, please raise feel free to get in touch.

#### How much do your additional management services cost?
As
with all tailored services, the costs will vary depending on how much
management is required.

Prices
start from £150/month for a single server, which would include
the configuration of a control panel such as cPanel or Plesk, managed
backups for the control panel directories, and an hour of
investigative diagnosis every month for troubleshooting issues not
included in the management package.

Multiple
servers, virtual machines and clusters will vary in cost depending on
the setup. It is most often cheaper on a per-machine basis to manage
multiple VMs or physical servers.

If
you'd like to discuss your management requirements in more detail
then a member of our team would be more than happy to help. If you
have any more questions, please raise feel free to get in touch.

#### Can you perform OS updates?
As
part of our standard package, we do not perform OS updates on the
operating system of your server, however, we do offer an OS Update
management package. 

Our
OS Updates management package includes a weekly check of you server’s
operating system for updates. If an update is required, we will get
in touch with you through a ticket, list the updates that are
required, and then apply any update that you wish to be applied. If
there are no updates are available, we will still get in touch to
inform you that there is no updates available. 

If
you would be interested in our OS updates package, or if you have any
more questions, please feel free to get in touch through a ticket and
a member of our team would be more than happy to help.

### Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/monitoring-my-devices-checking-hardware-status

#### How to check server bandwidth?
1. When logged into Myservers home page.

2. Navigate to the Bandwidth section and click anywhere to open details report.

3. This will then take you to the server bandwidth report page, where you can select a dropdown menu for bandwidth periods.

4. You can then further click on the graph to give a more detailed overview, as shown below.

#### What is RAID and the different levels?
RAID is a technology that is used to increase the performance and/or reliability of data storage. The abbreviation stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. A RAID system consists of two or more drives working in parallel. These disks can be hard discs, but there is a trend to also use the technology for SSD (solid-state drives). There are different RAID levels, each optimized for a specific situation. These are not standardized by an industry group or standardization committee. This explains why companies sometimes come up with their own unique numbers and implementations. This article covers the following RAID levels:

RAID is no substitute for back-up!
All RAID levels except RAID 0 offer protection from a single drive failure. A RAID 6 system even survives 2 disks dying simultaneously. For a complete security, you do still need to back-up the data from a RAID system.

That back-up will come in handy if all drives fail simultaneously because of a power spike.

It is a safeguard when the storage system gets stolen.

Back-ups can be kept off-site at a different location. This can come in handy if a natural disaster or fire destroys your workplace.

The most important reason to back-up multiple generations of data is user error. If someone accidentally deletes some important data and this goes unnoticed for several hours, days or weeks, a good set of back-ups ensure you can still retrieve those files.

RAID 0– striping

RAID 1– mirroring

RAID 5– striping with parity

RAID 6– striping with double parity

RAID 10– combining mirroring and striping

The software to perform the RAID-functionality and control the drives can either be located on a separate controller card (a hardware RAID controller) or it can simply be a driver. Some versions of Windows, such as Windows Server 2012 as well as Mac OS X, include software RAID functionality. Hardware RAID controllers cost more than pure software, but they also offer better performance, especially with RAID 5 and 6.

Sometimes disks in a storage system are defined as JBOD, which stands for ‘Just a Bunch Of Disks’. This means that those disks do not use a specific RAID level and acts as stand-alone disks. This is often done for drives that contain swap files or spooling data.

RAID level 0 – Striping
In a RAID 0 system data are split up into blocks that get written across all the drives in the array. By using multiple disks (at least 2) at the same time, this offers superior I/O performance. This performance can be enhanced further by using multiple controllers, ideally one controller per disk.

Advantages

RAID 0 offers great performance, both in read and write operations. There is no overhead caused by parity controls.

All storage capacity is used, there is no overhead.

The technology is easy to implement.

Disadvantages

RAID 0 is not fault-tolerant. If one drive fails, all data in the RAID 0 array are lost. It should not be used for mission-critical systems.

RAID level 1 – Mirroring
Data are stored twice by writing them to both the data drive (and set of data drives) and a mirror drive (or set of drives). If a drive fails, the controller uses either the data drive or the mirror drive for data recovery and continues operation. You need at least 2 drives for a RAID 1 array.

Advantages

RAID 1 offers excellent read speed and a write-speed that is comparable to that of a single drive.

In case a drive fails, data do not have to be rebuilt, they just have to be copied to the replacement drive.

RAID 1 is a very simple technology.

Disadvantages

The main disadvantage is that the effective storage capacity is only half of the total drive capacity because all data get written twice.

Software RAID 1 solution does not always allow a hot swap of a failed drive. That means the failed drive can only be replaced after powering down the computer it is attached to. For servers that are used simultaneously by many people, this may not be acceptable. Such systems typically use hardware controllers that do support hot-swapping.

RAID level 5
RAID 5 is the most common secure RAID level. It requires at least 3 drives but can work with up to 16. Data blocks are striped across the drives and on one drive a parity checksum of all the block data is written. The parity data are not written to a fixed drive, they are spread across all drives, as the drawing below shows. Using the parity data, the computer can recalculate the data of one of the other data blocks, should those data no longer be available. That means a RAID 5 array can withstand a single drive failure without losing data or access to data. Although RAID 5 can be achieved in software, a hardware controller is recommended. Often extra cache memory is used on these controllers to improve the write performance.

Advantages

Read data transactions are very fast while write data transactions are somewhat slower (due to the parity that has to be calculated).

If a drive fails, you still have access to all data, even while the failed drive is being replaced and the storage controller rebuilds the data on the new drive.

Disadvantages

Drive failures have an effect on throughput, although this is still acceptable.

This is complex technology. If one of the disks in an array using 4TB disks fails and is replaced, restoring the data (the rebuild time) may take a day or longer, depending on the load on the array and the speed of the controller. If another disk goes bad during that time, data are lost forever.

 

RAID level 6 – Striping with double parity
RAID 6 is like RAID 5, but the parity data are written to two drives. That means it requires at least 4 drives and can withstand 2 drives dying simultaneously. The chances that two drives break down at exactly the same moment are of course very small. However, if a drive in a RAID 5 systems dies and is replaced by a new drive, it takes hours or even more than a day to rebuild the swapped drive. If another drive dies during that time, you still lose all of your data. With RAID 6, the RAID array will even survive that second failure.

Advantages

Like with RAID 5, read data transactions are very fast.

If two drives fail, you still have access to all data, even while the failed drives are being replaced. So RAID 6 is more secure than RAID 5.

Disadvantages

Write data transactions are slower than RAID 5 due to the additional parity data that have to be calculated. In one report I read the write performance was 20% lower.

Drive failures have an effect on throughput, although this is still acceptable.

This is complex technology. Rebuilding an array in which one drive failed can take a long time.

 

RAID level 10 – combining RAID 1 & RAID 0
It is possible to combine the advantages (and disadvantages) of RAID 0 and RAID 1 in one single system. This is a nested or hybrid RAID configuration. It provides security by mirroring all data on secondary drives while using striping across each set of drives to speed up data transfers.

Advantages

If something goes wrong with one of the disks in a RAID 10 configuration, the rebuild time is very fast since all that is needed is copying all the data from the surviving mirror to a new drive. This can take as little as 30 minutes for drives of 1 TB.

Disadvantages

Half of the storage capacity goes to mirroring, so compared to large RAID 5 or RAID 6 arrays, this is an expensive way to have redundancy.

### Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status - Checking for Hardware Errors
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/checking-for-hardware-errors

#### How do I identify a failed drive in my dedicated server?
As
a hosting provider we know that it can be very frustrating for our
customers when a drive fails. As a managed infrastructure service
provider we will always replace any failed drive, free of charge, as
soon as we are alerted to a failed drive and provided its details. 

If
you believe a hard drive has failed on your server, you will first
need to identify which physical drive has failed, before we can
proceed with replacing it. There are several ways in which you can
identify which drive has failed and to identify the information
required to have it replaced. Which method is best for you depends on
your server’s current setup. Below are some examples; please
feel free to read through them all and decide which method is best
for you.

#### RAID Controller’s Menu
One
way to identify a failed drive and its details would be through your
server’s RAID BIOS. To access your RAID BIOS, you would first
require either remote management or a KVMoIP session, then you would
need to re-boot your server, then boot into the servers RAID
controller / UEFI BIOS, and then check the status and details of the
physical drives. Exactly how you do this is dependent on the make and
model of your server and RAID controller. Please use our FAQ section
to find some examples on how to do this. 

The
benefits of this method is that your server only needs to have been
configure with a RAID controller. However, this method does require
downtime throughout the entire process. As this method requires
downtime, our client’s often prefer to use other methods that
do not require any downtime. 

The
above method only applies if your drives are attached to a RAID
controller card; which is now the set-up for almost all of our
dedicated servers. If your drives are not connected to the RAID
controller, you will need to check through the chassis’ BIOS
screen instead.

#### Remote Management
Another
way in which you can check for a failed drive and check the drive’s
details is through some forms of OOB Remote Management’s
control panel. 

Most
new remote management’s control panel versions will allow you
to monitor the RAID array and drive health; while showing you any
failed drives and the physical drive’s details. Some older
forms of OOB control panels, however, will not allow you to do this. 

The
benefits of this options is that it allows you to check the drive
health and the drive’s details without any downtime. However,
the remote management will have to have been already setup on the
server to use it. We can add remote management at after a server is
activated; but this will require downtime.

#### Third Party Software
The
last option is to install third party software capable of monitoring
your server’s storage, onto your server’s operating
system. 

There
is a wide variety of monitoring software that you can download. Which
one would be best for your server depends on your server’s
operating system, which RAID controller you server is using, and what
the make and model of you server is. You can download these through
third parties; some free of charge and some at a cost. A populate
monitoring software for Dell PowerEdge server is their OpenManage
Server Administrator (OMSA) software.

The
benefit of using a third party piece of software, like OMSA, is that
they do not require any downtime to identify a failed drive and its
details. The down side to these third party softwares are that they
require the server to be online and remotely accessible. Also, as
they are created by third parties, you must be careful about the
security of these pieces of software. 

You
should be able to use one of the above three methods to identify any
failed drives and these drives’ details (e.g. serial number,
physical drive bay number, capacity, etc.). When you have identified
all of these details, please raise a ticket through your MyServers
control panel, and a member of our team will be happy to help. 

Please
feel free to use our FAQ for examples on how to use the above
methods, to identify a failed drive and its details. 

We
would suggest always taking a full back-up of any data on your server
before we perform any work, to a storage/backup device external to
the server, as there is always a risk of data loss. 

If
you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

### Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status - Dell OMSA
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/dell-omsa

#### What is OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA)?
OpenManage
Server Administrator (OMSA) is a systems management product, provided
by Dell EMC, which can be installed on supported Dell PowerEdge
servers. It provides the user with a number of network management and
systems management applications. 

The
OMSA product is accessible through either a web browser-based GUI or
through a command line interface via the Operating System, depending
on the Operating System installed on the server. For Linux based
operating systems, OMSA is accessed through the command line
interface of the server’s operating system. With the Windows
Server operating systems, OMSA is accessed through the server’s
Operating System’s web browser. For VMware ESXI based operating
systems, OMSA is accessed through a web browser based GUI remotely,
from your home or work computer, using SSH.

If
your server is installed with either a Windows or Linux OS, the
server’s operating system does not have to be accessible
remotely, directly; as you can use a KVMoIP / iDRAC to access the
server and then OMSA, as long as the server is booted into a
functioning operating system. For an ESXI server, however, you must
be able to SSH into the server to access OMSA. 

We
encourage our clients to download and use OMSA on their Dell servers,
as it allows the user to check the status of their hardware, which
means that it can be used to identify hardware related issues and
provides the necessary information to have this hardware replaced. 

OMSA
compatibility is based on the Dell PowerEdge server’s
generation and the version of Operating Sytem installed onto the
server. See the below tables to identify what generation of Dell
PowerEdge servers Vs. what Operating System OMSA supports.

Windows
Server:

 
 
 Dell
 PowerEdge Generation

 
 
 Compatible
 with Windows Server 2012 & 2012 R2

 
 
 Compatible
 with Windows Server 2016

 
 
 
 
 Dell
 PowerEdge 11th Gen (R_10)

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Not Supported*

 
 
 
 
 Dell
 PowerEdge 12th Gen (R_20)

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Dell
 PowerEdge 13th Gen (R_30)

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 * There is no
 officially supported version of OMSA for Windows Server 2016 for
 11th
 Gen servers. However, you may be able to install the 12th
 generation version of OMSA for Windows 2016 onto a 11th
 Gen server. Please note, compatibility issues may arise from doing
 this. Also, iomart (and any company within the iomart group) are
 not responsible for any issues caused by performing this action,
 and Dell EMC would advise not to perform this action. 
 

 
 

Linux:

 
 
 Compatibility
 with OS

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 11th Gen (R_10)

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 12th Gen (R_20)

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 13th Gen (R_30)

 
 
 
 
 CentOS
 6

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 CentOS
 7

 
 
 Yes (No*)

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Ubuntu
 14

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Ubuntu
 16

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Debian
 7

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Debian
 8

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Debian
 9

 
 
 Not Supported**

 
 
 Not Supported**

 
 
 Not Supported**

 
 
 
 
 *OMSA
 is not compatible with CentOS 7 on a Dell PE R210 II chassis.

 
 
 
 
 **
 There is no officially supported version of OMSA for Debian 9.
 However, using the guide below, you are able to download the
 Debian 8 version of OMSA onto a Debian 9 OS. Please note,
 compatibility issues may arise from doing this. Also, iomart (and
 any company within the iomart group) are not responsible for any
 issues caused by performing this action, and Dell EMC would advise
 not to do perform this action.

 
 

VMware
ESXI:

 
 
 Compatibility
 with OS

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 11th Gen (R_10)

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 12th Gen (R_20)

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 13th Gen (R_30)

 
 
 
 
 ESXI
 5.0

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 No

 
 
 No

 
 
 
 
 ESXI
 5.1

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 No

 
 
 
 
 ESXI
 5.5

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 ESXI
 6.0

 
 
 No

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 ESXI
 6.5

 
 
 No

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

### Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status - Dell OMSA - Linux Servers
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/dell-omsa-linux-servers

#### How do I Install Dell OpenManage Server Administrator onto Linux Platforms?
Dell
EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application is a
free tool which Dell provide, enabling Dell PowerEdge users to have
greater control over their server remotely. OMSA is downloadable
through Dell’s support website and is compatible with most
Operating Systems and with most PowerEdge chassis. OMSA compatibility
is based on the Dell PowerEdge server’s generation and the
version of Linux installed onto the server. See below to find what
generation of Dell PowerEdge servers Vs. what Operating System OMSA
supports.

 
 
 Compatibility
 with OS

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 11th Gen (R_10)

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 12th Gen (R_20)

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 13th Gen (R_30)

 
 
 
 
 CentOS
 6

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 CentOS
 7

 
 
 Yes (No*)

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Ubuntu
 14

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Ubuntu
 16

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Debian
 7

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Debian
 8

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Debian
 9

 
 
 Not Supported**

 
 
 Not Supported**

 
 
 Not Supported**

 
 
 
 
 *
 OMSA is not compatible with CentOS 7 on a Dell PE R210 II chassis.

 
 
 
 
 **
 There is no officially supported version of OMSA for Debian 9.
 However, using the guide below, you are able to download the
 Debian 8 version of OMSA onto a Debian 9 OS. Please note,
 compatibility issues may arise from doing this. Also, iomart (or
 any company within the iomart group) are not responsible for any
 issues caused by performing this action, and Dell EMC would advise
 not to perform this task. 
 

 
 

Please
note that OpenManage Server Administrator is a free piece of software
supplied by Dell EMC. As such, iomart (and any company within the
iomart group; including RapidSwitch and Redstation) are not
responsible for this software, nor are they responsible for any
effects downloading, installing or using this software may have on
your platform. We can only advise you to use OMSA and provide you
with advice on how to do so; the choice to download, install and use
the software must be your own. Also, as a managed infrastructure
provider, we do not officially support OMSA; as such we will not be
able to install, use or configure this software.

How
you install OMSA onto a Linux server depends on the version of Linux
you are using. Please see below how to install OSMA for each version
of Linux (which we install and which is supported by OMSA).

#### How to Install OMSA on CentOS 6 & 7.
Downloading
and installing OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a CentOS 6
or CentOS 7 server involves issuing commands which download the
necessary files, start and then enable the OMSA services. 

First,
you need to log into the server’s root account. Once you are
logged in, to install OMSA onto your CentOS server, please issue the
following commands one after the other, waiting for each task to
complete before proceeding with the next command:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 download and install the Dell Repository to your server.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 wget
 -q -O - http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/bootstrap.cgi |
 bash

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 2

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 install the base utilities and storage

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 yum
 install srvadmin-base srvadmin-storageservices -y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 3

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 start the OMSA service

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 start

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 4

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run this command to enable the
 OMSA services

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 enable

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 
 

Dell
EMC’s OpenManage System will now be installed on your server.
You can then use this software to manage and monitor the hardware
within this server. Before you can access and use OMSA, you will have
to logout of the server and close any SSH shell, and then re-login.

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How to Install OMSA on Ubuntu 14
Downloading
OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a server with Ubuntu 14
installed involves issuing commands which download the necessary
repository files and keys, install the required utilities, then start
and enable the OMSA services. 

First,
you need to log into the server’s root account. Once you are
logged in, to install OMSA onto your Ubuntu 14 server, please issue
the following commands one after the after, waiting for each task to
complete before proceeding with the next command:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to download
 and create the repository file

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 echo
 'deb http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/ubuntu trusty
 openmanage' >
 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux.dell.com.sources.list

 

 

 (Please
 note that each command is one line)

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 2

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to download
 the repository key

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 gpg
 --keyserver hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-key
 1285491434D8786F

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 3

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run this command to import the
 key into APT

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 gpg
 -a --export 1285491434D8786F | apt-key add -

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 4

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run this command to let the APT
 know there’s a new repository.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt
 update -y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 5

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to install
 the required utilities

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt
 install srvadmin-base srvadmin-omcommon srvadmin-storageservices
 -y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 6

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 start the OMSA service

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 start

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 7

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run the following command to
 enable the OMSA service

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 enable

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 
 

Dell
EMC’s OpenManage System will now be installed on your server.
You can then use this software to manage and monitor the hardware
within this server. Before you can access and use OMSA, you will have
to logout of the server and close any SSH shell, and then re-login. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How to Install OMSA on Ubuntu 16
Downloading
OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a server with Ubuntu 16
installed involves issuing commands which download the necessary
repository files and keys, installing the required utilities, then
starting and enabling the OMSA services. 

First,
you need to log into the server’s root account (or an account
that is a member of sudoers). Once you are logged in, to install OMSA
onto your Ubuntu 16 server, please issue the following commands one
after the other, waiting for each task to complete:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to download
 and create the repository file.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 echo
 'deb http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/ubuntu xenial
 openmanage/840' >
 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux.dell.com.sources.list

 

 

 (please
 note that each command is one line)

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 2

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to download
 the repository key.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 gpg
 --keyserver hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-key
 1285491434D8786F

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 3

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run this command to import the
 key into APT.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 gpg
 -a --export 1285491434D8786F | apt-key add -

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 4

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run this coomand to let the APT
 kknow there’s a new repository.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt
 update -y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 5

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to install
 the required utilities.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt
 install srvadmin-base srvadmin-omcommon srvadmin-storageservices
 -y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 6

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 start the OMSA service.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 start

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 7

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run the following command to
 enable the OMSA service.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 enable

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 
 

Dell
EMC’s OpenManage System will now be installed on your server.
You can then use this software to manage and monitor the hardware
within this server. Before you can access and use OMSA, you will have
to logout of the server and close any SSH shell, and then re-login.

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How to Install OMSA on Debian 7
Downloading
OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a server with Debian 7
installed, involves issue commands which download the necessary
repository files and keys, installing the required utilities, then
starting and enabling the OMSA services. 

First,
you need to log into the server’s root account. Once you are
logged in, to install OMSA onto your Debian 7 server, please issue
the following commands one after the after, waiting for each task to
complete:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to download
 and create the repository file.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 echo
 'deb http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/debian wheezy
 openmanage' >
 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux.dell.com.sources.list

 

 

 (each
 command is one line)

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 2

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to download
 the repository key.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 gpg
 --keyserver hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-key
 1285491434D8786F

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 3

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run this command to import the
 key into APT.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 gpg
 -a --export 1285491434D8786F | apt-key add -

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 4

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run this coomand to let the APT
 know there’s a new repository.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt-get
 update -y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 5

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to install
 the required utilities.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt-get
 install srvadmin-base srvadmin-omcommon srvadmin-storageservices
 –y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 6

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 start the OMSA service.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 start

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 7

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run the following command to
 enable the OMSA service.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 enable

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 
 

Dell
EMC’s OpenManage System will now be installed on your server.
You can then use this software to manage and monitor the hardware
within this server. Before you can access and use OMSA, you will have
to logout of the server and close any SSH shell, and then re-login. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How to Install OMSA on Debian 8
Downloading
OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a server with Debian 8
installed, involves issue commands which download the necessary
repository files and keys, install the required utilities, then start
and enable the OMSA services.

First,
you need to log into the server’s root account. Once you are
logged in, to install OMSA onto your Debian 8 server, please issue
the following commands one after the after, waiting for each task to
complete before proceeding:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to download
 and create the repository file.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 echo
 'deb http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/debian jessie
 openmanage' >
 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux.dell.com.sources.list

 

 

 (Each
 command is one line)

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 2

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to download
 the repository key.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 gpg
 --keyserver hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-key
 1285491434D8786F

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 3

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run this command to import the
 key into APT.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 gpg
 -a --export 1285491434D8786F | apt-key add -

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 4

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run this coomand to let the APT
 kknow there’s a new repository.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt-get
 update -y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 5

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue this command to install
 the required utilities.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt-get
 install srvadmin-base srvadmin-omcommon srvadmin-storageservices
 -y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 6

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 start the OMSA service.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 start

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 7

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run the following command to
 enable the OMSA service.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 enable

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Dell
EMC’s OpenManage System will now be installed on your server.
You can then use this software to manage and monitor the hardware
within this server. Before you can access and use OMSA, you will have
to logout of the server and close any SSH shell, and then re-login. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How to Install OMSA on Debian 9
There
is no officially supported version of OpenManage Server Administrator
(OMSA) for Debian 9. However, using the guide below, you are able to
download the Debian 8 version of OMSA onto a Debian 9 OS. 

Please
note that there may be compatibility issues and iomart (and any
company within the iomart group) are not responsible for any issues
performing this action may cause. Also, please note that Dell EMC
would advise not to install this version of OMSA onto a Debian 9
server.

If
you do with to install OMSA onto a Debian 9 server, using a Debian 8
version of the software, see below how to perform this task. 

Downloading
OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) onto a server with Debian 9
installed, involves issue commands which download the necessary
repository files and keys, install the required utilities, then start
and enable the OMSA services. 

First,
you need to log into the server’s root account. Once you are
logged in, to install OMSA onto your Debian 9 server, please issue
the following commands one after the after, waiting for each task to
complete before proceeding with the next command:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 The following four commands are
 to configure your server so that the Debian 8 version of OMSA can
 be installed onto Debian 9. Please note that there may be
 compatibility issues and iomart (and any company within the iomart
 group) are not responsible for any issues performing this action
 may cause. Also, please note that Dell EMC would advise not to do
 this.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 wget
 -q -O /tmp/libssl1.0.0_1.0.1t-1+deb8u9_amd64.deb 
 

 

 

 (please
 note, this and all commands are one continuous line)

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 2

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 dpkg
 -i /tmp/libssl1.0.0_1.0.1t-1+deb8u9_amd64.deb

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 3

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt-get
 update

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 4

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt-get
 install dirmngr* -y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 5

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 create the repository file, using the Jessie repo, because the
 Strech one is not compatible.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 echo
 'deb http://linux.dell.com/repo/community/debian jessie
 openmanage' >
 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linux.dell.com.sources.list

 

 

 (please
 note, this and all commands are one continuous line)

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 6

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run this command to download the
 repostiroy key.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 gpg
 --keyserver hkps.pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-key
 1285491434D8786F

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 7

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run this comand to import the
 key into APT.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 gpg
 -a --export 1285491434D8786F | apt-key add -

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 8

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run the bellow command to let
 APT know there is a new repository.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt-get
 update -y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 9

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 install the required utilities.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt-get
 install srvadmin-base srvadmin-omcommon srvadmin-storageservices
 –y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 10

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the below command to start
 the OMSA service.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 start

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 11

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Now run this command to enable
 the OMSA service.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 /opt/dell/srvadmin/sbin/srvadmin-services.sh
 enable

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 
 

Dell
EMC’s OpenManage System will now be installed on your server.
You can then use this software to manage and monitor the hardware
within this server. Before you can access and use OMSA, you will have
to logout of the server and close any SSH shell, and then re-login. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I access Dell OMSA on a Linux server?
When
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) is installed on a Linux
server, the OMSA product is accessible through the server’s
operating system, through the command line interface. 

Simply
access your server remotely in the normal manor and log into your
server’s root account. You can then issue a command through the
server’s operating system to find what information you need.
Some example of commands can be found through our FAQ section on
MyServers. Additional commands and information can be found online
through Dell EMC’s and Linux’s support websites, and
through community pages.

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use Dell OMSA to check hardware on a Linux server?
One
of the main features of Dell’s OpenManage Server Administrator
tool (OMSA) is that it allows you to check for any errors that may
have occurred with the server’s hardware and allows you to
check the current status of several components. Due to the nature of
hardware, we recommend checking the status of the server’s
hardware on a regular basis. 

To
check the current state of the server and to check the error log, you
should run the following command:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 The
 following command shows the current status of the server and
 displays the server’s alert log, as monitored by OMSA.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 system alertlog

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

The
above command will show the log of all errors with the server
hardware monitored by OMSA. You can use this information to see if
there are currently any errors with the server that may need
investigation. An example of an error would be the following: 

As
you can see from this example, there is currently an error with the
storage of this server. The severity of the error is also shown.
There are four statuses within OpenManage:

 
 
 Status

 
 
 Description

 
 
 
 
 OK

 
 
 The component is working as
 normal and is healthy.

 
 
 
 
 Non-Critical Warning

 
 
 These errors normally indicate a
 problem which is not service impacting, but still require prompt
 attention.

 
 
 
 
 Failed / Critical Warning

 
 
 The component has either failed
 or has a critical warning. If a critical error occurs, there error
 must be addressed as soon as possible.

 
 
 
 
 Unknown Status

 
 
 The status of this component is
 unknown.

 
 

To
find out more specific details about errors relating to hardware and
to check the current status of specific pieces of hardware, you need
to run the specific OMSA command in the server’s root account’s
command line interface. 

Some
examples of commands can be found below; additional commands and
information can be found online through Dell EMC’s and Linux’s
support websites, and through community pages.

#### Investigating storage errors using OMSA on a Linux server
When
storage is mentioned in Dell EMC OpenManage (OMSA), this is referring
to the RAID controller (if a RAID controller is present), all the
physical drives, and all the virtual drives (or RAID arrays). When an
error occurs related to storage, this would normally mean that there
is an error with a physical drive, which has then effected the RAID
array it is configured within. This is for the majority of cases;
however, there can be other issues related to storage, which can
cause errors. 

To
check for errors relating to storage, run the following command:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 The
 following command shows the current status of the server and
 displays the server’s alert log, as monitored by OMSA.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 system alertlog

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

This
command will list all the errors with the server; including errors
relating to storage. In my example, you can see that there are
several errors relating to storage; all caused by Physical Disk 0:1:3
being missing/removed.

You
can use the information in the log to identify which Controller,
Connector, Virtual Disk (VD) and Physical Disk (PD) the errors relate
to. 

With
this information, you can find out more details about the physical
drive that has failed. Run the following command, inputting the
controller number from your error:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 2

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 The
 following command lists all the Physical Disks attached to the
 controller you specify; and all the Physical Disk’s details.
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 storage pdisk controller=[Insert Controller
 Number] 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Here
you will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks attached to this
controller. You will also be able to see any errors and the state of
each Physical Disk.

At
this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server
should be, especially related to RAID arrays and disk configuration.
As an example, the server below is meant to have 4x Physical Disks
attached to the RAID controller, however, only 3 are listed. This is
normally caused by a drive completely failing; causing it to
disappear from the monitoring. The monitoring may not show this, but
by comparing your knowledge of the server’s configuration to
what components are currently listed, you can see a drive is missing.

These
details can be used to identify any drives that may have an error,
may be fault, or may be missing from OMSA’s monitoring; and can
help locate a drive for it to be replaced. 

You
can use this information to decide what you wish to do next. If you
do encounter any drives with an error and wish for this drive to be
replaced, please see the section on having a disk replaced using OMSA
for more details.

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### Checking storage status - Physical Disks & Virtual Disks - using OMSA on a Linux Server
Due
to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the
status of your server’s hardware, and specifically to check the
status of the storage within the server for any errors. Dell EMC’s
OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to
check the current status of each RAID array (or Virtual Disk)
configured on your server and the status of each physical drive.

First,
you should check the status of each Virtual Disk (VD). To do this,
run the following commands:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 Run the
 following command to list all the Virtual Disks configured within
 this server. You also will be presented with the VDs’
 details and statuses. 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 storage vdisk

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

You
will now be presented with a list of Virtual Disks configured within
the server, their details, their current status and their ID number.
In my example below, you can see I have one RAID array which is
degraded.

You
should now know if there is an error with any of the RAID arrays (or
VDs) within the chassis. If there is an error with an array, this is
normally caused by a Physical Disk (PD) within this array also having
an error, or failing. However, other problems can occur, which can
cause an error with a Virtual Disk. 

If
there is an error with a Virtual Disk or not, you should also check
the status of all the Physical Disks within the server. To do this,
you first need to identify how many RAID controllers are within this
server and the ID number of these RAID controllers. Once you have
identified this information, you can use the RAID controllers’
ID number(s) to list all the physical disks connected to these
controllers. 

Run
the following two commands; using the ID number(s) from Command 2
below, to fill in the blank in command 3. Run command 3 once for each
controller:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 2

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 The
 following command lists all the RAID controllers within the
 chassis. You need this information (identified in my results
 example, with a red box) for command 3. 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 storage controller

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 3

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 Run the
 following command, using the controller’s ID number from
 Command 2, to list all the Physical Disks within this server. You
 will also be able to see their details and statuses. 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 storage pdisk controller=[insert controller
 number]

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Repeat
Command 3 for every controller found in the results of Command 2. 

In
my example above, and with most of our dedicated servers we provide,
there is normally only one controller with an ID of 0; however, some
servers maybe configured with more than one. Once you have run the
above two commands (for every controller within the chassis), you
will have a clear idea of the status of every physical disk within
the chassis, and you should be able to identify if any drives
currently have an error. In my example below, you can see drive 0:1:3
currently has a critical error, and its state is removed. 

At
this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server
should be, especially related to RAID arrays and disk configuration.
If a drive completely fails, it can sometimes not show in OMSA at
all, opposed to showing as having an error. As an example, the server
below is meant to have 4x Physical Disks attached to the RAID
controller, however, only 3 are listed. This is normally caused by a
drive completely failing; causing it to disappear from the
monitoring. The monitoring may not show this, but by comparing your
knowledge of the server’s configuration to what components are
currently listed, you can see a drive is missing. 

Once
you have a list of each physical drives configured within the server,
you should be able to identify any drives with any errors or if any
drives are missing from the OMSA monitoring. You can now use this
information to inform your decision on what to do next. 

If
you wish to have a drive replaced, please see the section on our FAQ
on how to go about getting a technician to perform this action, using
the information form OMSA. If you do wish for a drive to be replaced,
you will need to provide the details found on the physical drive’s
information page, as shown in the examples above. This will aid the
on-site technician in identifying the faulty drive, during the drive
swap process.

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### Checking other component’s status (Non-Storage), using OMSA on a Linux server
Due
to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to check the status of
your server’s hardware on a regular basis, to check for any
errors or failed components. Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server
Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to check the current
status of several sub-components of the server. 

To
check for any errors, simply run the command to show the error log,
as shown below: 

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 The
 following command shows the current status of the server and sow
 the server’s alert log, as monitored by OMSA.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 system alertlog

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

This
will provide you with a list of any errors related to hardware
monitored by OMSA. You can use this to see if any component monitored
by OMSA currently has an error. If you do encounter any errors, you
should use OMSA’s commands to find out more details about the
component and its error. Please see below how to do this for some of
the main components. For other components, commands can be found
online through Dell’s and Linux’s support websites. 

You
can also run commands to check the current status and configuration
of specific pieces of hardware and to look at any errors in more
detail. It is good practice to do this on a regular basis, as running
the above command may not list a completely failed piece of hardware;
so you should check each main hardware type to identify if any piece
of hardware has completely failed and is missing. There are specific
commands for different pieces of hardware monitored by OMSA. See
below for examples of the main components monitored by OMSA and the
commands that are used to check their status (excluding components
related to storage). 

Memory
The
memory component refers to all the RAM within the chassis. You can
use OMSA to check how many RAM sticks are configured within the
server, their details, their status and what DIMM slot they are using
on the server’s motherboard. 

To
check on the status of the memory within the chassis, you need to run
the following command:

 
 
 
 

 

 RAM
 - Command 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 Run
 the following command to bring up a list of what RAM stick are
 configured within the chassis, their status, and their details.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 chassis memory

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

You
can use the results of this command to check the status of your
system’s memory. If a stick of RAM ever does become faulty, you
will be able to find the details of the faulty RAM here which our
technicians would need to replace the faulty stick. You can also use
this page to identify if a RAM stick has become completely failed and
is now missing from OMSA. 

If
you wish for a faulty stick of RAM to be replaced, please let us know
all the details found through OMSA, so we can easily identify the
faulty stick of RAM. If possible, a screenshot of this page would
also be helpful. Please see the section on getting faulty RAM
replaced using OMSA for more details.

Processors
You
can use OMSA to list the processors (or CPUs) configured within your
server. To find out more details about the processors in your server
and their current status, run the following command. 

 
 
 
 

 

 Processor
 (CPU)
 - Command 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 Run
 the following command to bring up a list of what Processors are
 configured within the chassis, their status and their details.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 chassis processors

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

If
an error does ever occur with a processor within a server, please
feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to investigate this
for you. If there is more than one processer installed in your
server, please provide us with the Connector Name of the faulty CPU,
so our technicians can easily identify which processor needs
replacing. For more details on getting a faulty CPU replaced, please
see the section on getting a CPU replaced using OMSA.

Network
You
can use OMSA to lists all the network ports attached to the server.
You can also see the NIC interface’s index, name, details and
status. To find these details, run the following command:

 
 
 
 

 

 Network
 -
 Command 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 Run
 the following command to bring up a list of network ports within
 the chassis.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 chassis nics

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

You
can use the above information to identify if any of the network ports
have encounter an error. 

The
above commands, provided by OMSA, allows you to check the status of
several components and to check for errors. This information allows
you decide on what action you wish to be taken on the server and
allows you to effectively troubleshoot any hardware related issues. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I us OSMA to identify a failed drive’s details & have a drive replaced on a Linux server?
If
you do encounter a physical drive with an error and you wish for this
drive to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the
following information about the failed drive as possible to our
support team, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which
drive needs replacing:

 

 Serial number

 

 Type of drive (e.g. SSD, SATA HDD, SAS HDD, etc.)

 

 Capacity

 

 Product ID

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number

This
information will aid the technician in locating the failed drive and
swapping it with the correct replacement drive. You can use Dell
EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to
find this information.

To
find this information, you must first be logged into the server’s
root account, then have identify a drive with an error/that has
failed. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA and then the
section on locating a drive with an error, if you are un-sure how to
do this. To locate a drive with an error/which has failed, you should
have run the following command: 

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 The
 following command lists all the Physical Disks attached to the
 controller you specify; and all the Physical Disk’s details.
 Within the command, you must insert the controller number, for the
 controller you wish to check the status of the physical disks for.
 You should be able to find this number from the resulting message
 of commands shown in the identifying storage errors section of the
 FAQ: omreport storage controller.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 storage pdisk controller=[Insert Controller
 Number]

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Once
you have found the physical drive with the error and run the above
command, you should be able to identify details about the drive with
the error, including the details required by our technicians to
locate the drive. See the image below as an example of how to find
the necessary information. 

If
you wish for the drive to be replaced, please supply all the
necessary information in a support ticket, requesting for the faulty
drive to be replaced, and we will be happy to help. You can also
supply a screenshot of the results of the above command. 

To
work out the drive’s physical bay number, you can use the ID of
this drive in conjunction with all the other physical disks’ ID
numbers. After running the command above you will be able to see the
ID number of all the Physical Disks attached to this controller,
which you can use to identify the bay number of the faulty drive.
Using the example below, the drive I wish to be replaced is disk
0:1:3, the first drive in the server is disk 0:1:0 and the last drive
is 0:1:3. When asking the technicians to replace this disk, simply
inform them of the failed drive’s ID number (e.g. 0:1:3) and
inform them of the drive’s ID counting format (e.g. 0:1:0 to
0:1:3), as they can use this to locate the physical disk.

In
addition to providing the information above, OMSA on most servers
will also allow you to set the drive to ‘blink’, which
will also help our technician locate the appropriate drive. To get
the drive to blink, run the following command. You will need to know
the controller’s ID number, for the controller the drive is
attached to, and the drive’s ID number, for the drive you wish
to blink. 

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 The
 following command sets the LED on the drive bay, for the inputted
 drive, to blink. You need to input the controller ID number and
 the Physical Disk ID number for the drive you wish to blink.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omconfig
 storage pdisk action=blink controller=[Insert
 Controller ID#] pdisk=[Insert PD ID#]

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

If
you have been able to set the drive to blink, please inform the
technicians in the support ticket that you have done so. If you
cannot set the drive bay to blink, this is most likely not a
hot-swappable chassis, meaning this is not required.

When
the technicians have completed any drive swap, you should run the
following command to set the drive to ‘un-blink’, to stop
the drive bay blinking. It is important to do so, to make sure this
drive bay isn’t still blinking while any further drive changes
at a later date are taking place, as this may lead to some confusion.

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 The
 following command sets the LED on the drive bay, for the inputted
 drive, to stop blinking. You need to input the controller ID
 number and the Physical Disk ID number for the drive you wish to
 blink.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omconfig
 storage pdisk action=unblink controller=[Insert
 Controller ID#] pdisk=[Insert PD ID#]

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Once
you provide all this information in a support ticket and set the
drive bay to blink (if possible), the local technicians will be able
to look into swapping the failed drive. 

If
the drive is missing from the OMSA monitoring, opposed to having an
error, then you will not be able to provide the necessary information
listed above to get the drive replaced, nor set the drive bay to
blink. Instead, you can provide the information on all the drives
that are still present on OMSA and their details in a support ticket,
so that by process of elimination the technicians can replace the
missing drive.

Once
you have provided all the information from the drives that are still
present, the technicians should be able to identify the missing drive
and replace it.

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use OMSA to identify a failed RAM stick & have it replaced on a Linux server?
If
you do encounter an error related to the server’s memory (RAM)
and you wish for a RAM stick to be replaced, you will need to provide
as much of the following information as possible to our support team,
to allow the technicians to correctly identify which RAM stick needs
replacing:

 

 The failed RAM stick’s DIMM slot number (i.e. the Connector
 Name)

 

 The failed RAM stick’s size 
 

 

 The failed RAM stick’s type

You
can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA)
application to find this information. You must first be logged into
the server’s root account and have located the RAM stick with
the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are
unsure on how to access it. To find the details about the memory
configured in the server, run the following command: 

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 Run the
 following command to bring up a list of what RAM sticks are
 configured within the chassis, their status and their details. 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 chassis memory

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Here
you will be able to see a list of the RAM sticks attached to the
motherboard, their statuses, their connector names, their type and
their size. If a stick of RAM appears with an error and you wish for
it to be replaced, you will need to supply all the information about
this stick of RAM shown in the results, in a support ticket, so that
the technician can identify the failed DIMM and replace it. You can
also supply a screenshot of this page. 

Occasionally,
if a RAM stick completely fails, it may not appear on this page with
an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together.
As an example, the server below is meant to be configured with 4x
16GB RAM sticks (or 64Gb of memory in total), but only 3x 16GB RAM
sticks are appearing. If this is the case, it is quite likely that a
stick has completely failed and needs replacing. If this has happened
you will not be able to find the required information above on the
failed RAM stick to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the
information on all the other RAM sticks that are still present, so
the technicians can locate the failed DIMM through a process of
elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket,
the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty RAM
stick.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use OMSA to identify a faulty CPU & have it replaced on a Linux server?
If
you do encounter an error related with a server’s CPU
(Processor) and you wish for it to be replaced, and if there is more
than one CPU in this server, you will need to provide as much of the
following information as possible about the faulty CPU, to allow our
technicians to correctly identify which CPU needs replacing:

 

 The failed CPU’s slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)

 

 The failed CPU’s Make and Model (i.e. Processor Brand
 information)

If
your server only has one CPU installed, we do not require this
information to locate and replace the CPU. Please feel free to raise
a support ticket and we will be happy to help. 

If
you do have more than one CPU in the server, this information will
aid the technician in locating the failed CPU and swapping it with
the correct replacement CPU. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage
Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To
find this information, you must first be logged into the server’s
root account and you must have located the CPU with the error. Please
see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are unsure on how to access
OMSA. To find the details about the processors configured in the
server, run the following command: 

 
 
 
 

 

 Processor
 (CPU)
 - Command 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 

 

 Run the
 following command to bring up a list of what Processors are
 configured within the chassis, their status and their details. 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 omreport
 chassis processors

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Here
you will be able to see a list of the CPUs installed in the server,
their make and model, their connector name and their specifications.
If a CPU appears with an error and you wish for this CPU to be
replaced, you will need to supply all the information about this CPU
that appears in the results from this command in a support ticket, so
that our technician can identify the failed processor and replace it.
You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Occasionally,
if a CPU completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an
error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. If
this is the case, then you will not be able to find the information
above on the failed CPU, to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide
the information on all the CPUs that are present, so the technicians
can locate the failed processor through a process of elimination. You
can also supply a screenshot of this page. 

Once
you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the
technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty CPU.

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

### Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status - Dell OMSA - VMware ESXI Servers
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/dell-omsa-vmware-esxi-servers

#### How do I install Dell OpenManage Server Administrator on a VMware ESXI server?
Dell
EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application is a
free tool which Dell provide, enabling Dell PowerEdge users to have
greater control over their server remotely. OMSA is downloadable
through Dell’s support website and is compatible with most
Operating Systems and with most PowerEdge chassis. OMSA compatibility
is based on the Dell PowerEdge server’s generation and the
version of ESXI installed onto the server. See below what generation
of Dell PowerEdge servers Vs. what Operating System OMSA supports.

 
 
 Compatibility
 with OS

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 11th Gen (R_10)

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 12th Gen (R_20)

 
 
 Compatible
 with Dell PE 13th Gen (R_30)

 
 
 
 
 ESXI
 5.0

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Not Supported

 
 
 Not Supported

 
 
 
 
 ESXI
 5.1

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Not Supported

 
 
 
 
 ESXI
 5.5

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 ESXI
 6.0

 
 
 Not Supported

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 ESXI
 6.5

 
 
 Not Supported

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 

Please
note that OpenManage Server Administrator is a free piece of software
supplied by Dell EMC. As such iomart (and any company within the
iomart group; including RapidSwitch and Redstation) are not
responsible for this software, nor are they responsible for any
effects downloading, installing or using this software may have on
your platform. We can only advise you to use OMSA and provide you
with advice on how to do so; the choice to download, install and use
the software must be your own. Also, as a managed infrastructure
provider, we do not officially support OMSA; as such we will not be
able to install, use or configure this software.

The
Dell OMSA product is downloaded through Dell’s website, on
their Product Support – Drivers & Downloads page, found
here:

Dell
Product Support - Drivers & Downloads

First,
open up this webpage on your home/work computer’s web-browser.
We will be downloading the OMSA installation file onto your home/work
computer and then remotely uploading it onto your server from there. 

Once
you are on the Drivers & Downloads page, you need to select the
model of you server. To find the model of your server, while on the
MyServers control panel, press the My Servers button.

Then
click on the name of the server you wish to install OMSA onto.

On
this page, under Service Description, you will be able to see the
make and model of this server. In my example below, you can see that
the server is a Dell PowerEdge R230.

Now
you know the model of your device, you can enter the model into the
Dell website, by typing the chassis’ model in the search bar
and then pressing the green arrow. Please type in the chassis model
in the same format as shown in the image below (PowerEdge R---). 

You
should now be presented with the chassis’ Drivers &
Downloads page. If you are presented with a list of search results,
however, please look through the results and click on your chassis
model. Once you are on the Drives & Downloads page, you should
now enter the Operating System which is installed on the server. Do
this in the Operating System drop-down box.

Now
in the Keyword search box enter ‘OMSA’ and select Systems
Management in the Category drop-down box. 

Now
find the Dell EMC OpenManage Server Administrator Managed
Installation Bundle (VIB) and click on its download button. The
software installer file will now download onto your home/work
computer.

Once the download has finished, you should rename the zip file to
OMSA. This will make it easier to install. 

Once
the installation file has been downloaded onto your home/work
computer, you can now upload the installation file onto the server’s
Operating System, into the Host’s datastore. Different version
of VMware ESXI have slightly different processes for uploading
content remotely; but the principle is the same. The process I use
below, to demonstrate how to do this, uses ESXI 6.5 as an example. If
you have a different version of VMware ESXI installed on your server,
the process is very similar to the one outlined below, but you can
also use content available on the internet to aid you in uploading
the OMSA installer file to the host’s datastore.

To
upload the installer bundle onto your server’s operating
system, first remotely access and log into your server, using the
same computer you downloaded the installation bundle onto. Next, you
need to locate the Host’s datastore. To do this in ESXI 6.5,
first make sure Host is selected, then select Storage, and then click
on the datastore you wish to have the file uploaded to. 

Please
take a note of the datastore’s name; as you will need this for
a later step. In my example, it is datastore1.

Now
you are on the datastore you wish to upload the installation bundle
onto, select Datastore browser.

You
can now click Upload. 

You
now need to select the OMSA installation bundle to upload it. 

The
installation bundle should now appear in the datastore. You can now
press close, to close the datastore browser.

Now the file has been uploaded to the server, the next step is to
enable SSH for this server (if you haven’t previously enabled
SSH). To do this in ESXI 6.5, return to Host, select Actions, select
Services and then select Enable Secure Shell (SSH). 

Once
you have clicked Enable, you should be returned to the host’s
home screen and be presented with the message ‘SSH is enabled
on this host. You should disable SSH unless it is necessary for
administrative purposes’.

You
now need to SSH into your server’s host root account, using
Putty (or any SSH client tool). Once you are logged in, you now need
to install the VIB with the following command:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 install the OMSA software.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 esxcli
 software vib install -d /vmfs/volume/[Insert
 datastore name]/[Insert filename].zip

 

 

 (You
 should have taken a note of the datastore name in an earlier step;
 and you should have set the filename to OMSA)

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 (In
 my example, the datastore name is datastore1 and the filename is
 OMSA)

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

To
complete the installation, you now need to reboot the host. To do
this in VMware ESXI, you can exit the SSH shell, return to the GUI
interface, and while on the Host’s homepage click Reboot. 

If
you are not in Maintenance mode, you may be presented with an error.
If you are happy for the server to be restarted, press Reboot. 

If
you normally have SSH disabled on your server, you may wish to
disable SSH, as this will improve your server’s security. 

The
server’s operating system should now reboot and you should be
presented with the OS’s login screen. Once the host has
rebooted, the installation of OMSA onto your server is now complete.

If
you have any more questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ.
If you FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a
ticket and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I access Dell OMSA on a VMware ESXI server?
When
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) is installed on a VMware
ESXI server, to access OMSA, you will need to download a version of
the OMSA software onto your home/work computer and access it
remotely. 

To
install OMSA onto a Windows computer, first download OMSA for Windows
onto your computer. Click the appropriate version (based on your
home/work computer’s memory) below, to download the OMSA
software onto your computer:

 
 
 
 System
 Architecture (bits)

 
 
 OMSA
 Download Link 
 

 
 
 
 
 x32
 bits

 
 
 OMSA
 8.5 
 

 
 
 
 
 x64
 bits

 
 
 OMSA
 9.1 
 

 
 
 

Please
note that the source of these two downloads are Dell’s Support
website. You can find the two files here:

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/how10613/how-to-install-openmanage-server-administrator-omsa-on-vmware-to-collect-logs?lang=en

Once
the files have downloaded, you will need to un-zip it; using software
such as WinZip. When the file has been un-zipped, you need to open
the OpenManage > Windows folder, then run the setup.exe file. 

The
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator prerequisite status screen runs
and displays the prerequisite checks for the managed system. 

Once
it has completed scanning for prerequisite information, it will list
out any errors or warnings that it encountered. You should resolve
all error and warning situations before continuing the installation.
Some errors are correctible by simply clicking on the blue text
within the error. Once you are ready to install OMSA, click
Install Server Administrator.

The
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Install Wizard now appears.
Click Next to begin to proceed.

The
Dell End User License Agreement now appears. Please read through this
agreement. If you wish to proceed, select the ‘I Accept’
option and then click
Next.

You
now need to select the type of installation required. There are two
options:

 

 Typical: All program features will be installed.

 

 Custom: Choose which features you want installed and choose the
 installation directory.

This
guide will show you how to proceed with the Typical install of OSMA.
However, if you run a Custom install, you will be able to select
which features you wish to be installed and where for OMSA to be
installed to. 

For
a Typical install, make sure Typical is selected and then press Next.

Now
click Install. 

The
install will now begin. Once it has completed. Press Finish. 

OMSA
has now been installed onto your home/work computer. You can now use
this to access the OMSA software on your VMware ESXI software. To do,
first open the software. 

This
will open a new web-page in your default browser. Advance through the
warning page until you get to the Managed System login page. Now
enter the default external IP address for your server’s Host.
This is the IP address you use to access the server remotely, to
access the host’s controls. Then enter the host user’s
root username and password. 

Now
tick Ignore Certificate Warnings and press submit. 

You
should now be presented with the home screen for the OMSA control
panel, for you ESXI server. You have now accessed and logged into
Dell EMC’s OpenManage software. You can now use OMSA to check
the hardware of your server and to monitor for any errors. We would
recommend familiarising yourself with the application and the
configuration of the server after you have logged in for the first
time; so if an error does occur in future, you already understand how
your server should be configured and how to use the application. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use Dell OMSA to check hardware on a VMware ESXI server?
One
of the main features of Dell’s OpenManage Server Administrator
tool is that it allows you to check for any errors that may have
occurred with the server’s hardware. 

When
you first log into the OpenManger portal on a Windows computer, and
use it to access the OMSA tools of your VMware ESXI server, you will
be presented with the current health status of the server. If there
are currently any errors with the server, they will be displayed
here.

As
you can see from this example, there is currently an error with the
storage of this server. The severity and type of error is identified
by the symbol in-line with the error. There are four statuses within
OpenManage:

 
 
 Icon

 
 
 Status

 
 
 Description

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 OK

 
 
 The component is working as
 normal and is healthy.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 Non-Critical Warning

 
 
 These errors normally indicate a
 problem which is not currently service impacting, but will still
 require prompt attention.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 Failed / Critical Warning

 
 
 The component has either failed
 or has a critical warning. If a critical error has occurred, it
 must be addressed as soon as possible.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 Unknown Status

 
 
 The status of this component is
 unknown.

 
 

How
you identify the specific error and how you proceed is dependent on
what type of component has an error. Please see below how to
investigate specific pieces or hardware.

#### Investigating Storage Errors Using OMSA on an ESXI server
The
term storage, when mentioned in the Dell EMC OpenManage portal,
refers to the RAID controller (if a RAID controller is present), all
the physical drives, and all the virtual drives (or RAID arrays)
within the server. When an error occurs related to storage, this
would normally mean that there is an error with a Physical Disks,
which has then effected the RAID array it is configured within. This
is for the majority of cases; however, there can be other issues
related storage, which cause storage errors. 

In
my example by below, there is currently a non-critical error with the
storage of this server. To find more details out about any present
error, first, simply click on the component with the error.

Depending
on the set-up of the server, you may now need to navigate further, to
identify the specific details of the error. In my example, it is a
SSD which has an error; so I need to Navigate from the RAID
controller component, into the array which contains the SSD. This
will bring up the list of Physical Disks configured within this
array. Navigate by clicking on the component title with the error. 

Once
you are presented with the component with the error, click on the 

symbol to bring up more details about the component.

Here
you can see the details about the Physical Disk, its state and its
current status.

These
details can be used to identify which drive is faulty and can help
locate the drive. Using this information, you can decide what action
you wish to be taken. If you wish for a drive to be replaced, please
see the section on having a drive replaced using OMSA for more
details. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### Checking storage status, Physical Disk status & Virtual Disk status using OMSA on an ESXI server
Due
to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the
status of your server’s hardware, and specifically to check the
status of the storage within the server for any errors. Dell EMC’s
OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to
check the current status of each RAID array (or Virtual Disk)
configured on your server and the status of each physical drive. 

To
check the status of the storage devices within the server, first use
the OMSA portal on your home/work computer to access your server’s
OMSA services. Once you are logged in to the OMSA GUI, click on
storage, in the lift hand side panel. 

Depending
on the configuration of your server, you will now be presented with a
list of RAID controllers and Virtual Disks configured on the server
(if present), or a list of Physical Disks. 

If
there are any errors with any of the storage components or
configuration, you should see either a non-critical or
critical warning symbol, next to one of the items. You should also be
able to see the status of the Virtual Disks (if present) on this
server. 

At
this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server
should be, especially related to RAID arrays and drive configuration.
For the server in my example, the server was meant to have 4x RAID 0s
configured, which means there should be 4x Virtual Disks. However, as
you can see in my example, one of the Virtual Disks is missing. 

If
a Virtual Disk is missing, it would normally indicate that one or
more of the physical drives within this array has completely failed,
which has caused the RAID array to go offline. To investigate
further, you would need to check the Physical Disks.

If
there is an error with a Virtual Disk, if a Virtual Disk is missing,
or even if nothing appears to be wrong, at this point you should
check the status of all the Physical Disks within the chassis. You
should now click on the RAID controller name to check the individual
components within the RAID controller. 

You
should now see a list of components attached to the RAID controller.
This list can differ depending on the RAID controller that is
installed in your server. In my example, the RAID controller has a
Battery, two connecters, Firmware/Driver Version and Virtual Disks
attached/configured on the RAID controller. 

You
can see the status of each component to the right of it; which you
can use to identify if there are currently any errors. However, if a
Virtual/Physical Disk is completely offline, the status may still
show as OK for the Virtual Disks and Connectors, so it is still worth
clicking into these components even if they show as having no error.
Click onto Connector 0 to begin with. 

Depending
on the configuration of you server, you may need to click on further
components (e.g. Enclosure), until you reach the list of Physical
Disks. 

Here
you will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks attached to this
connecter on the RAID controller. Please note, depending on the setup
of your server, not all of the physical drives may be connected to
connecter 0; so you should keep this in mind while following the
below steps and also check any other connecters. 

Using
the list of all the physical drives, you will be able to see if any
of the drives have an error and the state of each Physical Disk.

At
this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server
should be, especially related to RAID arrays and disk configuration.
As an example, the server below is meant to have 4x Physical Disks
attached to the RAID controller (all through connector 0), however,
only 3 are listed. This is normally caused by a drive completely
failing; causing it to disappear from the monitoring. The monitoring
may not show this, but by comparing your knowledge of the server’s
configuration to what components are currently listed, you can see a
drive is missing.

You
can use this screen to see the current state of each drive attached
to the RAID controller through this connector. In my example, one of
the disks has a foreign configuration, which would normally suggest
an error has occurred with the drive. 

If
you are presented with a component with an error, click on the 

symbol to bring up more details about this component.

Here
you can see the details about the physical drive, its state and its
current status.

You
can now use this information to inform your decision on what to do
next. If you wish to have a drive replaced, please see the section on
our FAQ on how to go about getting a technician to perform this
action, using the information found on OMSA. If you do wish for a
drive to be replaced, you will need to provide the details found on
the physical drive’s information page, as shown in the example
above. This will aid our technician in identifying the faulty drive
during the drive swap process.

You
should now repeat this process for any other connectors and then any
other RAID controllers configured within your server. How many
connectors are present depend on the model of the RAID controller.
How many connectors are in use depends on how your server was built
and configured. Most of our dedicated servers only use one connector,
meaning that other connectors may have no Virtual Disks or Physical
Disks behind them, but please check to make sure. 

Once
you have checked all the connectors, you can now also check the
Virtual Disks for more details about their configuration and status,
by clicking on the Virtual Disks button. The status of the Virtual
Drives were shown in a previous screen, but by using the below steps,
you can check the Virtual Disks in more detail. 

Here
you will be able to see a list of all the Virtual Disks (or RAID
Arrays) configured on this RAID controller and their current status.
You will also be able to see the details of each Virtual Disk;
including the layout (i.e. the RAID configuration/level). 

At
this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server
should be, especially related to RAID arrays and drive configuration.
For the server in my example below, the server is meant to have 4x
RAID 0s configured, which means there should be 4x Virtual Disks.
However, as you can see in my example, one of the Virtual Disks is
missing. The most likely cause for this is either an error with a
Physical disk or a missing drive; which you should have been able to
identify on the page which listed all the physical disks attached to
the connectors.

If
an error does appears against one of the Virtual Disks, you can click
the name to find out all the Physical Disks configured within this
Virtual Disk, and check for any drives with errors or identify any
missing drives. 

After
checking the status of each component attached to each RAID
controller, checking through each connector of the RAID controller,
all the Physical Disks and all the Virtual Disks, you should have a
clear picture of the status of your server’s storage, and if
there are any errors or missing disks. If you have encountered any
issue with any of the hardware, please feel free to get in touch and
we will be happy to help. If you need further advice on how to
proceed, please feel free to get in touch or check through our FAQ
section on our MyServers Control Panel. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### Checking other components’ status (non-Storage), using OMSA on an ESXI server
Due
to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the
status of your server’s hardware, to check for any errors or
failed components. Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator
(OMSA) application allows you to check the current status of several
sub-components of the server. 

To
check the status of the components within the server, first log into
the OMSA portal on the server’s web browser. Once you are
logged in to the OMSA GUI, click on Main System chassis, in the left
hand side panel. 

You
will now see a list of all the components which OpenManage monitors;
other than the components related to storage (e.g. drives and RAID
controllers). Depending on the model of your chassis and its
configuration, the list of components that OpenManage can monitor
will differ. In my example, you can see that the Batteries, Fans,
Intrusion switch, Memory (RAM), Processors, Temperatures and Voltage
are all monitored. You will also see the current status of each
component. In my example below, there are no errors. 

In
addition to the components listed on the main section of this page,
you may also see several other components listed under Main System
Chassis, on the left-hand-side panel. In my example, I can see BIOS,
Firmware, Network, Ports, Power Management, Remote Access, Removable
Flash Media and Slots within the left-hand-side panel; which are not
listed within the main section of the page. 

To
find out more details about each specific component, click on the
component name. 

Below
is some detail on how to check the current status of the main
components within these lists. If you require more details about
components monitored by OMSA, which are not outlined below, content
can be found on Dell’s support website. If you need any
assistance, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help. 

Memory
The
memory component refers to all the RAM within the chassis. When you
click on memory, you will be able to find the details about how much
memory you server is currently configured with, the total amount of
memory this chassis can take, what type or RAM stick is in the
chassis, the details of each individual stick and their current
status. 

If
a stick of RAM ever does become faulty, you will be able to find the
details of the faulty RAM stick here. If you wish for a faulty stick
of RAM to be replaced, please let us know all the details found
within the Details of Memory Array section, so we can easily identify
the faulty stick of RAM. If possible, a screenshot of this page would
also be helpful. Please see the section on getting faulty RAM
replaced using OMSA for more details. 

Processors
The
processor (or CPU) page, lists all the processors within the server,
their details, and their current status. If you wish to find out more
details about a processor, you can click on the Connector Name to
bring up more details. 

If
an error does ever occur with a processor within a server, please
feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to investigate this
for you. If there is more than one processer installed in your
server, please provide us with the Connector Name of the faulty CPU,
so our technicians can easily identify which processor needs
replacing. For more details on getting a faulty CPU replaced, please
see the section on getting a CPU replaced using OMSA.

Network
Once
you click on Network, you will be able to see a list of all the
network ports attached to the server. 

You
can also see the description of the network ports (i.e. the network
port device’s details) and if they are currently shown as
connected or not connected. You can also click on the interface name
to find out more details about this connection; including the MAC
address, the duplex settings, the link and connection status, the IP
settings and the port’s speed.

The
above monitoring tools, provided by OMSA, allows you to check the
status of several components and to check for any errors. This
information allows you decide on what action you wish to be taken on
the server and allows you to effectively troubleshoot any hardware
related issues with the server. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use OSMA to identify a failed drive’s details and have it replaced on a VMware ESXI server?
If
you do encounter a physical drive with an error and you wish for this
drive to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the
following information about the failed drive as possible, to allow
our technicians to correctly identify which drive needs replacing:

 

 Serial number

 

 Type of drive (e.g. SSD, SATA HDD, etc.)

 

 Capacity

 

 Product ID

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number

This
information will aid our technician in locating the failed drive and
swapping it with the correct replacement drive. You can use Dell
EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to
find this information. 

To
find this information, you first need to use OMSA on your home/work
computer to access OMSA on your server, and then locate the Physical
Disk with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA and
then the section on investigating storage/storage errors to locate
the failed drive, if you are un-sure how to do this. Once you have
found the physical drive with the error, you will be able to click
the 

button to find more details about the drive with the error, including
the details required by our technicians to locate the drive. See the
image below as an example of how to find the necessary information
from the details of a physical drive. You can also provide a
screenshot of the failed drive’s details.

To
work out the drive’s physical bay number, you can use the ID of
this drive in conjunction with all the other Physical Disks’ ID
numbers. If you return to the list of all the Physical Disks, you can
see the drive I wish to be replaced is disk 0:1:1, the first drive in
the server is disk 0:1:0 and the last drive is 0:1:3. When asking the
technicians to replace this drive, simply inform them of the failed
drive’s ID number (e.g. 0:1:0) and inform them of the drive’s
ID counting format (e.g. 0:1:0 to 0:1:3), as they should be able use
this to locate the physical disk. You can also provide a screenshot
of this page. 

In
addition to providing the information above, OMSA on most servers
will also allow you to set the drive to ‘blink’, which
can be used to help the technician locate the appropriate drive. To
get the drive to blink, while on the page which lists all the
Physical Disks, set the task to ‘blink’ in-line with the
drive you wish to be swapped and then press Execute. This will then
make the LED light on the drive’s caddy blink. 

If
you are able to set the drive to blink, please inform the technicians
in the support ticket that you have done so. Some chassis may not
allow you to perform this action, however. If you cannot set the
drive bay to blink, this is most likely a non-hot-swappable chassis,
meaning this is not required. 

When
the technicians have completed any drive swap, you can use this same
process to set the drive to ‘un-blink’, using the
‘un-blink’ task, to stop the drive bay blinking. It is
important to do this, to make sure this drive bay isn’t still
blinking during any further drive changes at a later date, as this
may lead to some confusion.

Once
you provide all this information in a support ticket and set the
drive bay to blink (if possible), our technicians will be able to
look into swapping the failed drive. 

If
the drive is missing from the OMSA monitoring completely (opposed to
having an error), then you will not be able to provide the necessary
information listed above to get the drive replaced, nor set the drive
bay to blink. Instead, you can provide the information on all the
drives still present on OMSA and their details, so that by process of
elimination our technicians can replace the missing drive. 

Once
you have provided all the information from the drives that are still
present, the technicians should be able to identify the missing drive
and replace it. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use OMSA to identify a failed RAM stick & have it replaced on a VMware ESXI server?
If
you do encounter an error related to the server’s memory (RAM)
and you wish for a RAM stick to be replaced, you will need to provide
as much of the following information about the failed RAM stick as
possible, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which RAM
stick needs replacing:

 

 The failed RAM stick’s DIMM slot number (i.e. the Connector
 Name)

 

 The failed RAM stick’s size 
 

 

 The failed RAM stick’s type

This
information will aid our technician in locating the failed RAM stick
and swapping it with the correct replacement RAM. You can use Dell
EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to
find this information. 

To
find this information, first use OMSA on your home/work computer to
remotely access OMSA on your server, and then locate the RAM stick
with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are
unsure on how to access OMSA. To find the details about the memory
configured in the server, first click on Main System Chassis and then
Memory, in the left-hand-side panel. 

The
list of RAM sticks attached to the server’s motherboard are
found under Details of Memory Array 1. Here you will be able to see
their status, their connector names, their type and their size. If a
stick of RAM appears with an error, you will need to supply all the
information about this RAM stick that appears in this table, in a
support ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed DIMM
and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page. 

Occasionally,
if a RAM stick completely fails, it may not appear on this page with
an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together.
As an example, if your server is meant to be configured with 4x 16GB
RAM sticks (or 64Gb of memory in total), but only 3x 16GB RAM sticks
are appearing, then it is quite likely that a stick has completely
failed and needs replacing. If this is the case, you will not be able
to find the information above on the failed RAM stick, to get it
replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the RAM
sticks that are present without errors, so the technicians can locate
the failed DIMM through a process of elimination. You can also supply
a screenshot of this page. 

Once
you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, our
technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty RAM
stick.

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use OMSA to identify a faulty CPU on a VMware ESXI server?
If
you do encounter an error related with a server’s CPU and you
wish for it to be replaced, and if there is more than one CPU in this
server, you will need to provide as much of the following
information about the faulty CPU as possible, to allow our
technicians to correctly identify which CPU needs replacing:

 

 The failed CPU’s slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)

 

 The failed CPU’s Make and Model (i.e. Processor Brand
 information)

If
your server only has one CPU installed, we do not require this
information to locate and replace the CPU. Please feel free to raise
a support ticket and we will be happy to help. 

If
you do have more than one CPU in the server, this information will
aid our technician in locating the failed CPU and swapping it with
the correct replacement CPU. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage
Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information. 

To
find this information, first use OMSA on your home/work computer to
access OMSA on your server, and then locate the CPU with the error.
Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are un-sure how to
access OMSA. To find the details about the CPUs configured in the
server, first click on Main System Chassis and then click on
Processors, on the left-hand-side panel. The list of CPUs installed
in the server will now appear. 

Here
you will be able to see a list of the CPUs installed in the server,
their make and model, their connector name and their specifications.
If a CPU appears with an error, you will need to supply all the
information about this CPU that appears in this table, in a support
ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed processor and
replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page. 

Occasionally,
if a CPU completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an
error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. If
this is the case, then you will not be able to find the information
above on the failed CPU, to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide
the information on all the CPUs that are present without errors, so
our technicians can locate the failed processor through a process of
elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page. 

Once
you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the
technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty CPU.

### Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status - Dell OMSA - Windows Servers
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/dell-omsa-windows-servers

#### How do I Install OMSA on a Windows platform?
Dell
EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application is a
free tool which Dell provide, enabling Dell PowerEdge users to have
greater control over their server. OMSA is downloadable through
Dell’s support website and is compatible with most of the
latest Operating systems and with most PowerEdge chassis. OMSA
compatibility is based on the Dell PowerEdge server’s
generation and the version of Windows Server installed onto the
server. See below to see what server generation Vs. what Operating
System OMSA supports.

 
 
 Dell
 PowerEdge Generation

 
 
 Compatible
 with Windows Server 2012 & 2012 R2

 
 
 Compatible
 with Windows Server 2016

 
 
 
 
 Dell
 PowerEdge 11th Gen (R_10)

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Not Supported*

 
 
 
 
 Dell
 PowerEdge 12th Gen (R_20)

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 Dell
 PowerEdge 13th Gen (R_30)

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 Yes

 
 
 
 
 *There is no
 officially supported version of OMSA for Windows Server 2016 for
 11th
 Gen servers. However, you may be able to install the 12th
 generation version for 2016 onto a 11th
 Gen server. Please note, compatibility issues may arise from doing
 this. Also, iomart (or any company within the iomart group) are
 not responsible for any issues caused by performing this action,
 and Dell EMC would advise not to perform this action. 
 

 
 

Please
note that OpenManage Server Administrator is a free piece of software
supplied by Dell EMC. As such iomart (and any company within the
iomart group; including RapidSwitch and Redstation) are not
responsible for this software, nor are they responsible for any
effects downloading, installing or using this software may have on
your platform. We can only advise you to use OMSA and provide you
with advice on how to do so; the choice to download, install and use
the software must be your own. Also, as a managed infrastructure
provider, we do not officially support OMSA; as such we will not be
able to install, use or configure this software.

The
Dell OMSA product is downloaded through Dell’s website, on
their Product Support – Drivers & Downloads page, found
here: 

Dell
Product Support - Drivers & Downloads

First,
open up this page on your server’s web-browser. 

Once
you are on the Drivers & Downloads page, you now need to select
the model of you server. To find the model of your server, while on
the MyServers control panel, press the My Servers button.

Then
click on the name of the server you wish to install OMSA onto.

On
this page, under Service Description, you will be able to see the
make and model of this server. In my example below, you can see that
the server is a Dell PowerEdge R220.

Now
you know the model of your device, you can enter the model of your
server on the Dell Support website, by typing the chassis’
model in the search bar and then pressing the green arrow. Please
type in the chassis model in the same format as shown in the image
below; ‘PowerEdge R---‘. 

You
should now be presented with the chassis’ Drivers &
Downloads page. If you are presented with a list of search results,
however, please look through the results and click on your chassis
model. Once you are on the Drives & Downloads page you should now
select the Operating System which is installed on the server. Do this
in the Operating System drop-down box.

Now
in the Keyword search box enter ‘OMSA’. Then select
Systems Management in the Category drop-down box. 

Now
find the Dell EMC OpenManage Server Administrator Managed Node for
Windows within the list of downloadable software and click on the
download button. The software installer file will now download onto
your server.

Once
the OMSA file has been downloaded onto your Windows server, you can
begin to install the software. Start by unpacking the downloaded Dell
OpenManage Server Administrator Managed Node file. You will need a
program capable of un-zipping files installed on your server, such as
WinZip. 

Once
the file is un-zipped, run the autorun.exe/setup.exe file, found
within the OpenManage > Windows folder of the download, to begin
the installation wizard. 

If
the Dell Open Manage Install window appears and prompts you to choose
what utility to install, select Dell OpenManage Server Administrator
(Standalone Server Management) and click install.

On
some versions of OMSA, this screen may not appear and you will be
able to skip this step. 

The
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator prerequisite status screen will
now run and display the prerequisite checks for the managed system. 

Once
it has completed scanning for prerequisite information, it will list
any errors or warnings that it encountered. You should resolve all
error and warning situations before continuing the installation. Some
errors are correctible by simply clicking on the blue text within the
error. Once you are ready to install OMSA, click Install Server
Administrator.

The
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Install Wizard now appears.
Click Next to begin to proceed.

The
Dell End User License Agreement now appears. Please read through this
agreement. If you wish to proceed, select the ‘I Accept’
option and then click
Next.

You
now need to select the type of installation required. There are two
options:

 

 Typical: All program features will be installed in the default
 install location.

 

 Custom: Choose which features you want installed and choose the
 installation directory.

If
you wish to perform a typical install, meaning you wish to install
all features and you are happy for the software to be installed in
the default location, select Typical and then press next. 

If
you wish to perform a custom installation, select Custom and click
Next to continue. 

This
guide will show you how to perform a Custom install; however, if you
are performing a Typical install, once you have pressed next, simply
press install to start the installation.

If
you have selected a custom install, you can now select the features
to install. If you want to change a feature so that it is set to be
installed or set to be not to be installed, simply click on the icon
next to the feature, and then select the option you wish to change it
to.

Once
you have finished selecting which features you wish to install, you
can now check the destination folder. This current install
destination is shown under ‘Install to’.

If
you wish to change the folder where the software will be installed,
press the change button, then us the box that appears to select the
destination folder and then press OK.

 

When
you have finished selecting which features you wish to be installed
and once you have selected the destination folder, press Next to
proceed. 

If
you are performing a custom installation, you may now be able to
select the Alert Messaging Type. There are two options:

 

 Enhanced Message Format.

 

 Traditional Message Format.

You
can see the descriptions for each format within the installation
wizard box. Select which message format you wish to use and then
press Next. 

 

You
can now start the installation. To begin the installation, click
Install.

The
installation process will begin.

Once
the installation has completed, click
Finish to exit the installer.

Dell
EMC’s OpenManage System Administrator will now be installed
onto your server. You can then use this software to manage and
monitor the hardware within this server. You may need to restart your
server before you can access the OpenManage application, however.

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I access Dell OMSA on a Windows server?
When
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) is installed on a Windows
Server, the OMSA product is accessible through a web browser-based
GUI, on the Administrator account of the server. To access the web
browser-based GUI, enter the following into the URL box of the web
browser on your server, while changing the text in red to your
server’s external IP address. The external IP of the server
will be the one you use to RDP into the server’s administrator
account, remotely. Then press enter.

https://[Insert Server’s External
IP]:1331

Once
you have entered your IP address followed by ‘:1331’ into
your server’s web browser, the Dell EMC OpenManage portal will
appear, showing a login screen. 

If
an error does appear after you have entered this into your
web-browser, stating that this page cannot be accessed, there may be
a firewall rule configured on your server blocking port 1331. If this
is the case, you will need to allow access to port 1331 through
Windows firewall. Please use Dell’s Support website and
documentation for any troubleshooting information.

To
login to the OpenManage portal, enter the credentials for the
Administrator user of the Windows Operating System of this server.
Then press Submit. 

You
have now accessed and logged into Dell EMC’s OpenManage
software. You can now use OMSA to check the hardware of your server
and to monitor for any errors. We would recommend familiarising
yourself with the application and the configuration of the server
after you have logged in for the first time; so if an error does
occur in future, you already understand how your server should be
configured and how to use the application. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use Dell OMSA to check hardware on a Windows server?
One
of the main features of Dell’s OpenManage Server Administrator
tool is that it allows you to check for any errors that may have
occurred with the server’s hardware. 

When
you first log into the OpenManger portal on a Windows server, you
will be presented with the current health status of the server. If
there are currently any errors with the server, they will be
displayed here.

As
you can see from this example, there is currently an error with the
storage of this server. The severity and type of error is identified
by the symbol in-line with the error. There are four statuses within
OpenManage:

 
 
 Icon

 
 
 Status

 
 
 Description

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 OK

 
 
 The component is working as
 normal and is healthy.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 Non-Critical Warning

 
 
 These errors normally indicate a
 problem which is not service impacting, but still require prompt
 attention.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 Failed / Critical Warning

 
 
 The component has either failed
 or has a critical warning. If a critical error has occurred, the
 error must be addressed as soon as possible.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 Unknown Status

 
 
 The status of this component is
 unknown.

 
 

How
you identify the specific error and how you proceed is dependent on
what type of component has an error. Please see below how to
investigate specific pieces or hardware.

#### Investigating storage errors using OMSA on a Windows server
When
storage is mentioned in the Dell EMC OpenManage portal, this is
referring to the server’s RAID controller (if a RAID controller
is present), all the physical drives, and all the virtual drives (or
RAID arrays) within the server. When an error occurs related to
storage, this would normally mean that there is an error with a
physical drive, which has then effected the RAID array it is
configured within. This is for the majority of cases; however, there
can be other issues related to storage, which can cause storage
errors. 

In
my example by below, there is currently a non-critical error with the
storage of this server. To find more details out about any present
error, first, simply click on the component with the error, under the
Component column.

Depending
on the set-up of the server, you may now need to navigate further to
identify the details of the error. In my example, it is an SSD which
has an error; so I need to Navigate from the RAID controller
component, into the array which contains the SSD. This will bring up
the list of Physical Disks configured within this array. Navigate by
clicking on the component title with the error. 

Once
you are presented with the specific component with the error, click
on the 

symbol to bring up more details about the component.

Here
you can see the details about the physical drive, its state and its
current status.

These
details can be used to identify which drive is faulty and can help
our technicians locate the failed drive to replace it. Using this
information, you can decide what action you wish to be taken. If you
wish for a drive to be replaced, please see the section on having a
drive replaced using OMSA for more details on how to get a faulty
drive replaced, using the information available on OMSA. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### Checking Storage Status, Physical Disk Status & Virtual Disk Status Using OMSA on a Windows server
Due
to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the
status of your server’s hardware, and specifically to check the
status of the storage within the server for any errors. Dell EMC’s
OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to
check the current status of each RAID array (or Virtual Disk)
configured on your server and the status of each physical drive. 

To
check the status of the storage devices within the server, first log
into the OMSA portal on the server’s web browser. Once you are
logged in to the OMSA GUI, click on storage in the left hand side
panel. 

Depending
on the configuration of your server, you will now be presented with a
list of RAID controllers and Virtual Disks configured on the server
(if present), or a list of Physical Disks. 

If
there are any errors with any of the storage components or with the
storage configuration, you should see either a non-critical or
critical warning symbol, next to one of the items. You should also be
able to see the status of the Virtual Disks (if present) on this
server. 

At
this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server
should be, especially related to RAID arrays and drive configuration.

For
the server in my example, the server was meant to have 4x RAID 0s
configured, which means there should be 4x Virtual Disks. However, as
you can see in my example, one of the Virtual Disks is missing and
there is an error symbol next to the RAID controller’s name. 

If
an error does appear with any storage device, you will need to click
on the name of the device with the error to investigate further, and
you would need to check the status of the relevant Physical Disks.

If
nothing appears to be wrong with the server’s storage, it is
good practice at this point to still check the status of all the
Physical Disks within the chassis. 

Unless
you first wish to investigate a specific issue with a Virtual Disks,
you should now click on the RAID controller’s name to check the
individual components within the RAID controller. To do this, click
on the RAID controller. You should repeat this and each step below
for each RAID controller configured within the server. 

You
should now see a list of components attached to the RAID controller.
This list can differ depending on the RAID controller that is
installed in your server. In my example, the RAID controller has a
Battery, two connecters, Firmware/Driver Version and Virtual Disks
attached/configured on the RAID controller. 

You
can see the status of each RAID controller component under the
Severity column; however, if a Virtual/Physical Disk is completely
offline and is missing from OMSA, the status may still show as OK for
the Virtual Disks and Connectors, so it is still worth clicking into
these component. Click onto Connector 0 to begin with. 

Depending
on the configuration of you server, you may need to click on further
components (e.g. Enclosure), until you reach the list of Physical
Disks.

Here
you will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks attached to this
connecter on the RAID controller. Please note, depending on the setup
of your server, not all of the physical drives may be connected to
connecter 0; so you should keep this in mind while following the
below steps. 

While
a list of all the physical drives are shown you will also be able to
see any errors and the state of each Physical Disk

At
this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server
should be, especially related to RAID arrays and disk configuration.
As an example, the server below is meant to have 4x Physical Disks
attached to the RAID controller (all through connector 0), however,
only 3 are listed. This is normally caused by a drive completely
failing; causing it to disappear from the monitoring. The monitoring
may not show this, but by comparing your knowledge of the server’s
configuration to what components are currently listed, you can see a
drive is missing.

You
can use this screen to see the current state of each drive attached
to the RAID controller through this connector. In my example, one of
the disks has a foreign configuration, which would normally suggest
an error has occurred with the drive. 

If
you are presented with a component with an error, click on the 

symbol to bring up more details about this component.

Here
you can see the details about the physical disk, its state and its
current status.

You
can now use this information to inform your decision on what to do
next. If you wish to have a drive replaced, please see the section on
our FAQ on how to go about getting a technician to perform this
action, using the information found on OMSA. If you do wish for a
drive to be replaced, you will need to provide the details found on
the physical drive’s information page, as shown in the example
above. This will aid our technician in identifying the faulty drive
during the drive swap process.

You
should now repeat this process for any other connectors and then any
other RAID controllers. How many connectors are present depends on
the model of the RAID controller. How many connectors are in use
depends on how your server was built and configured. Most of our
dedicated servers only use one connector, meaning that other
connectors may have no Virtual Disks or Physical Disks behind them,
but please check to make sure. 

Once
you have checked all the connectors, you can now also check the
Virtual Disks and find more details about their configuration and
status, by clicking on the Virtual Disks button. The status of the
Virtual Drives were shown in a previous screen, but by using the
below steps, you can check the Virtual Disks in more detail. 

Here
you will be able to see a list of all the Virtual Disks (or RAID
Arrays) configured on this RAID controller and their current status.
You will also be able to see the details of each Virtual Disk;
including the layout (i.e. the RAID configuration/level). 

At
this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server
should be, especially related to RAID arrays and drive configuration.
For the server in my example below, the server is meant to have 4x
RAID 0s configured, which means there should be 4x Virtual Disks.
However, as you can see in my example, one of the Virtual Disks is
missing. The most likely cause for this is either an error with a
Physical Disk or a missing drive; which you should have been able to
identify on the page which listed all the physical disks attached to
the connectors.

If
an error does appears against one of the Virtual Disks, you can click
the name to find out all the Physical Disks configured within this
Virtual Disk, and check for any drives with errors or identify any
missing drives. 

After
checking the status of each component attached to each RAID
controller, checking through each connector of the RAID controller,
all the Physical Disks and all the Virtual Disks, you should have a
clear picture of the status of your server’s storage and if
there are any errors or missing drives. If you have encountered any
issue with any of the hardware, please feel free to get in touch and
we will be happy to help. If you need further advice on how to
proceed, please feel free to get in touch or check through our FAQ
section on our MyServers Control Panel. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### Checking other components’ status (non-storage), using OMSA on a Windows server
Due
to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the
status of your server’s hardware, to check for any errors or
failed components. Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator
(OMSA) application allows you to check the current status of several
sub-components of the server. 

To
check the status of the components within the server, first log into
the OMSA portal on the server’s web browser. Once you are
logged in to the OMSA GUI, click on Main System chassis, on the left
hand side panel. 

You
will now see a list of all the components which OpenManage monitors;
other than components related to storage (e.g. drives and RAID
controllers). Depending on the model of your chassis and its
configuration, the list of components that OpenManage can monitor
will differ. In my example, you can see that the Batteries, Fans,
Intrusion switch, Memory (RAM), Processors, Temperatures and Voltage
are all monitored. You will also see the current status of each
component. In my example below, there are no errors. 

In
addition to the components listed on the main section of this page,
you may also see several other components listed under Main System
Chassis, on the left-hand-side panel. In my example, I can see BIOS,
Firmware, Network, Ports, Power Management, Remote Access, Removable
Flash Media and Slots within the left-hand-side panel; which are not
listed within the main section of the page. 

To
find out more details about each specific component, click on the
component name. 

Below
is some detail on how to check the status of the main components
within these lists. If you require more details about components
monitored by OMSA, which are not outlined below, content can be found
on Dell’s support website. If you need any assistance, please
feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help. 

Memory
The
memory component refers to all the RAM within the chassis. When you
click on memory, you will be able to find the details about how much
memory you server is currently configured with, the total amount of
memory this chassis can take, what type or RAM sticks are in the
chassis, the details of each individual stick and their current
status. 

If
a stick of RAM ever does become faulty, you should be able to find
the details of the faulty RAM here. If you wish for a faulty stick of
RAM to be replaced, please let us know all the details found within
the ‘Details of Memory Array’ section, so we can easily
identify the faulty stick of RAM. If possible, a screenshot of this
page would also be helpful. Please see the section on getting faulty
RAM replaced using OMSA for more details. 

Processors
Once
you click into the processor page lists all the processors (or CPUs)
within the server, their details, and their current status. 

If
you wish to find out more details about a processor, you can click on
the Connector Name to bring up more details. If an error does ever
occur with a processor within a server, please feel free to get in
touch and we will be happy to investigate this for you. If there is
more than one processer installed in your server, please provide us
with the Connector Name of the faulty CPU, so our technician can
easily identify which processor needs replacing. For more details on
getting a faulty CPU replaced, please see the section on getting a
CPU replaced using OMSA.

Network
Once
you click on Network, you will be able to see a list of all the
network ports attached to the server. 

You
can also see the description of the network ports (i.e. the network
port device’s details) and if they are currently shown as
connected or not connected. You can also click on the interface name
to find out more details about this connection; including the MAC
address, the duplex settings, the link and connection status, the IP
settings and the port’s speed.

The
above monitoring tools, provided by OMSA, allows you to check the
status of several components and to check for errors. This
information allows you decide on what action you wish to be taken on
the server and allows you to effectively troubleshoot any hardware
related issues with the server. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use OSMA to identify a failed drive’s details & have it replaced on a Windows server?
If
you do encounter a physical drive with an error and you wish for this
disk to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the
following information about the failed drive as possible, to allow
our technicians to correctly identify which drive needs replacing:

 

 Serial number

 

 Type of drive (e.g. SSD, SATA HDD, etc.)

 

 Capacity

 

 Product ID

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number

This
information will aid the technician in locating the failed drive and
swapping it with the correct replacement drive. You can use Dell
EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to
find this information. 

To
find this information, you must first access the OMSA’s GUI
panel through the server’s web browser, and then locate the
physical drive with the error. Please see the sections on accessing
OMSA and then the section on investigation storage errors/checking
storage status, if you are un-sure how to do this. Once you have
found the physical drive with the error, you will be able to click
the 

button to find more details about the drive, including the details
required by our technicians to locate the drive. See the image below
as an example of how to find the necessary information from the
details of a physical drive:

To
work out the drive’s physical bay number, you can use the ID of
this drive in conjunction with all the other Physical Disks’ ID
numbers. If you return to the list of all the Physical Disks, you can
see the drive I wish to be replaced is drive 0:1:1, the first drive
in the server is disk 0:1:0 and the last drive is 0:1:3. When asking
the technicians to replace this drive, simply inform them of the
failed drive’s ID number (e.g. 0:1:0) and inform them of the
drive’s ID counting format (e.g. 0:1:0 to 0:1:3), as they
should be able use this to locate the physical disk. 

In
addition to providing the information above, OMSA on most servers
will also allow you to set the drive to ‘blink’, which
can be used to help the technician locate the appropriate drive. To
get the drive to blink, while on the page which lists all the
Physical Disks, set the task to ‘blink’ in-line with the
drive you wish to be swapped and then press Execute. This will then
make the LED light on the drive’s caddy blink. 

If
you are able to set the drive to blink, please inform the technicians
in the support ticket that you have done so. Some chassis may not
allow you to perform this action, however. If you cannot set the
drive bay to blink, this is most likely not a non-hot-swappable
chassis, meaning this is not required. 

When
the technicians have completed any drive swap, you can use this same
process to set the drive to ‘un-blink’, using the
‘un-blink’ task, to stop the drive bay blinking. It is
important to do this, to make sure this drive bay isn’t still
blinking during any further drive changes at a later date, as this
may lead to some confusion.

Once
you provide all this information in a support ticket and set the
drive bay to blink (if possible), our technicians will be able to
look into swapping the failed drive. 

If
the drive is missing from the OMSA monitoring completely (opposed to
having an error), then you will not be able to provide the necessary
information listed above to get the drive replaced, nor set the drive
bay to blink. Instead, you can provide the information on all the
drives still present on OMSA and their details, so that by process of
elimination our technicians can identify and replace the missing
drive. 

Once
you have provided all the information from the drives that are still
present, the technicians should be able to identify the missing drive
and replace it. 

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use OMSA to identify a failed RAM stick & have it replaced?
If
you do encounter an error related to the server’s memory (RAM)
and you wish for a RAM stick to be replaced, you will need to provide
as much of the following information about the failed stick as
possible, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which RAM
stick needs replacing:

 

 The failed RAM stick’s DIMM slot number (i.e. the Connector
 Name)

 

 The failed RAM stick’s size 
 

 

 The failed RAM stick’s type

This
information will aid the technician in locating the failed RAM stick
and swapping it with the correct replacement RAM. You can use Dell
EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to
find this information. 

To
find this information, you must first access the OMSA’s GUI
panel through the server’s web browser, and then locate the RAM
stick with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if
you are unsure on how to access OMSA. To find the details about the
memory configured in the server, first click on Main System Chassis
and then Memory, in the left-hand-side panel. 

Under
Details of Memory Array you will be able to see a list of the RAM
sticks attached to the motherboard, their status, their connector
names, their type and their size. If a stick of RAM appears with an
error, you will need to simply supply all the information about this
RAM stick that appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that
our technician can identify the failed DIMM and replace it. You can
also supply a screenshot of this page. 

Occasionally,
if a RAM stick completely fails, it may not appear on this page with
an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together.
As an example, if your server is meant to be configured with 4x 16GB
RAM sticks (or 64Gb of memory in total), but only 3x 16GB RAM sticks
are appearing, then it is quite likely that a stick has completely
failed and needs replacing. If this is the case, you will not be able
to find the information above on the failed RAM stick, to get it
replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the RAM
sticks that are present without errors, so our technicians can locate
the failed DIMM through a process of elimination. You can also supply
a screenshot of this page. 

Once
you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the
technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty RAM
stick.

If
you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our
FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel
free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use OMSA to identify a faulty CPU & have it replaced on a Windows server?
If
you do encounter an error related with a server’s CPU and you
wish for it to be replaced, and if there is more than one CPU in this
server, you will need to provide as much of the following
information about the failed CPU as possible, to allow the
technicians to correctly identify which CPU needs replacing:

 

 The failed CPU’s slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)

 

 The failed CPU’s Make and Model (i.e. Processor Brand
 information)

If
your server only has one CPU installed, we do not require this
information to locate and replace the CPU. Please feel free to raise
a support ticket and we will be happy to help. 

If
you do have more than one CPU in the server, this information will
aid our technician in locating the failed CPU and swapping it with
the correct replacement CPU. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage
Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information. 

To
find this information, you must first access the OMSA’s GUI
panel through the server’s web browser, and then locate the CPU
with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are
un-sure how to access OMSA. To find the details about the CPUs
configured in the server, first click on Main System Chassis and then
click on Processors, on the left-hand-side panel. 

Here
you will now be able to see a list of the CPUs installed in the
server, their make and model, their connector name and their
specifications. If a CPU appears with an error, you will need to
supply all the information about this CPU that appears in this table,
in a support ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed
processor and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this
page. 

Occasionally,
if a CPU completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an
error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. If
this is the case, then you will not be able to find the information
above on the failed CPU, to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide
the information on all the CPUs that are present without errors on
OMSA, so the technicians can locate the failed processor through a
process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this
page. 

Once
you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the
technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty CPU.

### Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status - How do I check the status of my drives and RAID array through the server’s RAID Configuration Menu?
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/how-do-i-check-the-status-of-my-drives-and-raid-array-through-the-server-s-raid-configuration-menu

#### How do I check the status of my drives and RAID array through the server’s RAID Configuration Menu?
Sadly,
on occasion, errors can occur with the storage components of a
server. As we know how frustrating this can be, this FAQ section has
been created to help our client’s investigate their server’s
storage through their server’s RAID BIOS. 

If
you believe an error has occurred with either a server’s RAID
array or with a server’s physical drives, when a RAID
controller is configured on the server, one way you can check the
status of a server’s storage is through the server’s RAID
configuration (BIOS) menu. You can use the server’s RAID menu
to identify any failed drives and identify the details required to
have them replaced.

Checking
a server’s RAID menu involves rebooting a server while
accessing it through either a KVMoIP device or while having a remote
management’s virtual/remote console open, then accessing the
RAID controller’s menu while the server boots. This does
require the server and anything the server is hosting to be offline
during the entire process. Due to this, it is normally preferable for
clients to use either Remote Management software or monitoring tools
configured on the server’s operating system to identify any
issues with a server’s storage; however, if this not possible
then you may have to use the server’s RAID configuration menu.

How
to boot into a server’s RAID controller’s menu and check
the drives’ and arrays’ statuses depends on the model of
your server and the model of the RAID controller it is using. Below,
you will see some examples of how to check the RAID BIOS for some of
our combinations of RAID controllers and server models. If your
server and RAID controller are not listed below, you can either find
material online to help you perform this action, or raise a support
ticket and a member of our team will be happy to discuss what we can
do to help. 

If
you are un-sure what model your server and RAID controller is, please
see below how to use MyServers to identify this.

#### How do I identify what the make and model of my dedicated server and RAID controller is, using MyServers?
If
you have a dedicated server hosted with us, you will be able to
identify the make and model of your device through our MyServers
control panel, on the IS page of the device. 

First,
log in to the MyServers control panel and then navigate to the IS
page of the server you wish to check the model of. A list of servers
can be found by clicking on the My Servers tab. Once you are on the
IS page of the server, you will be able to find the make and model of
the server within the Service Description box, in line with the IS
number. In my example below, you can see that the make of my server
is a Dell, while the model of the server is a PowerEdge R210 II. 

Within
the Service Description, you should also be able to see the model of
the RAID Controller. If no RAID controller is present in this box, it
may mean that either no RAID controller exists in the chassis, the
RAID controller is built into the chassis’ motherboard
(integrated), or that this device was deployed before we added RAID
controllers to this box for every server. If the RAID controller is
not present in this box, you can either identify what RAID controller
the server is configured during the server’s POST screens, or
please feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy to help. 

You
should now know what the make and model of your server and RAID
controller is. If you have any more questions about your server’s
RAID controller, please look through our FAQ for more information.
Alternatively, or if you have not been able to identify this
information, please feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy
to help.

#### How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 13th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_30), with a H730 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
To
check the RAID configuration menu of a 13th generation
Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R230, R630, R730xd), when it has a
H730 RAID controller installed (this includes H730Ps and H730P
Minis), you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the
server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ
section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote
console. Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open,
you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that
the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline,
and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process.
Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. Iomart and
any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any
effects rebooting your server may have. 

Once
you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to
enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it.
Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your
screen may look slightly different to the one below.

After
pressing F2 at the prompt, and waiting for a minute or two, the
System Setup screen will appear. You now need to select Device
Settings. You can navigate through these menus using the mouse or
using the arrow, Tab, Esc and Enter keys. 

Now
select the RAID controller. 

You
are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of
the server’s storage, you should check the status of both the
Virtual Disks and Physical Disks. First, we’ll check the
Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays
configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual Disk
Management. 

You
will now be presented with a list of all the Virtual Disks (or RAID
arrays) configured in this server. You will also see some details
about the Virtual Disks, including their status. In my example below,
you can see that one Virtual Disk’s status is ‘Ready’,
meaning that it has no errors, and one has a status of ‘Degraded’,
meaning that there is an error with the RAID array. Click on a
Virtual Disks to find more information on the array. 

Here
you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk and can select
operations to perform. You can also choose to see a list of the
physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across
a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now view the associated
Physical Disks to see the status of the drives. To do this, press
View Associated Physical Disks. 

You
will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within
this array. You will be also see their status; which you can use to
identify if there any errors with any drives. As you can see from my
example below, the second drive in this array (1:03) is currently
offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, you can now
navigate to a page which allows you to view the information on the
physical drive. To do this, tick the box in-line with the drive you
wish to check and press View Physical Disk Properties.

You
will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s
details; including its current status and all the details needed by
our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with
an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the
following information about the failed drive to our technicians, in a
support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive
correctly: 

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number

 

 Capacity

 

 Model Number

 

 Serial number

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay
to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the
LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the
local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do
this, set the Operation drop-down box to ‘Blink’ and then
press Go. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can
use this same process, except setting the drop-down box to
‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking; to make
sure the drive bay is no longer blinking if you need other drives
replacing in future. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let
our technicians know in the support ticket. 

Once
you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to
blink (if possible), our support team will be happy to help get your
drive replaced. 

If
you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you
can also check the status of the Physical Disks directly. To do this,
keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s
main menu, and then select Physical Disk Management. 

You
will now see a list of Physical Disks present in the server, along
with their current status. In my example, you can see that there are
four drives, three are online and one is currently offline. To find
out more information about a drive, simply click on it/select it. 

You
will now be on the physical drive’s page, which lists all of
the drive’s details, allows you to run operations (or tasks) on
the drive and shows you the drives’ status. As outlined above,
you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a
drive replaced and set the drive to blink. 

Using
the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the
current status of all the drives configured within the server and the
status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to
have any faulty drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 12th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_20), with a H710 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
To
check the RAID Configuration menu of a 12th generation
Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H710
raid controller installed (this includes H710Ps and H710 minis), you
should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a
remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on
how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console. Once you
have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to
reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and
everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain
offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision
to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any company within
the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your
server may have. 

Once
you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to
enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it.
Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your
screen may look slightly different to the one below.

Once
you have pressed F2 at the prompt and waited a minute or two, the
System Setup screen will appear. You now need to select Device
Settings. You can either use the mouse or the arrow, Esc, Tab or
Enter keys to navigate this menu.

Now
select the RAID controller. 

You
are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of
the server’s storage, you should check both the status of the
Virtual Disks and of the Physical Disks. First, we’ll check the
Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays
configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual Disk
Management, then Manage Virtual Disk Properties.

You
will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array
configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk
drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more
than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you
will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk. In my
example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks, one with
a status of ‘Ready’, meaning that the Virtual Disk has no
errors, and one with a status of ‘Offline’, meaning that
there is currently an error with this Virtual Disk. 

Under
‘Virtual Disk Porperties’ you can see some details about
the Virtual Disk selected in the drop-down box. You can also choose
to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If
you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now
view the associated Physical Disks to see the status of the drives.
To do this, press View Associated Physical Disks. 

You
will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within
this array. You will be also see their status; which you can use to
identify if there are any errors with any drives. As you can see from
my example below, the second drive in this array (1:03) is currently
offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, you can use
this window to view information on the physical drive. To do this,
tick the box in-line with the drive you wish to check and press View
Physical Disk Properties.

You
will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s
details; including its current status and all the details needed by
our technicians to replace a drive. 

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information about the failed
drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians
can identify the drive correctly: 

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number

 

 Capacity

 

 Model Number

 

 Serial number

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay
to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the
LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to flash, allowing the
local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do
this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select
Physical Disk Management. Then Select Physical Disk Operations.

You
now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the
Select Physical Disk drop-down box, then press Blink. The drive bay
should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive
swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’,
to stop the drive bay from blinking; to make sure the drive bay is no
longer blinking if you need other drives replacing in future. If you
do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the
support ticket. 

Once
you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to
blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive
replaced. 

If
you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you
can also check the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing
Back until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu, then
select Physical Disk Management, and then select View Physical Disk
Properties. 

You
will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive
configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk
drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than
one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will
also be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example
below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks, three with a
status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a
status of offline.

To
find out more details about a Physical Disk, select it in the
drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and
see the drives’ status, under Physical Disk Properties. As
outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information
needed to get a drive replaced and you can navigate to the operations
page to set the drive to blink. 

Using
the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the
current status of all the drives configured within the server and the
status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to
have any faulty drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 12th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_20), with a H310 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
To
check the RAID BIOS of a 12th generation Dell EMC
PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H310 raid
controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device
attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened.
Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an
iDRAC remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a remote
console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that
this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting
will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of
this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your
own; iomart and any company within the iomart group are not
responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. 

Once
you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to
enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it.
Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your
screen may look slightly different to the one below.

Once
you have pressed F2 at the prompt and waited a minute or two, the
System Setup screen will appear. You now need to select Device
Settings. You can navigate this menu by either using the mouse or the
arrow, Tab, Esc and Enter keys. 

Now
select the RAID controller. 

You
are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of
the server’s storage, you should check both the status of the
Virtual Disks and the status of the Physical Disks. First, we’ll
check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any
RAID arrays configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual
Disk Management, then Manage Virtual Disk Properties.

You
will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array
configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk
drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more
than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you
will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk. In my
example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks, one with
a status of ‘Ready’, meaning that there are no errors
with this Virtual Disk, and one with a status of ‘Failed’,
meaning that there is currently an error with this Virtual Disk. 

Under
Virtual Disk Policies you can now see some details about the Virtual
Disk selected in the drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list
of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come
across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now check the status
of the physical drives configured within this array. To do this,
press View Associated Physical Disks. 

You
will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within
this array. You will also see their status; which you can use to
identify if there any errors with any drives. As you can see from my
example below, the only drive in this array is currently offline. If
you do come across a drive with an error, you can now navigate to a
page to view the physical drive’s details. To do this, tick the
box in-line with the drive you wish to check and press View Physical
Disk Properties. 

You
will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s
details; including its current status and all the details needed by
our technicians to replace a drive. 

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information about the failed
drive to our technicians, in a support ticket, so that our
technicians can identify the drive correctly: 

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number

 

 Capacity

 

 Model Number

 

 Serial number

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay
to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the
LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to flash, allowing the
local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do
this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select
Physical Disk Management. Then Select Physical Disk Operations.

 

You
now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the
Select Physical Disk drop-down box, then press Blink. The drive bay
should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive
swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’,
to stop the drive bay from blinking; to make sure the drive bay is no
longer blinking if you need other drives replacing in future. If you
do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the
support ticket. 

Once
you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to
blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive
replaced. 

If
you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you
can also check the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing
Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main
menu, then select Physical Disk Management, and then select View
Physical Disk Properties. 

You
will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive
configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk
drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than
one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will
also be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example
below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks; three with a
status of ‘Ready’, meaning that they currently do not
have any errors, and one with a status of ‘Offline’.

To
find out more details about a Physical Disk, select it in the
drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and
see the drives’ status under Physical Disk Properties. As
outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information
needed to get a drive replaced and you can navigate to the operations
page to set the drive to blink. 

Using
the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the
current status of all the drives configured within the server and the
status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to
have any faulty drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 11th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_10), with a H310 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
To
check the RAID Configuration Menu (or BIOS menu) of an 11th
generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R210, R210 II, R310,
R410), when it has a H310 raid controller installed, you should first
have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote
console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to
request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console. Once you have
either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot
the server. Please note that this means that the server and
everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain
offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision
to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any company within
the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your
server may have. 

Once
you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to
enter the RAID configuration menu to appear; then press Ctrl+R to
enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server,
your screen may look slightly different to the one below.

Once
you have pressed Ctrl+R at the prompt and waited a minute or two, the
RAID BIOS Configuration Utility menu will appear. To check the status
of the server’s storage, you should check both the status of
the Virtual Disks and the status of the Physical Disks. First, we’ll
check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any
RAID arrays configured within the server. 

To
do this you need to use the arrow keys to highlight the Virtual Disk
(VD) you wish to check. Once the VD is highlighted, the status and
details of this Virtual Disk will appear on the right. You should
repeat this action for every Virtual Disk configured on the RAID
controller. 

In
my examples above, you can see that one Virtual Disk’s status
is ‘Optimal’, meaning that there are no errors with this
Virtual Disk, and one has a status of ‘Degraded’, meaning
that there is an error with this Virtual Disk.

On
this screen you can also choose to see a list of the physical drives
configured within this array. To do this, highlight the Physical
Disks option under the VD name, then press the right arrow key to
bring up the list of Physical Disks configured within this Virtual
Disk. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you
should now do this to see the status of the drives. In my example
below, you can see that on drive (05) is currently offline. 

If
you do come across a drive with an error, you will need to check the
details of this drive within the PD Mgmt (Physical Disk Management)
page. To navigate to this page, press Ctrl+N. You will be now be a on
a screen which displays all the physical drives’ details;
including their current states and all the details needed by our
technicians to replace a failed drive. If you do identify a drive
with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply
the following information about the failed drive to our technicians,
in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive
correctly: 

 

 Disk ID

 

 Drive Type

 

 Capacity

 

 Product ID

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, you may also set the drive bay
to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the
LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the
local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do
this, press F2 while the drive you wish to set to blink is
highlighted, then highlight LED Blinking and press the right arrow
key. You can then start the blinking. Once the technicians have
completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, but
selecting it to stop blinking, to stop the drive bay from blinking;
to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking if you need other
drives replacing in future. If you do set the drive bay to blink,
please let our technicians know in the support ticket. Please note,
non-hotswap chassis will not let you set the drives to blink, as
there are no LEDs. 

Once
you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to
blink (if possible), our support team will be happy to help get your
drive replaced. 

If
you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you
should also check the Physical Disks directly, by navigating to the
PD Mgmt page, as outlined above. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 11th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_10), with a H200 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
To
check the RAID BIOS of an 11th generation Dell EMC
PowerEdge server (e.g. R210, R210 II, R310, R410), when it has a H200
RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP
device attached to the server or a remote console with the server
opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to
open an iDRAC remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a
remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note
that this means that the server and everything it is currently
hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the
duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server
must be your own; iomart and any company within the iomart group are
not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. 

Once
you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to
enter the RAID configuration menu appears; then press Ctrl+C to enter
it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your
screen may look slightly different to the one below.

Once
you have pressed Ctrl+C at the prompt and waited a minute or two, the
RAID BIOS configuration menu will appear. To check the status of the
server’s storage, you should first select the RAID controller
and then select RAID properties. If more than one RAID controller is
configured in this server, you will need to repeat the process
outlined below for every RAID controller. To navigate through this
RAID BIOS, you need to use the arrow, Enter and Esc keys. Select the
RAID controller and then RAID properties. 

Unless
a RAID array has not already been configured on the server, you will
now be presented with the first RAID arrays (or volume), a list of
drives configured within this array, their details, their status and
the details of the RAID array configured on the server. If you have
more than one RAID array configured on the server, you can use the
keys Alt+N to navigate between the volumes. 

Along
the top of the page, you will be able to see the details of the RAID
array currently selected (press Alt+N to navigate to the next page),
including its current status. 

Below
the RAID array’s details you will be able to see a list of the
physical drives configured within the currently select array (press
Alt+N to navigate to the next page); including the drives’
details and their current statuses.

You
can use the details and statuses shown on the pages described above
to identify whether or not there is currently an error with the
storage of your server, by checking if there is an error with either
the RAID arrays (or volumes) or the Physical Drives.

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information about the failed
drive to our technicians, in a support ticket, so that our
technicians can identify the drive correctly: 

 

 Slot Number

 

 Drive Type (Device + Identifier)

 

 Capacity (Size)

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

Once
you have supplied the above information our support team will be
happy to help get your drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my SuperMicro server, with a LSI MegaRAID 9240-4i controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
To
check the RAID BIOS of a SuperMicro server, when it has a LSI
MegaRAID 9240-4i raid controller installed, you should first have
either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console
with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request
a KVM or how to open an IPMI remote console. Once you have either a
KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the
server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it
is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline
throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot
the server must be your own; iomart and any company within the iomart
group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may
have. 

Once
you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to
enter the LSI MegRAID configuration menu to appear; then press Ctrl+H
to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your
server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.

Once
you have pressed Ctrl+H at the prompt and waited a minute or two, you
will be presented with a list of adapters configured on the server.
You should now enter the first RAID adapter configured on the server.
Most servers will only have one adapter installed, but if your server
has more than one adapter, you should repeat the below process for
every adapter. 

You
will now be in on the WebBIOS page for this RAID controller. On the
right hand side panel of this WebBIOS, within the Logical View, you
will be able to see a list of Virtual Drives (or RAID arrays), and a
list of Physical Drives configured within the controller and their
current status. You can use this screen to identify if and Virtual
Drives or Physical Drives attached to this controller have any
errors. In my example below, you can see that one Virtual Drive is
degraded and one Physical Drive is Offline. 

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information about the failed
drive to our technicians, in a support ticket, so that our
technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it: 

 

 Slot Number

 

 Drive Type

 

 Capacity

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

Once
you have supplied the above information our support team will be
happy to help get your drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### Configuration Menu of my SuperMicro server, with an Adaptec 2405 / 5405 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
To
check the RAID BIOS of a SuperMicro server, when it has an Adaptec
RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP
device attached to the server or a remote console with the server
opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to
open an IPMI remote console. Once you have either a KVM device or a
remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note
that this means that the server and everything it is currently
hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the
duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server
must be your own; iomart and any company within the iomart group are
not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. 

Once
you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to
enter the Adaptec RAID Configuration menu appears; then press Ctrl+A
to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your
server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.
Also, the below uses a 5405 RAID controller; however, the RAID BIOS
for a 2405 controller is very similar.

You
will now be presented with the RAID controller’s configuration
utility. You should now select Array Configuration Utility. To
navigate through this utility, use the arrow, Enter and Esc keys. 

To
check the current status of the storage within the server, you should
first check the current status of all the RAID arrays configured on
the server. Do this by first selecting Manage Arrays. 

You
will now be presented with a list of arrays. To check the status of
the RAID array, press Enter while it is highlighted. You will now be
presented with the RAID array’s details, its status, and a list
of drives within the array. In my example below you can see the RAID1
array is currently degraded. You can see the second drive in this
array (Dev01) is greyed out; which indicates that it currently has an
error. 

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information to our technicians
in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive
correctly and replace it: 

 

 Slot Number

 

 Drive Type

 

 Capacity

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive.

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also turn on the
Identify Drive function. Turning on the Identify Drive function will
set the LED lights on the drive bay to blink, allowing the local
technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. Please note,
using the Identify Drive function will require the server to remain
within the Adaptec Utility menu to keep the drive bay blinking. To
set the drive bay to blink, keep pressing Esc until you reach the
options menu. Then select Disk Utilities.

It
will now take a minute or two to load the list of physical drives.
You now need to highlight the drive you wish to set the LEDs to blink
on and then press enter. 

Then
select Identify Drive and press Enter. 

The
caddy’s LED for this drive will now start flashing. To stop the
LEDs from flashing, you simply need to press any key. If you have set
the drive bay’s LED to flash, please let the support team know
in the ticket. 

Once
you have supplied the above information our support team will be
happy to help get your drive replaced. 

You
should repeat the above mentioned process, checking every RAID array
configured on this server. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my HP ProLiant G9 server, with a HPE Smart Array P440 controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
To
check the RAID BIOS of an HP ProLiant G9 server (e.g. HP Proliant
DL160 G9), when it has a HPE Smart Array P440 Controller installed,
you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server
or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ
section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iLO remote console.
Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now
need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the
server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and
will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also,
the decision to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any
company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects
rebooting your server may have. 

Once
you have rebooted your server, you will need to wait for the option
to enter the System Utilities to appear, and then press F9 to enter
it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your
screen may look slightly different to the one below.

After
the Systems Utilities menu appears, select System Configuration, then
select the Smart Array P440 Controller option, then finally select
the Exit and launch HP Smart Storage Administrator (HPSSA) option.

The
HPE Smart Storage Administrator will now load; this can take a couple
of minutes. Once it has loaded, you can use this menu to check the
current status of the storage, of your server. To check the status of
the server’s storage, you should check the status of the
server’s Arrays and the Physical Drives. 

First,
select the RAID controller of your server, in the left hand side
panel. In my example below, you can see that I have two controllers.
One is the on-board (integrated) RAID controller - the Dynamic Smart
Array B140i RAID - and the other is a PCI-e RAID controller - the
Smart Array P440. The storage of my server is currently only
utilising the PCI-e RAID controller; which will be the case of most
servers which display both; however, you should check every
controller present for arrays and drives. Once you have clicked onto
the RAID controller, press Configure. 

Then press Logical Devices on the left hand side panel. 

You
will now be presented with a list of arrays configured on this
controller and a list of the drives configured within these arrays.
You can use this page to identify the current status of your server’s
storage status. 

If
there are any errors with either an array or with a drive, there will
be one of two warning symbols next to the device’s icon. There
are two warning symbols within the HPESSA; the 

symbol represents a critical error which needs urgent attention,
while the 

symbol represents a less crucial error should be address as soon as
possible. In my example below, you can see that one array and one
drive within this array, have errors. 

If
you do encounter a drive with an error, you should click on the
device and then press View more Details, to identify what the error
is and to see more details about this device.

The
device details will appear at the top of the window appears, while
the Status Message appears at the bottom of this window, which will
provide you with more information on the error. 

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information about the failed
drive, to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our
technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it: 

 

 Capacity (Size)

 

 Drive Type

 

 Drive Model

 

 Drive Serial Number

You
can use the ‘View more details’ page to identify this
information. Select the drive you wish to be replaced and then press
‘View more details’. 

You
can use this page to identify the above information, as demonstrated
below. 

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also turn on the
Identify Device function. Turning on the Identify Device function
will set the LED lights on the drive bay to blink, allowing the local
technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this,
click close on the ‘View more details’ window, and then
click Identify Device while the drive you wish to be swapped is still
selected under the list of devices.

Then
select how long you wish for the drive bay to blink for or when you
wish for it to turn off. We would suggest setting the LED to stop
blinking after 4 hours. Then press OK and then Finish. 

If
you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in
the support ticket. Once you have supplied the above information and
set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help
get your drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my HP ProLiant G7 server, with a HPE Smart Array P410 controller, to check my server’s Storage status?
To
check the RAID BIOS of an HP ProLiant G7 server (e.g. HP Proliant
DL360 G7), when it has a HP Smart Array P410 Controller installed,
you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server
or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ
section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iLO remote console.
Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now
need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the
server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and
will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also,
the decision to reboot the server must be your own; iomart and any
company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects
rebooting your server may have. 

Once
you have rebooted your server, you will need to wait for the option
to enter the System Utilities to appear, and then press F9 to enter
it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your
screen may look slightly different to the one below.

You
now need to make sure that Power-On Logo is disabled; as this allow
you to see more options, including the one for entering the RAID
menu, to appear during POST. To do this, first select Advanced
Options. You can use the arrow keys, Enter and Esc to navigate
through the BIOS menu. 

Then
select Advances System ROM Options.

Now
select Power-On Logo and make sure it is set to Disabled, by making
sure Disabled is highlighted, and press enter. 

Once
you have set the Power-On Logo to disabled, you can now exit the BIOS
menu, by press Esc multiple times and then press F10 to Confirm Exit
Utility. The server will now start to reboot. 

When
the option to enter the HP Smart Array P410 controller appears, you
should now press F8, to enter the controller’s utility menu.

You
will now be in the main menu for the RAID controller’s utility.
To check the current status of your server’s storage, you
should check each array configured on your server’s status, and
the status of each physical drive configured within these arrays. To
do this, first select View Logical Drive. 

You
will now be presented with a list of Logical Drives (or arrays)
configured on the server. You will be able to see their details and
their statuses. In my example below, you can see that I have two RAID
Arrays; one with a status of ‘OK’ and one with a status
of ‘Degraded’. 

Once
you have checked the status of the RAID arrays, you should now check
the status of the Physical Drives within these arrays. To do this,
highlight an array and press Enter. 

You
will now be presented with a list of Physical Drives configured
within this array; and you will be able to see their statuses and
details. In my example below, you can see that one drive has a status
of OK and one drive is degraded.

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information to our technicians
in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive
correctly and replace it: 

 

 Bay Number

 

 Capacity

 

 Drive Type

You
can use this page to identify this information, as demonstrated
below. You can also supply a screenshot of this page in a support
ticket. 

Once
you have supplied the above information in a ticket our support team
will be happy to help get your drive replaced. 

You
should repeat the process outline above, to check the status of the
physical drives within each RAID array. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

### Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status - MyServers Monitoring Tools
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/myservers-monitoring-tools

#### Can I have MyServers monitoring set up for my devices?
Our
MyServers control panel has a built in monitoring system which can be
used to monitor certain services. 

Depending
on the service support level you purchased with the device, certain
monitoring systems are automatically put in place on the IS page of
the device, to monitor the status of specific serveries or pieces of
hardware. You will be able to see these monitoring services on the IS
page of the server, on MyServers, within the ‘Status’
section. In my example below you can see that this server has ping,
SSH and switch port monitoring applied. 

If
you wish for additional monitoring services to be added to an IS page
of a device, you are able to add these monitoring services in the
MyServers control panel by clicking on Health > Monitoring, on the
IS page. 

You
will now be on the monitoring page for this device. Here you will be
able to see a list of the current monitoring services applied to this
IS number. You can also add additional monitoring services by
clicking on Add Monitored Service. 

Once
you have pressed Add Monitored Service button you will be presented
with a page where you can configure new monitoring services for this
device. To do this, first select what type of monitoring service you
wish to be added from the drop-down box. Depending on the monitoring
service you select, you will then need to fill in other details
relevant to the service you wish to be monitored. Examples include IP
addresses, port numbers and URLs. Once you have filled in these
relevant details, you can also add a custom message to the monitoring
service. If you later decide to add SMS or email monitoring alerts to
this device, this custom message will appear in the email/text if
this monitoring service detects an error, which you can use to help
you identify which monitoring service for which device has failed.
Once you have filled in these details, press Add Monitored Service. 

The
monitoring service will now be added. You will now be returned to the
monitoring page were you will now be able to see the status of the
service you just added, amongst the statuses of any other monitoring
service already applied to IS page. Please note that any monitoring
service just applied may take a couple of minutes to register the
status as Ok. You can now add any other monitoring service you wish
to add. 

You
can also use this page to remove monitoring service that you no
longer need. 

If
you need help adding monitoring services to your device, or if you
have any more questions about MyServers monitoring, please feel free
to raise a ticket and a member of our support team will be happy to
help.

#### How do I check the current and historical status of the MyServers monitoring services?
Our
monitoring services are run through and displayed on our MyServers
control panel. Once monitoring services have been set-up on your
devices, to check the current status of your devices, first log in to
your MyServers account. Once you have logged into your account, if
any devices on your account with monitoring services configured on
them currently have an error causing a monitoring service to fail, it
will appear in a Servers with Problems section on the home screen (My
Account) page. 

If
no devices with monitoring services applied have an error which
causes these services to fail, then this section will not appear. 

To
check the status of a device’s monitoring services, you first
need to navigate to this device’s IS page. Once you are on the
IS page of the device, you will be able to see the current status of
each monitoring service applied to this device within the Status box.
You will be able to see the current status of each monitoring
service, how long the monitoring service has been in its current
state and the name of each monitoring service. You may also be able
to see some detail about the monitoring service; like an IP address
or URL. In my example below you can see that one my device’s
ping monitoring services has been in a failed state for 7 minutes. 

You
can use this information to identify the current status of each
monitoring service. If you want to find out more details about a
monitoring service, click on its name. You will now be presented with
the test result page for this monitoring service. You will now be
able to see this monitoring service’s current status, when the
status was last updated, how long it has been in its current status,
the error and the status results recent history. 

You
can use this information to find out more details about any error
that may have occurred. If you do encounter any monitoring issues
that you need assistance with, please feel free to raise a support
ticket and we will be happy to help. 

If
you have any more questions about MyServers monitoring, please look
through our FAQs or raise a ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### Do you offer SMS and email alerting?
We
provide automated SMS and email alerting for free, to all our
clients, which can be used to help alert you to any status issue
detected by our system with your devices. 

Our
SMS and email alerting system, once it has been setup on an IS page
of one or more devices, automatically sends a text to a designated
phone number or email address if any of the MyServers monitoring
tools configured on this IS page detects an issue. The most common
example of a monitoring system applied to a server, and then
configured to send a text/email if an error occurs, is ping
monitoring. Using this as an example, if the server fails to ping for
a set amount of time, then a text/email would automatically be sent. 

You
can setup the SMS and email monitoring system on the IS page of your
devices, on the MyServers control panel. Please see our ‘How do
I set up SMS alerting?’ and ‘How do I set up email
alerting?’ sections of our FAQ to see how to do this. 

If
you have any more questions on alerting, please look through our FAQ
or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I set up SMS alerts?
You
can set up SMS alerting for a device on its MyServers IS page. To do
this, first load the IS page of a device you wish to add SMS alerting
to, then click on Health > Alerts on the right hand side.

This
page will list all the alerts currently configured for this device,
if any exist. To add a new alert, first click Add An Alert. 

You
will now be presented with a page where you can configure the alert
you wish to receive. Please input the following details:

 

 Alert Type - Select SMS to receive a text message

 

 Number - Enter the phone number you wish to receive the SMS. Please
 make sure you enter the area code (normally +44 for UK phone
 numbers)

 

 Initial Delay - Enter the delay before the text is sent in minutes.
 This is the period of time a monitoring service has to fail before
 the message is sent

 

 Repeat alert after - Enter the time you wish to pass before an
 additional message is sent if a monitoring service continues to
 fails, in minutes

 

 Use the tick boxes to indicate if you wish to be messages in
 instances of a warning status, failure status, or both. Some
 monitoring services have three statuses - OK, Warning and Failure.
 Some monitoring services may only go into a warning state, rather
 than a failed state, if a less critical error occurs. 
 

Once
you have filled in the above, press Add Alert. 

The new alert will now appear on the Alerts page. You can now add
additional alerts, edit the current alerts or delete any alert you no
longer need on this page. 

If you have any more questions about alerts, please look through our
FAQ or raise a ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I set up email alerts?
You
can set up email alerting for a device on its MyServers IS page. To
do this, first load the IS page of a device you wish to add email
alerting to, then click on Health > Alerts on the right hand side.

This
page will list all the alerts currently configured for this device,
if any exist. To add a new alert, first click Add An Alert. 

You
will now be presented with a page where you can configure the alert
you wish to receive. Please input the following details:

 

 Alert Type - Select Email

 

 E-Mail Address - Then enter the email address you wish to receive
 the email

 

 Initial Delay - Enter the delay before the email is sent in minutes.
 This is the period of time a monitoring service has to fail before
 the email is sent

 

 Repeat alert after - Enter the time you wish to pass before an
 additional email is sent if a monitoring service continues to fails,
 in minutes

 

 Use the tick boxes to select if you wish to be emailed in instances
 of a warning status, failure status, or both. Some monitoring
 services have three statuses - OK, Warning and Failure. Some
 monitoring services may only go into a warning state, rather than a
 failed state, if a less critical error occurs. 
 

Once
you have filled in the above, press Add Alert. 

The new alert will now appear on the Alerts page. You can now add
additional alerts, edit the current alerts or delete any alert you no
longer need on this page. 

If you have any more questions about alerts, please look through our
FAQ section or raise a ticket, and we will be happy to help.

### Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status - What monitoring tools do you recommend?
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/what-monitoring-tools-do-you-recommend

#### What monitoring tools do you recommend?
As
a hosting company, we see how frustrating it can be for our clients
when a piece of hardware fails on a device, so we highly recommend
that our client’s regularly monitor the health of their devices
and check for any errors within their server’s hardware. There
are several different third party tools available which are designed
to help server administrators monitor and check the health of their
devices; some of which we recommend our customers install and use. 

What
monitoring tool is best for your server depends on the make and model
of the server and the operating system it uses. Please see below for
some examples of tools we would recommend that you use. 

Please
note that these tools are developed by third parties and we can only
advise you to use these tools; the choice to download, install and
use these tools must be your own. As such, iomart and any company
within the iomart group are not responsible for any harm that may
come to your system as a result of downloading, installing and using
these tools. 

 
 
 Server
 Manufacture

 
 
 Monitoring
 Tool /

 Software
 Name

 
 
 Monitoring
 Tool / Software Description

 
 
 
 
 Dell
 EMC PowerEdge

 
 
 iDRAC

 
 
 iDRAC is Dell’s version of a
 Remote Management tool. Depending on the version of iDRAC, it can
 allow the server’s administrator to check the health of the
 server, to check individual components status, to run tasks on the
 server and to start a remote/virtual console. It works
 independently of the server’s OS.

 
 
 
 
 OMSA

 
 
 OMSA is a system administrative
 tool; that allows the system administrator to check the health of
 the server and some of its components. OMSA runs on the server’s
 operating system and is only compatible with certain operating
 systems, on certain Dell PowerEdge servers

 
 
 
 
 HPE
 ProLiant

 
 
 iLO

 
 
 iLO is HPE’s version of a
 Remote Management tool. Depending on the version of iLO, it can
 allow the server’s administrator to check the health of the
 server, to check individual components status, to run tasks on the
 server and to start a remote/virtual console. It works
 independently of the server’s OS.

 
 
 
 
 SuperMicro

 
 
 IPMI

 
 
 IMPI is SuperMicro’s version
 of a Remote Management tool. IPMI can allow the server’s
 administrator to check the health of the server, to run tasks on
 the server and to start a remote/virtual console. It works
 independently of the server’s OS.

 
 

If
you do decide to use any of the above monitoring tools, they can help
you check the health of your system and help identify any components
that may need investigating or replacing. If they do alert you to any
problems, please raise a support ticket using the information found
in our FAQ and we will be happy to help. 

If
you have any more questions about monitoring tools, please see our
FAQ section. If this does not have the answer you are looking for,
please raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.

### Monitoring My Devices & Checking Hardware Status - Whose Responsibility is it to Monitor My Server?
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/whose-responsibility-is-it-to-monitor-my-server

#### Whose Responsibility is it to Monitor My Server?
As
a Managed Infrastructures Service provider, the main responsibility
of monitoring the state of a dedicated server lies with the client
who uses the device. 

Depending
on the service support level you purchased with the device, however,
we do put certain monitoring systems in place through MyServers, to
monitor the status of specific serveries or pieces of hardware. You
will be able to see these monitoring services on the IS page of the
server, on MyServers, within the ‘Status’ section. In my
example below you can see that this server has ping, SSH and switch
port monitoring applied. 

If
you do have a monitoring service applied and have either a ‘Proactive
Alerting and Monitoring’ or ‘Premium’ SLA, then we
also alert you to any MyServers monitoring service that becomes
un-responsive for longer than a set period of time. For more details
on this, please see our MyServers Monitoring tools section, of our
FAQ. 

Due
to the nature of hardware, we would strongly suggest that you
regularly check the health of your server and its components, to
check for any errors that may have occurred. How you go about this is
up to you; with this being said, however, there are several
monitoring tools we recommend that our customers use. Please read
through our Monitoring My Device section of the FAQ for more
information.

If
you have any more questions about monitoring your servers, please
read through our FAQ section, or raise a ticket and we will be happy
to help.

### Networking & IPs
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/networking-ips

#### How to setup RDNS for IP's?
1. Navigate over to the My Servers TAB and select your IS-Reference

2. Then Navigate over to Network Settings

3. Go over to the Edit Reverse DNS Entry for IP’s

4. Edit the RDNS records as you wish and tick to confirm your entry.

#### How does the DDoS Prevention System work?
Iomart DDoS Protection

Iomart’s advanced DDoS protection, provisioned as a service at the network edge, matches the sophistication and scale of the latest cyber threats and can be used to mitigate DDoS attacks of all forms and sizes.

We’ve partnered with Arbor Networks, one of the world’s leading providers of DDoS protection technology, to offer tiered levels of DDoS protection and ensure we have the right solution - at the right price - to suit any size of the organisation.

Key Features

 

Increased Network Visibility, Stronger Security, Improved Services

The Arbor solution provides comprehensive network visibility and reporting capabilities that enable iomart to detect and understand threats as they appear on our network and take steps to combat them.

Comprehensive DDoS Detection and Analysis

Combines pervasive, cost-effective visibility with real-time reporting of critical network traffic, services and applications to proactively protect against DDoS attacks.

Application Layer Intelligence and Protection

Our DDoS solution provides the application-layer intelligence necessary to secure and manage critical business applications such as voice, data, messaging, file sharing, Web, email and more against advanced threats.

Anomaly Detection

A core value of the solution is the ability to generate alerts to anomalies on the network. These anomalies can be indicative of malicious traffic (DDoS), device failures, unusual demand spikes or misconfigurations. These alerts enable problems to be spotted quickly, the root causes rapidly identified and corrective action is taken.

Denial of Service Protection

The iomart solution, powered by Arbor Networks, mitigates DDoS attacks by surgically removing malicious attack traffic while allowing normal legitimate traffic to pass through and reach your site. When potential threats are detected, traffic is redirected through the Arbor solution, stripping out the harmful attack traffic and allowing only legitimate traffic to reach the intended destination.

 

Who could benefit from DDoS Protection?

Sites with the ability to purchase goods/services online

Gaming sites

High profile organisations

Government/Government agencies

Sites with high internet traffic

Any organisation with a web presence can benefit from DDoS protection. We hope our customer sites are never targeted by cyber-criminals, but if they are, the DDoS Protection Solution from iomart will provide a robust and effective defence.

Benefits

Secure your business-critical operations

Avoid financial losses due to service unavailability

Retain your customers and protect your reputation

Keep your customer data secure from cyber attacks

Always have the most up to date protection available

#### How to request additional IP's from MS control panel?
1. Navigate over to Myservers Tab and select the correct IS-reference you're requesting IP’s.

2. Select the Network Request IPV4 Addresses or IPV6 Addressing depending on your requirement.

3. Please carefully read the instructions and fill in the required fields. Please make sure you add a reason for the IP’S requested as this is required for RIPE.

Note: When on a shared IP range your IP entitlement is no more than 30 IP’s after this you will need to request a private subnet which is also chargeable.

#### How to edit/change/add IP details within Windows?
1. Search Control Panel in windows search

2. Select Network & Security

3. Select View network status and tasks

4. Then click on Change adapter settings, which opens up Ethernet Interfaces you can edit IP’s on.

5. Right click the required Ethernet Interface to change IP details and select properties.

6. Select Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and then properties OK

7. Select Use the following IP address and enter details.

#### How to enable RDP in Windows Server 2016?
1. Navigate to “Server Manager” on Windows.

2. Click on “Local Server” and then “Remote Desktop”

 

3. Windows will then pop up which will give you the following options

Click on “Allow remote connections to this computer” and then press “Apply”.

RDP is now enabled

#### How to add DNS (Domain Name Server) records
1. Click “My Domains” and select the relevant domain.

2. Click add record and add the relevant record.

3. Another option is to use our DNS wizard which help you had the basic records.

#### How do I update RIPE information?
When trying to change the IP of mail servers via RIPE whois, you will find the search refer to the range owned by IOMART, and any abuse reports will directly come to IOMART and not the client associated to IP.

When your systems are utilising IP’s from our shared pool range, the information present will always be linked with iomart/Rapidswitch

If this is a key attribute you require, you can look towards acquiring a dedicated subnet, but it would mean swapping your existing IPs for a completely new range and slightly greater costs (+ an admin fee). You would also need to confirm if the change would be on one server or multiple systems on the account.

 RIPE info required to update details:

person: 
 address: 
 address: 
 address: 
 address: 
 address: 
 address: 
 address: 
 phone: 
 e-mail: 
 abuse-mailbox:

#### Penetration Testing
We allow pen testing as long it is not targeting our own internal systems and infrastructure and will not affect other client’s services.

#### Do you licence Cpanel IP’s outside your network?
We do not licence IP's outside our network for Cpanel.

#### Can you please tell me what abuse-mailbox is?
You are required to have a mailbox set up for abuse emails. Abuse emails are sent to you where you are found to be in violation of terms and conditions set for IP use.

#### Do you enable SNDS on shared ranges?
We are unable to set SNDS on shared IP ranges, however, its possible to do so via private ranges.

### Networking & IPs - Bandwidth
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/bandwidth

#### Can I purchase additional bandwidth?
You
most certainly can pre-arrange bandwidth additions if you would like
to do so. 

We
offer a variety of bandwidth limits. Examples include:

 

 1Tb per month

 

 3Tb per month

 

 10Tb per month

 

 Unlimited

The
bandwidth used by your device(s) can also be measured in a variety of
ways; including based on an individual device’s bandwidth
usage, or across multiple devices accosted with the account’s
bandwidth usage. 

You
can use your MyServers control panel to identify how much bandwidth
each device is currently using and identify what bandwidth limit is
current applied to each device. To do this, after signing in to your
MyServers account, navigate to the My Servers tab and then the
Bandwidth per Server tab. You will then see a table which displays
this information for each device on each account. Under the My
Servers tab, you can also see the ‘Total Bandwidth Usage’,
‘BW Graphs per Server’ and ‘BW Graphs per Switch’
tabs; which all also display information on the bandwidth. 

If
you only require additional bandwidth for a specific amount of time
(minimum one month), then we can change the bandwidth limit back to
the original limit once you no longer need the additional bandwidth,
at your request. 

If
you do wish to increase your bandwidth limits, please feel free to
get in touch and let us know what you want the bandwidth to be set
to, and we can work out a price for you. If you have any questions,
please get in touch and we will be happy to help.

### Networking & IPs - Connection Speeds
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/connection-speeds

#### Do you provide 1GB & 10GB connections?
Yes
- we provide both dedicated 1Gb connections and 10Gb connections. We
can also provide 1GB vLANs.

Please
be aware that, while some hosting companies claim to be providing
gigabit connections but in fact share this connection amongst users,
we do not do operate in this manor and we provide genuine 1Gb
connections. 

If
you wish to upgrade to a 1Gb / 10Gb connection, please feel free to
get in touch by raising a support ticket and a member of our team
will be happy to discuss this with you. If you are ordering a new
server, both 1Gb and 10Gb connection options can be found through our
MyServers Shop. 

If
you are looking at upgrading to gigabit / ten gigabit connectivity,
we would advise checking your current burst rate to see if you
require in excess of 300Mbps / 3Gbps respectively, before upgrading,
as you may also need to request an increase in the port policy of
your device’s connection. 

If
you have any further questions, please feel free to get in touch and
we will be happy to help.

#### What is a 10Gb contended connection?
The
10Gbps connections we offer are 10Gbps/Contended connections; which
means we do not guaranty a constant speed of 10Gbps. The speed
reached on a 10Gb connection is dependent on several factors,
including the location you are trying to reach the server from and
the top of the rack switch’s total usage amongst clients in the
rack. 

If
you do have a 10Gb device hosted with us, to make sure other clients
within this rack do not impact your service by saturating the top of
the rack switch, we operate a fare usage policy; meaning any client
who does begin to saturate the switch’s bandwidth through
unfair over usage, will have action taken against them, including
suspension of service in serious cases. 

If
you believe the speed of your server is very low, please feel free to
run a speed test using third party software and then get in touch
with the results in a support ticket. We will then be happy to
investigate this issue for you. 

If
you have any further questions, please feel free to get in touch and
we will be happy to help.

### Networking & IPs - Firewalls
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/firewalls

#### What dedicated firewalls are on offer?
We
offer a variety of different firewalls, to cater to a variety of
clients’ needs. We currently offer both pfSense firewalls and
multiple different Cisco ASA firewall models. We support both NAT’ed
and Routed modes; however, you will need a private subnet on your
account to have routed mode setup. Also, our firewalls are compatible
with both 100Mbit connections and 1Gb connections.

Once
you order a new dedicated firewall, our standard package includes an
initial configuration to bring the firewall online, then you can make
any additional configurations changes you may require going further. 
 

If
you have any more questions about firewalls, or if you need help
deciding which firewall setup is best for you, please feel free to
get in touch and we will be happy to help. You can also purchase a
new dedicated firewall through our MyServers shop.

#### Can I have cPanel on my server that is behind a firewall?
Yes,
you are able to have cPanel on a server behind a firewall. Please be
aware that most control panels prefer a routed mode setup on the
firewall, however.

If
you would like more information on this, just get in touch and our
team will be happy to assist.

### Networking & IPs - IP Addresses
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/ip-addresses

#### Can I have IPv6 addresses?
Yes,
we do support and provide IPv6 addresses. 

Before
you can have an IPv6 address, however, you would need to have a
private IPv4 subnet on your account and have IPs from this private
subnet assigned to any server that your wish to have an IPv6 address
assigned to. I am afraid we cannot supply IPv6 addresses to servers
on one of our public subnet ranges.

If
you have a private IPv4 subnet and want IPv6, or if you want to order
a private IPv4 subnet and then have IPv6 addresses assigned to your
account, please get in touch in a ticket and we will discuss having
this set up for you. 

If
you have any more questions, please feel free to look through our FAQ
section, or raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.

#### How many IP addresses can I use with my server?
We
provide 1 IPv4 address with each dedicated server purchased through
us, as standard, included in the cost of the server. Additional IPv4
addresses can be assigned to a device, either during the setup or
added later at any time, for an additional cost. 

The
maximum number of IPv4 addresses that can be assigned to a single
device is dependent on whether the device has IP addresses assigned
from a public or private subnet. If you have IP addresses assigned
from a public subnet, the maximum amount of addresses that can be
assigned is 30 addresses per device. There is no maximum limit per
device if you are using IP addresses from a public subnet; you are
just limited to the amount of IP addresses available in your subnet. 

If
you wish to have additional IP addresses assigned to a new server you
will be ordering with us, you can select how many address you want
assigned to the new server through the MyServers Shop, when you order
the server. 

If
you require additional IP addresses assigned to an existing server,
IP addresses are available from our shared subnet ranges for a fee.
If you require additional IPv4 addresses assigned to your server from
one of our shared subnet ranges, please feel free to get in touch
through a support ticket and we will be happy to discuss this with
you.

Alternatively,
you can have your own private range. We offer a variety of private
subnet sizes, so if you want a larger amount of IPs assigned to your
account and/or want control over which IPs are assigned where, this
may be the better option for you. All subnet requests are subject to
being approved and justified in line with RIPE usage guidelines. If
you want to discuss ordering a private subnet, please feel free to
get in touch through a support ticket and a member of our team will
be happy to discuss this with you.

If
you already own an IPv4 private subnet range, you are able to assign
the available IP addresses from this subnet, to any server on your
account through the control panel without letting us know. If you
require additional IP addresses, please feel free to get in touch and
we will discuss what options are available to you.

If you have any further questions, please look through this FAQ page
or raise a ticket with us and we will be happy to help.

#### How can I request more IP addresses?
The
easiest way to request additional IP addresses is to raise a support
ticket through the MyServers control panel; containing how many
additional IP addresses you require, which device(s) you would like
the additional address(es) assigned to, and if you want an IP address
from a public or private subnet.

This
way our team will be able to discuss any costs associated with
additional IP addresses and ask any justification questions that are
required.

If you have any further questions, please look through this FAQ page
or raise a ticket with us and we will be happy to help.

#### Where can I find my package's IP Address Details / Subnet Details?
You
can find the details of your package's IP Address(es) or Subnet through your MyServers customer control panel. 

To
do this, first login to the MyServers customer control panel, using your credentials.

Once
you are logged in, click on the ‘My Servers' tab, and then click on the name of the package you wish to check the details of. 

Now, 
click on ‘Network’ and then click on ‘IPv4 Addresses’. 

You
will now be presented with the list of IPv4 Addresses assigned to this device, which port on the device they are assigned to, and you can even set some Reverse DNS settings. To find more details about about a specific IPv4 Address, click on the ‘View’ button. Here you can see the DNS servers addresses. 

If
you have any more questions, please feel free to look through our FAQ section, or raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.

#### Do we change the geo-location of our IP's?
We don't change the Geo-Location of IPS, as this is down to the individual customer to do so.

### Networking & IPs - Network Connection Problem Troubleshooting
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/network-connection-problem-troubleshooting

#### I think that my network connection on my device hosted with you is slow. What should I do?
If
you believe that your server is experiencing a slow network
connection, you should first consider and check the following:

 

 Is there anything on your server that may be causing this issue;
 e.g. a client on your device sending high volumes of traffic? 
 

 

 Is your server trying to send or receive an abnormally large amount
 of data? 
 

 

 Is your server’s connection speed and duplex settings
 configured correctly? Your server’s connection to our switch
 should always be set to full duplex and the speed setting should
 always match what our switch port is set to.

If
you have considered and checked the above, and believe that none of
these factors could be causing the slow network issue, then we would
suggest hard power-cycling your machine to see if this fixes the
issue. Please be aware that there is always a chance of data-loss
when power-cycling a server, so we can only advise you to power-cycle
your machine and the decision to do so must be your own. 

If
you have considered all the above, attempted to reboot the server,
and this has not resolved the issue, please raise a support ticket
with the following information and answers to the following
questions, so that we can effectively troubleshoot this problem for
you:

 

 Are you experiencing any complete outages or just high latency/delay
 to your service?

 

 When did you start to notice the interruption to the service?

 

 Is the interruption still ongoing? If not, when did it end?

 

 Can you please supply an MTR of 1000 cycles to your hosted server
 from your remote machine (forward direction)?

 

 Can you please supply an MTR of 1000 cycles to your remote machine
 from your hosted server (reverse direction)?

 

 Please confirm the public address you are using at the remote
 location; and also the IP address of the affected service hosted
 with us?

 

 Can you please confirm the geographical location you are trying to
 reach the server from?

 

 Have you have tried to re-boot your server?

 

 Can you please confirm the speed and duplex settings of this server?
 

Once
you get in touch with the above information, our team will be able to
look into this issue for you as soon as possible. If you have any
further questions, please get in touch and we will be happy to help.

#### I am experiencing packet loss on my server. What should I do?
If
you believe that your server is experiencing packet loss, you should
first consider and check the following:

 

 Is there anything on your server that may be causing this issue? 
 

 

 Is your server trying to send or receive an abnormally large amount
 of data / packets? If so, can I resolve this? 
 

 

 Is your server’s connection speed and duplex settings
 configured correctly? Your server’s connection(s) to our
 switch should always be set to full duplex and the speed setting
 should always match what our switch port is set to.

If
you have considered and checked the above, and believe that none of
these factors could be causing the slow network issue, then we would
suggest hard power-cycling your machine to see if this fixes the
issue. Please be aware that there is always a chance of data-loss
when power-cycling a server, so we can only advise you to power-cycle
your machine and the decision to do so must be your own. 

If
you have considered all the above, attempted to reboot the server,
and this has not resolved the issue, please raise a support ticket
with the following information and answers to the following
questions, so that we can effectively troubleshoot this problem:

 

 Are you experiencing a complete outage or high latency/delay to your
 service?

 

 When did you start to notice the interruption to service?

 

 Is the interruption still ongoing? If not, when did it end? 
 

 

 Can you confirm the speed/duplex setting for the interface with the
 issue?

 

 Can you supply an MTR of 1000 cycles to your hosted server from your
 remote machine (forward direction)?

 

 Can you supply an MTR of 1000 cycles to your remote machine from
 your hosted server (reverse direction)?

 

 Please confirm the public address you are using at the remote
 location; and also the IP address of the affected service hosted
 with us.

 

 Have you have tried to re-boot your server?

 

 Can you please confirm the speed and duplex settings of this server?
 

Once
you get in touch with the above information, our team will be able to
look into this issue for you as soon as possible. If you have any
further questions, please get in touch and we will be happy to help.

#### I cannot reach my device hosted with you from some external locations, but I can from others. What should I do?
If
you have a problem accessing a device hosted with us from one
location, but not another, before you get in touch you should
consider the following:

 

 Could this be caused by a software problem on my external device?
 Does some software need updating?

 

 Is there a firewall rule on my hosted device or within my
 infrastructure that could be blocking this access?

If
you have considered the above, but cannot find a resolution, please
raise a support ticket with the following information:

 

 The device, IP address / Subnet that cannot be reached.

 

 The public IP address of the device that cannot reach the device in
 our DC.

 

 The geographical location of the device that cannot reach the device
 in our DC.

 

 Is this problem with more than one IP/Subnet and/or device, or just
 the one?

 

 The OS of the device that cannot be reached (please include the
 version).

 

 Is there any firewall rules that could be blocking the access to
 this device?

 

 The following Trace Routes:

 
 

 A MTR of 1000 cycles to your hosted server from your remote machine
 (forward direction).

 

 A MTR of 1000 cycles to your remote machine from your hosted server
 (reverse direction).

 

 

 The network configuration of the problem device (IP, subnet mask,
 default gateway, speed and duplex settings).

Once
you get in touch with the above information, our team will be able to
look into this issue for you as soon as possible. If you have any
further questions, please get in touch and we will be happy to help.

#### Two of my devices hosted with you cannot reach each other (routing issue). What should I do?
If
you have a routing issue with devices hosted with us, before you get
in touch you should consider the following:

 

 Is there a firewall rule on one of my hosted devices that could be
 blocking this access?

 

 Are both servers accessible, online and reachable externally?

If
you have considered the above, but cannot find a resolution, please
raise a support ticket with the following information:

 

 The IP address / Subnet that cannot be reached.

 

 The IP address / Subnet that you are trying to reach it from.

 

 Is this problem with more than one IP addresses/Subnets and/or
 device, or just the one?

 

 Can you reach both devices externally?

 

 The OS of the devices (please include the version).

 

 If there any Firewall rules that could be blocking the access to
 this device?

 

 Can you please supply bi-directional MTRs of 1000 cycles (from
 device A to device B; then from device B to device A).

 

 The network configuration of the problem devices (IP, Subnet Mask,
 Default Gateway, Speed and Duplex settings).

Once
you get in touch with the above information, our team will be able to
look into this issue for you as soon as possible. If you have any
further questions, please get in touch and we will be happy to help.

#### What is an MTR?
MTR,
or My Traceroute, is a free network diagnostic tool, designed to
combine the functionality of traceroute and ping monitoring programs.
A MTR works by sending around one packet per second from the host
device to the destination device, while probing the routers along the
route path and checking how many packets were lost between each hop. 

The
results of an MTR will show the host each packet passes through, how
many packets have been sent, the percentage of packets lost between
hops and the details surrounding the results of Pings on each host.
MTRs are often used when there is suspected packet loss between two
devices, or a routing issue, to determine if and where any issue may
reside. If you suspect either of these two issues are occurring on a
device hosted with us, we will require you to run an MTR to help
diagnose where the issue is. 

Please
see our FAQ section for information on how to run MTRs. If you have
any more questions about MTRs, please look through our FAQ section,
or raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I run an MTR on a CentOS server?
To
run a MTR from a CentOS device, you first need to install the MTR
package provided by Linux. If you have not installed MTR on your
CentOS device before, run the following install commands:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 start the install of MTR

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 yum
 install mtr

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 2

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Press Y then enter to confirm
 you wish to install the MTR package

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Once
you have installed the MTR package, you can now issue a command to
begin the MTR. 

When
issuing the below command, you will need to enter the IP address of
the destination device. What the destination device is depends on
what problem you are experiencing and trying to diagnose. If you are
experiencing packet loss or if there is a routing issue between two
devices, you will need enter the IP address of the other device. In
my example, I am running a MTR from one of my servers to another, as
I believe that there may be packet loss between the two servers.

 
 
 

 

 Command
 3

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 start the MTR, running a trace the destination IP address.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 mtr
 [insert destination IP address]

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

The
MTR will now start running and it should send roughly one packet per
second. You can see how many packets have been sent from the host you
are running the MTR on in the top row, in-line with the host’s
IP, under the sent column. You must now leave the MTR running. 

Once
the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you can use the results to identify
where the issue lies. We require at least 1000 packets to be sent, so
the results are accurate. 

If
you are checking for packet loss, you can use the Loss% column to
identify the percentage of packets lost within this hop, and you can
use the Host column in line with the Loss% column to identify where
the packet loss began. If you are checking for a routing issue, you
can use the Host column to identify the path the route has taken. 

Once
the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you should copy the entire MTR table
and paste it into a text document. If you do identify an issue, you
will need these results later. To copy the table from a putty window,
you simply need highlight the whole table. You can see an example of
a copied table below. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 Packets
 

 Pings
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 Host
 Loss%
 Snt
 Last
 Avg
 Best
 Wrst
 St
 Dev
 
 
 1
 □8.□29.□50.□□
 0.00%
 1100
 0.5
 0.6
 0.5
 0.8
 0
 

 
 
 2
 e1-46.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net
 0.00%
 1100
 0.6
 0.6
 0.5
 0.7
 0
 

 
 
 

 e1-45.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 3
 e3-21.bor2.dc5.as20860.net
 0.00%
 1100
 0.7
 0.7
 0.7
 0.9
 0
 

 
 
 4
 po2-30.net1.north.dc5.as20860.net
 0.00%
 1100
 0.4
 0.3
 0.3
 0.4
 0
 

 
 
 5
 □7.□17.□11.□□
 0.00%
 1100
 1.2
 1.4
 0.9
 2.4
 0.3
 

 
 
 6
 □3.□42.□28.□□
 0.00%
 1100
 0.3
 0.4
 0.3
 0.5
 0
 

 

Once you have finished running the MTR on this device and copied the
table, press Q to stop the MTR. 

You
should now run the MTR on the destination device, to the device you
just ran the MTR on above, then copy the table (reverse direction).
If you do discover any issues that lie within our network, please
supply both MTRs in a support ticket with the details of the problem
you are experiencing, and our team will investigate this issue.

If
you have any more questions about MTRs, please look through our FAQ
section, or raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I run a MTR on an Ubuntu server?
To
run a MTR from an Ubuntu device, you first need to install the MTR
package provided by Linux. If you have not installed MTR on your
Ubuntu device before, run the following install commands:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 update the list of available packages.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt-get
 update -y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 2

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 start the install of MTR

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt
 install mtr

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 As
 you can see in my example above, the MTR package has been replaced
 by the updated version MTR-Tiny package.

 

 

 
 

Once
you have installed the MTR package, you can now issue a command to
begin the MTR. 

When
issuing the below command, you will need to enter the IP address of
the destination device. What the destination device is depends on
what problem you are experiencing and trying to diagnose. If you are
experiencing packet loss or if there is a routing issue between two
devices, you will need enter the IP address of the other device. In
my example, I am running a MTR from one of my servers to another, as
I believe that there may be packet loss between the two servers.

 
 
 

 

 Command
 3

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 start the MTR, running a trace the destination IP address.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 mtr
 [insert destination IP address]

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

The
MTR will now start and it should send roughly one packet per second.
You can see how many packets have been sent from the host you are
running the MTR on in the top row, in-line with the host’s IP,
under the sent column. 

Once
the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you can use the results to identify
where the issue lies. We require at least 1000 packets to be sent to
make sure that the results are accurate. 

If
you are checking for packet loss, you can use the Loss% column to
identify the percentage of packets lost within this hop, and you can
use the Host column in line with the Loss% column to identify where
the packet loss began. If you are checking for a routing issue, you
can use the Host column to identify the path the route has taken. 

Once
the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you should copy the entire MTR table
and paste it into a text document. If you do identify an issue, you
will need these results later. To copy the table from a putty window,
you simply need highlight the whole table. You can see an example of
a copied table below. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 Packets
 

 Pings
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 Host
 Loss%
 Snt
 Last
 Avg
 Best
 Wrst
 St
 Dev
 
 
 1
 □8.□29.□50.□□
 0.00%
 1100
 0.5
 0.6
 0.5
 0.8
 0
 

 
 
 2
 e1-46.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net
 0.00%
 1100
 0.6
 0.6
 0.5
 0.7
 0
 

 
 
 

 e1-45.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 3
 e3-21.bor2.dc5.as20860.net
 0.00%
 1100
 0.7
 0.7
 0.7
 0.9
 0
 

 
 
 4
 po2-30.net1.north.dc5.as20860.net
 0.00%
 1100
 0.4
 0.3
 0.3
 0.4
 0
 

 
 
 5
 □7.□17.□11.□□
 0.00%
 1100
 1.2
 1.4
 0.9
 2.4
 0.3
 

 
 
 6
 □3.□42.□28.□□
 0.00%
 1100
 0.3
 0.4
 0.3
 0.5
 0
 

 

Once you have finished running the MTR on this device and copied the
table, press Q to stop the MTR. 

You
should now run the MTR on the destination device, to the device you
just ran the MTR on above, then copy the table (reverse direction).
If you do discover any issues that lie within our network, please
supply both MTRs in a support ticket and our team will investigate
this issue.

If
you have any more questions about MTRs, please look through our FAQ
section, or raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I run an MTR on a Debian server?
To
run a MTR from a Debian device, you first need to install the MTR
package provided by Linux. If you have not installed MTR on your
Debian device before, run the following install commands:

 
 
 

 

 Command
 1

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 update the list of available packages.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt-get
 update

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 2

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Run the following command to
 install the MTR package.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 apt-get
 install mtr

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 Command
 3

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Press Y and then enter to
 confirm you want to download the software. 
 

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 y

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Once
you have installed the MTR package, you can now issue a command to
begin the MTR. 

When
issuing the below command, you will need to enter the IP address of
the destination device. What the destination device is depends on
what problem you are experiencing and trying to diagnose. If you are
experiencing packet loss or if there is a routing issue between two
devices, you will need enter the IP address of the other device. In
my example, I am running a MTR from one of my servers to another, as
I believe that there may be packet loss between the two servers.

 
 
 

 

 Command
 4

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Command
 Description

 
 
 Issue the following command to
 start the MTR, running a trace the destination IP address.

 
 
 
 
 Command

 
 
 

 

 mtr
 [insert destination IP address]

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of Command being Run

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 Image
 of a Successful Result of Command

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

The
MTR will now have started and it should send roughly one packet per
second. You can see how many packets have been sent from the host you
are running the MTR on in the top row, in-line with the host’s
IP, under the sent column. 

Once
the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you can use the results to identify
where the issue lies. We require at least 1000 packets to be sent to
make sure the results are accurate. 

If
you are checking for packet loss, you can use the Loss% column to
identify the percentage of packets lost within this hop, and you can
use the Host column in line with the Loss% column to identify where
the packet loss began. If you are checking for a routing issue, you
can use the Host column to identify the path the route has taken. 

Once
the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you should copy the entire MTR table
and paste it into a text document. If you do identify an issue, you
will need these results later. To copy the table from a putty window,
you simply need highlight the whole table. You can see an example of
a copied table below. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 Packets
 

 Pings
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 Host
 Loss%
 Snt
 Last
 Avg
 Best
 Wrst
 St
 Dev
 
 
 1
 □8.□29.□50.□□
 0.00%
 1100
 0.5
 0.6
 0.5
 0.8
 0
 

 
 
 2
 e1-46.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net
 0.00%
 1100
 0.6
 0.6
 0.5
 0.7
 0
 

 
 
 

 e1-45.lea302.1ue.dc5.as20860.net
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 3
 e3-21.bor2.dc5.as20860.net
 0.00%
 1100
 0.7
 0.7
 0.7
 0.9
 0
 

 
 
 4
 po2-30.net1.north.dc5.as20860.net
 0.00%
 1100
 0.4
 0.3
 0.3
 0.4
 0
 

 
 
 5
 □7.□17.□11.□□
 0.00%
 1100
 1.2
 1.4
 0.9
 2.4
 0.3
 

 
 
 6
 □3.□42.□28.□□
 0.00%
 1100
 0.3
 0.4
 0.3
 0.5
 0
 

 

Once you have finished running the MTR on this device and copied the
table, press Q to stop the MTR. 

You
should now run the MTR on the destination device, to the device you
just ran the MTR on above, then copy the table. If you do discover
any issues that lie within our network, please supply both MTRs in a
support ticket along with details of the issue you are facing and our
team will investigate this issue.

If
you have any more questions about MTRs, please look through our FAQ
section, or raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I run an MTR on a Windows server?
To
run a MTR on a Windows device, you will first need to download a
Windows compatible program, capable of running an MTR. The most
common piece of software used to run an MTR on a Windows device is
WinMTR; you can download this software from WinMTR’s website: 

https://sourceforge.net/projects/winmtr/

Once
you are on the WinMTR website, press download on the appropriate
version of the software. A .zip file will now download; you will then
need to extract all the files from this zip folder. Then locate the
appropriate version of the software’s file (x32 Vs x64) and run
the WinMTR.exe file. The WinMTR program will now launch.

You
now need to enter the IP address of the destination device in the
Host text box. Once you have entered the destination device’s
IP address, press Start. What the destination device is depends on
what problem you are experiencing and trying to diagnose. If you are
experiencing packet loss or if there is a routing issue between two
devices, you will need enter the IP address of the other device. In
my example, I am running a MTR from one of my servers to another, as
I believe that there may be packet loss between the two servers.

The
MTR should send roughly one packet per second. You can see how many
packets have been sent from the host you are running the MTR on in
the top row, in-line with the host’s IP, under the sent column.

Once
the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you can use the results to identify
where the issue lies. We require at least 1000 packets to be sent to
make sure the result are accurate.

If
you are checking for packet loss, you can use the Loss% column to
identify the percentage of packets lost within this hop, and you can
use the Host column in line with the Loss% column to identify where
the packet loss began. If you are checking for a routing issue, you
can use the Host column to identify the path the route has taken. 

Once
the MTR has sent 1000 packets, you should copy the entire MTR table
and paste it into a word document. If you do identify an issue, you
will need these results later. To copy the table, simply press the
Copy Text to clipboard button.

You
can see an example of a copied table below. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 |
 WinMTR statistics
 |
 
 
 |
 Host
 -
 %
 |
 Sent
 |
 Recv
 |
 Best
 |
 Avrg
 |
 Wrst
 |
 Last
 |
 
 
 |
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 |
 
 
 |
 □0. □4. □. □□□
 -
 0
 |
 1137
 |
 1137
 |
 0
 |
 4
 |
 152
 |
 0
 |
 
 
 |
 593.core2.thn.as20860.net
 -
 0
 |
 1136
 |
 1136
 |
 1
 |
 7
 |
 287
 |
 9
 |
 
 
 |
 300.asr2.dc2.as20860.net
 -
 0
 |
 1137
 |
 1137
 |
 1
 |
 2
 |
 59
 |
 2
 |
 
 
 |
 □0. □53. □. □□
 -
 0
 |
 1137
 |
 1137
 |
 1
 |
 7
 |
 238
 |
 1
 |
 
 
 |
 542.core1.dc2.as20860.net
 -
 2
 |
 1086
 |
 1073
 |
 1
 |
 9
 |
 344
 |
 2
 |
 
 
 |
 303.asr2.dc2.as20860.net
 -
 0
 |
 1137
 |
 1137
 |
 2
 |
 4
 |
 74
 |
 3
 |
 
 
 |
 300.core2.thn.as20860.net
 -
 0
 |
 1137
 |
 1137
 |
 2
 |
 10
 |
 286
 |
 4
 |
 
 
 |
 593.net1.north.dc5.as20860.net
 -
 1
 |
 1132
 |
 1131
 |
 2
 |
 9
 |
 145
 |
 2
 |
 
 
 |
 po2-30.bor2.dc5.as20860.net
 -
 0
 |
 1137
 |
 1137
 |
 2
 |
 4
 |
 78
 |
 3
 |
 
 
 |
 e1-42.lea102.1uf.dc5.as20860.net
 -
 0
 |
 1137
 |
 1137
 |
 2
 |
 4
 |
 76
 |
 3
 |
 
 
 |
 □8. □29. □18. □□
 -
 0
 |
 1137
 |
 1137
 |
 2
 |
 4
 |
 76
 |
 3
 |
 
 
 |
 □8. □29. □18. □□
 -
 0
 |
 1137
 |
 1137
 |
 2
 |
 4
 |
 78
 |
 3
 |
 

Once
you have finished running the MTR on this device and copied the
table, press the Stop button or simply close the window.

You
should now run the MTR on the destination device, to the device you
just ran the MTR on above, then copy the table (reverse direction).
If you do discover any issues that lie within our network, please
supply both MTRs in a support ticket and our team will investigate
this issue.

If
you have any more questions about MTRs, please look through our FAQ
section, or raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

#### What is storm control?
A broadcast storm is when we have an excessive amount of broadcast traffic on the network then all devices within the broadcast domain will suffer. The switch has to flood all broadcast frames to interfaces in the same VLAN, hosts within the VLAN might have to process these frames (ARP requests for example).

Too much broadcast traffic could be caused by malicious software but also by a malfunctioning NIC. To protect ourselves against this, Cisco switches offer the storm-control feature which automatically disables the switch port to protect against the switch CPU overheating and potentially taking down other devices in the rack. We configure a threshold on interfaces to set a limit to the number of broadcasts, multicast or unknown unicast traffic and an action when the threshold is exceeded.

As long as limits have been set and adhered, you shouldn’t get any issues with the port dropping.

### Networking & IPs - Subnets
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/subnets

#### What is the difference between a Public and Private subnet?
We
supply IPv4 addresses from two different types of subnets; Public
Subnets and Private Subnets. 

As
standard, our dedicated devices are supplied with an IPv4 address
from a public subnet and all additional IP addresses will come from
this same public subnet. A public subnet’s IP addresses are
shared amongst a multitude of clients; with several clients using
addresses from the same subnet. The benefits of having IPv4 addresses
from a public subnet is that it is generally cheaper than having a
private subnet, per IP address. However, you are limited to 30 IP
addresses per device from a shared subnet – so this is only an
option for devices that require 30 or less IP addresses on each
device, you cannot have IPv6 addresses while on a public subnet, and
you cannot directly control which address is assigned to which device
under your account. 

A
private subnet is assigned to a single client; with this client
having access to every usable IP addresses within this private
subnet. A private subnet is leased through us as a separate product
and is billed for monthly. The benefits of having a private subnet is
that you have full control over which device each IP address is
assigned to, with a private subnet you can also have IPv6 addresses,
you can have more than 30 IPs assigned to a single device and only
your devices will have access to the vLAN the subnet resides upon,
providing greater security. With a private subnet, you are also less
likely to be affected by NAC violations. Our private subnets come in
a range of sizes, to suit a range of requirements. 

Please
note, clients cannot have IP addresses assigned to a single device
from both a public and a private subnet; it must be one or the other.

If
you have any further question or wish to purchase a private subnet,
please feel free to get in touch through a ticket and a member of our
team will be happy to help.

#### Do you provide private subnets?
Yes,
we provide both IPv4 and IPv6 private subnets. 

We
offer private subnets in a variety of sizes; from a /27 to a /24
subnet; to cater to all our client’s needs. You can also have
multiple subnets on your account, subject to justification. Our
system also allow you to have multiple private subnets placed onto a
single vLAN, if you require more ranges/IP within the same vLAN.

All
subnet applications are subject to full RIPE justification. Please be
aware that you can only have an IPv6 private subnet, if you already
have, or have also ordered a private IPv4 subnet. 

If
you are interested in having a private subnet, please get in touch
and we can work out what subnets would be best for you. Please also
feel free to get in touch if you have any further questions.

### Networking & IPs - vLANS
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/vlans

#### Do you provide private vLANs?
Yes,
we do offer private vLANs that will be assigned to your account, and
can only utilised by devices on your account. Your devices can be
attached to the private a vLAN, so traffic sent between these devices
attached to this vLAN can be kept separate and secure from other
traffic.

VLAN
connections can be provided for an additional monthly fee; which we
put in place just to cover the costs of the utilised networking
infrastructure. We offer both 100Mb and 1Gb vLAN connections; both of
which have different pricing associated. 

We
also allow clients to have multiple vLANs under their account;
however, this is subject to justification review.

If
you want to add a vLAN connection to an existing device or if you
have any further questions, please feel free to get in touch, and we
will be happy to discuss this with you.

### Our Physical Infrastructure & Certification Information
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/our-physical-infrastructure-certification-information

#### What is our environmental standards and initiatives?
Iomart are committed to maintaining high environmental standards with our operations and datacentres. We understand that we are not separate from the environment and actively work to improve our impact on the environment.

We qualified for ISO 14001 in 2014. ISO 14001, which is the standard in Energy Management. This focuses on organisations having control in place to ensure energy use is audited and measures are in place to make energy use sustainable. Further information about the ISO can be found here: https://www.iso.org/iso-14001-environmental-management.html

Iomart also has a Rainforest concern project, which you can find out further information about here:

https://www.iomart.com/about-iomart/corporate-responsibility/rainforest-concern/

Our energy initiatives and bulk power procurement allow for systems hosted with us to enjoy a more efficient and carbon sensitive energy environment, over hosting within a private home or office.

https://www.iso.org/iso-14001-environmental-management.html

### Our Physical Infrastructure & Certification Information - Certificates & Compliance
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/certificates-compliance

#### What ISO certificates do you have?
We take data and site security very seriously. As such, we routinely have external auditors ISO certify all our sites, with the relevant accreditations for the hosting environment.

As part of the iomart Group, our ISO Accreditations are held under the company name of iomart. Iomart and all our sites are 9001 and 27001 certified. These certificates are recommended by the British government for hosting companies and guarantee that our site’s security, documentation, service standard and processes are all of a high standard, as expected of a data centre. Our ISO accreditations are held with the external auditing company ISOQAR.

The 9001 and 27001 certifications are predominantly used in the UK, but these certificates are of an international standard and are internationally recognised. These ISOs cover data protection, security, compliance and quality of service.

Our compliance with these standards is a continual process, with spot checks being performed by auditors as part of the compliance process, on a regular basis.

If you require more information about our ISO accreditations, please visit iomart’s accreditations webpage, found here:

https://www.iomart.com/about-iomart/accreditations/

If you wish to verify our certificates and see our continued compliance, you can do so independently by going through ISOQAR. Our certificate number is '7235'. Here is a link to ISOQAR’S website:

https://www.alcumusgroup.com/isoqar/customer-area/validate-a-certificate

If you have any further questions about our ISO accreditations, please feel free to get in touch.

#### Do you offer PCI-compliant hosting?
Yes
we do. PCI compliance can be an onerous undertaking, both in regards
to research and implementation, so if you are interested in finding
out more, simply contact a member of our team who will be happy to
help and discuss this with you.

If
you have any further questions, please feel free to look through our
FAQ section, or feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy to
help.

#### Rapidswitch/iomart are GDPR Compliant?
Rapidswitch/iomart are GDPR compliant

GDPR compliance can’t actually be “certified” as there is no official certification process. However, you can rest assured that iomart fully satisfies all our obligations under the new regulations.

As the UK’s most accredited provider of managed cloud services, we build data protection and data security into every aspect of our operations. We continue to incorporate our multiple ISO accreditations plus international guidelines and codes of practice into our management standards.

Iomart (Our parent company) are ISO 9001 and 27001 certified.
 These ISOs cover data protection, security, compliance and quality of service.
 
 Iomart's ISO accreditations are held with Isoqar.
 
 To ensure our continued compliance, third parties can verify our ISO status by contacting Isoqar.
 
 Their contact details can be found on: https://www.alcumusgroup.com/certification-and-accreditation/
 
 Our certificate number is 7235 (Please use this to verify our ISO status when contacting Isoqar)

What does this mean for iomart customers?

GDPR splits organisations into Data Processors and Data Controllers. Data Controllers (i.e. our customers) determine the means and purposes of collecting personal data. Data Processors (i.e. iomart) is responsible for processing that data on behalf of the Data Controller.

There are some specific obligations that relate to each type of organisation under GDPR. iomart has done everything required to ensure we meet the Data Processor obligations, but, while this does help our customers, it, unfortunately, doesn’t automatically mean that our customers meet all the requirements of being a Data Controller.

#### Are your Datacentres PCI Compliant?
As a business, we are PCI compliant and have our own DR and BC documentation.

For our customers, we can also provide a PCI compliant platform and DR and BC plans. However, our customers are not able to use our PCI compliance to be compliant themselves, nor does us as the hosting provider having a DR or BC plan protect customers that do not have such plans in place.

#### Do you have documents/reports for independant assurance certification, similar to ISAE?
We do not have a SOC report to hand as iomart does not have a ISAE 3402 SOC report that it can be shared.

As a UK company, the iomart Group is not required to be compliant with this standard. However, I believe iomart does meet the intricacies of this standard.

Firstly, being listed on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (AIM) since 2000, the iomart Group plc has to meet the stringent regulatory requirements of the stock market and is therefore independently audited every six months with reports and documents published at http://www.iomart.com/investors/

Secondly, our accredited management systems which cover our operational sites in the UK include ISO 9001:2015 for quality assurance, ISO 27001:2013 for information security and ISO 20000-1:2011 for IT service.

They are all independently assessed every 6 months by an assessor from ISOQAR, a UKAS accredited certifying body. The auditor determines the effectiveness of the service controls in place and conformity with these global standards.

### Our Physical Infrastructure & Certification Information - Data Centre Site Information
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/data-centre-site-information

#### What type of security do your data centre sites have?
We
maintain a high level of security across all of our data centre
sites. 

Our
security procedures and infrastructure include, but are not limited
to:

 

 24x7, 365 days a year manned security and site monitoring.

 

 Biometric access policies.

 

 Smart Card access policies.

 

 Internal and external CCTV systems, running and monitored 24x7, 365
 days a year.

 

 Security breach alarms.

We
also have strict procedures in place for any visitors coming to our
data centre; including:

 

 All visitors must have a genuine reason to visit a site.

 

 All visitors must provide us with at least 24 hour notice before
 coming onto site. 
 

 

 All visitors must have a valid form of photo identification.

 

 All visitors must have the access code, which was generated for this
 visit.

 

 Once they arrive, all visitors will only have access to the section
 of the site they require access to.

 

 We retain the right to deny access to anyone who breaks any of the
 terms above. 
 

Our
site security policies are regularly audited, by a third party
auditing company, as part of our security ISO certificates. To find
out more, please read the FAQ section on “What ISO certificates
do you have?”.

If
you have any further questions about our sites, please look through
our FAQ section or feel free to get in touch, and we will be happy to
help.

#### What are your data centres like?
We
have several data centre sites spread across the UK and even some
sites around the globe. Our data centres vary in size and setup; but
all maintain high levels of security and quality of service.

Our
data centres have: 

 

 Strict security policies; including:

 
 

 24x7, 365 days a year manned security and monitoring

 

 Smart card and/or biometric access policies

 

 Internal and external CCTV systems

 

 Security breach alarms.

 

 

 Back-up power infrastructure; including:

 
 

 Generators

 

 UPS units

 

 Dual independent power feeds. 
 

 

 

 24x7, 365 days a year support; with our sites having Network
 Operations Centre engineers on site all year round, ready to help. 
 

 

 Stable environmental conditions; including: 
 

 
 

 24x7 environmental monitoring systems

 

 Constant evaluation and testing of all environmental control
 systems

 

 N+1 redundant Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems

 

 Fully redundant air handling units which provide constant fresh
 airflow

 

 In-built fire suppression systems. 
 

 

 

 Network Interconnectivity; including:

 
 

 Diverse fibre routing via multiple carriers

 

 Cross connection to a number of Tier 1 carriers

 

 Scalable architecture, including multiple redundant core switches
 and routers

 

As
part of the Iomart group, you can find more details about our data
centre sites through iomart’s website:

https://www.iomart.com/about-iomart/uk-data-centres/

If
you have any further question which are not answered by our FAQ page
or iomart’s webpage, please feel free to get in touch and we
will be happy to help.

#### What is your Datacentre Infrastructure Tier
Our Datacentre Infrastructure is Tier 3

A Tier 3 data centre has multiple paths for power and cooling and systems in place to update and maintain it without taking it offline. It has an expected uptime of 99.982% (1.6 hours of downtime annually).

Fundamentally, your applications should be hosted in at least a Tier 2 data centre but preferably Tiers 3 or 4. The Tier system is a guide for the datacentre infrastructure design

As you move up each Tier you can expect more redundancy:

Tier 2 data centres: redundant capacity components

Tier 3 data centres: meet or exceed Tier 2 requirements; multiple independent distribution paths that serve IT equipment; hardware is dual powered

Tier 4 data centres: meet or exceed Tier 3 requirements; the facility is fault-tolerant through electrical, storage and distribution networks; cooling equipment is dual powered.

The Tier system can be used as a rough indicator of how much downtime you can expect from your application’s data centre.

As Tier level corresponds to cost, you need to decide what level of redundancy you can afford and potentially how much application downtime you can accept.

Moving from Tier 3 to Tier 4, for example, will increase your hosting costs significantly.

### Products & Services
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/products-services

#### cPanel Licencing Prices
Dedi / Cloud

License

Number of websites

Monthly Cost

Physical Dedi

Premier

100

£34.50

Physical Dedi

Premier bulk

Every site over the first 100

£0.20 per additional website

Cloud

Premier

30 - 100

£34.50

Cloud

Premier bulk

Every site over the first 100

£0.20 per additional website

Cloud

Plus

31 - 50

£27

Cloud

Pro

6 - 30

£21.50

Cloud

Admin

2-5

£15

Cloud

Solo

1

£10

#### How long does it take for my server to be built?
At RapidSwitch/Redstation we allow 24/48 hours for a custom server to be built, however, if this is a pre-built system from our store, we aim to have the system deployed in under four hours.

#### Do we store collocated equipment?
The Client accepts full responsibility for the delivery and collection of their equipment to the data centre and shall ensure that it reaches us in working condition. RapidSwitch does not accept any liability for any loss or damage caused in transit to and from the data centre. When the server is delivered, the packaging it is delivered in will be disposed of. If the client wishes the packaging to be stored, they must explicitly inform us by writing in advance, and this will be charged at a standard rate of £35 per week, or part thereof.
 
 The Client shall not be entitled to collect their server for maintenance or otherwise unless all unpaid fees for the Services are paid in full prior to such collection.
 
 Where the Services are terminated, RapidSwitch will store the Client’s equipment without charge for 7 days but recommend it is collected as soon as practicable. If the equipment is stored beyond this period, there will be a storage charge of £35 per week per item of equipment.
 
 RapidSwitch reserves the right to exercise a lien over the Client’s server(s) in respect of any unpaid fees and shall be entitled, but not obliged, to sell the server(s) if it is not collected after one (1) month from the termination date in order to recoup any unpaid fees. RapidSwitch reserves the right to dispose of any of the Client’s equipment, without any liability to the client, which has not been collected from the RapidSwitch premises after one (1) month from the termination date.

Physical Access To Colocated Servers

Physical access to shared racks used by more than one RapidSwitch client is not permitted under any circumstance. To gain physical access, the Client may request usage of the Build Room. This is subject to availability and is charged for at £30 per hour or part thereof. If available, RapidSwitch will remove the Client’s equipment to the Build Room, and allow the Client access to the equipment in the Build Room.

Insurance Of Collocated Equipment

RapidSwitch will ensure all servers and associated equipment against the risks of accidental damage (including fire and theft) for as long as such equipment is under RapidSwitch’s control and located at RapidSwitch’s data centre at Spectrum House, Clivemont Road, Maidenhead. RapidSwitch will not be responsible for any loss of data and/or software from any Client’s server or associated equipment. The insurance of any loss of data and/or software is not part of this Agreement. RapidSwitch does not insure its clients against loss of data and/or software or any consequential loss arising from a loss of data and/or software. All insurance arranged for clients’ servers and equipment will be subject to the terms and conditions of the insurance policy arranged by RapidSwitch at the time of any loss or damage.

#### Server alerts to personal devices?
1. Select My Servers tab and then select your IS-REF you wish to set alerts on.

2. Navigate over to the health dropdown and click on Alerts.

3. Add an Alert and then select your alert types in the dropdown and save.

#### How to cancel server?
Servers can be cancelled Via the Myservers Portal.

When requesting a cancellation please be aware you would need to provide us with a 30 days notice period.

The cancellation request can be found in the Server Page as shown in the diagram below:

General Tab - Cancel Server

#### How to request a recovery session (KVM)?
Recovery session allows you to directly connect to the server remotely and control rebooting, configuring BIOS, installing OS versions, General/network troubleshooting.

Please note, we offer 1 free KVM session every month, if you require more than this, this is chargeable of £20 per 4-hour session.

Navigate to the “MyServers” tab and your servers will be listed, then find the server that you would like to request the KVM on and click into it.

On the right-hand side press into the “Support” tab and a drop-down menu will appear.

This will then take you to the following page where you can request for a KVM to be attached.

Once the KVM has been requested, please allow around 30 minutes for the KVM to be attached during busy periods. Once the KVM has been activated, you will automatically receive credentials for logging in via VNC viewer

### Products & Services - Cancelling Products & Services
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/cancelling-products-services

#### What are the cancellation terms?
Our
standard cancellation terms is that our clients must provide a
minimum of 30 days’ notice before a service can be cancelled.
The 30 days’ notice period is outlined in our terms and
conditions:

"This
Agreement shall come into effect upon the date of this Agreement and,
subject to the provisions of this Agreement shall continue in force
for an initial term of 1 month from the date the Services are
available to the Client and indefinitely after that until terminated
by either party giving not less than 30 days prior written notice to
expire on or after the expiry date of the initial term."

If
you have a contract on your server or any bespoke agreements made
with our Sales team, the standard 30 day cancellation terms may not
apply to you. 

If
you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

### Products & Services - Cloud Hosting
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/cloud-hosting

#### Do you offer Cloud Hosting?
We
do offer cloud hosting. We offer and can provision any client with an
Enterprise Cloud Server (Virtual Machine) on our shared platform
(public cloud). 

Our
Enterprise Cloud Servers are hosted on our CloudSure platform and can
be provisioned in the time it takes to install the operating system. 

Alternately,
you can use one of our dedicated servers to build your own cloud
(private cloud); or you can even mix the two to create a Hybrid Cloud
environment. Which option would be best for your requirements depends
on how much storage space, memory capacity and processor power you
require.

Both
options are available through our MyServers Shop; where you can see
what specifications we offer and the applicable pricing.

If
you have any questions, or require more detail, please feel free to
get in touch and one of our team members will be happy to help.

#### Do you offer virtual shared storage space?
We
do indeed offer shared storage space. We have our own replicated SAN
platform, which we can use to provide you with storage space that can
be connected to your server, as a network drive. 

Our
shared storage is hosted on SAN devices that are off-site, which
means that your backed-up data would be protected from either network
or power failures within the data-centre your server is hosted in

Alternatively,
you can take out your own dedicated SAN device or an additional
dedicated server, which are more cost effective options when there is
a larger storage requirements (above 2TB of storage space). 

If
you are thinking about using shared storage as a back-up option,
please see the section on “What back-up options do you offer?”
to see what other back-up option we offer. 

Please
be aware that our shared NAS option is currently only available at
selected data centre sites within our infrastructure. If you are
interested in a shared storage, please feel free to get in touch and
we will be happy to advise if this is available within your server’s
data centre, currently.

Please
contact us to discuss what your storage requirements are and we will
be happy to discuss this with you.

#### What platform do your Enterprise Cloud Servers use?
Our latest Enterprise Cloud Servers are hosted within our CloudSure
platform. 

Our
CloudSure platform has been built with no single points of failure.
It uses the latest generation server technology, runs on the latest
version of Enterprise Plus licensed VMware ESXi, and uses only
high-end Dell EMC SAN devices for storage.

The
Enterprise Cloud Servers utilises our Bare Metal rapid provisioning
and set up service, allowing us to deploy you a new VM within a click
of a button. Our CloudSure platform allow us to hand over the entire
virtual server and its compute power to a single customer. With no
virtualisation or hypervisor, you get full configurability to exactly
meet your specifications. Our setup eliminates the potential for
performance lag, sometimes experienced by virtualisation hypervisors,
caused by sharing resources.

Increasing
demands for greater processing power are being driven by the big data
explosion; we offer an effective and powerful cloud option –
providing you with root access and exclusive control. 

If
you wish to discuss cloud platforms further, please feel free to get
in touch and we will be happy to discuss this with you.

### Products & Services - Colocation
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/colocation

#### What is Shared Colocation?
One
of the hosting packages we offer is ‘Shared Colocation’.
You can find this package through our MyServers Shop. 

To
understand what ‘Shared Colocation’ is, you must first
understand what colocation hosting involves. Colocation differs from
dedicated hosting, as colocated devices belong to the client, while
dedicated devices belong to the hosting company and access to these
devices are leased to our clients. 

Our
shared colocation package involves a client buying their own hardware
devices (e.g. a server) through a third party, configuring the
devices with their own data and configuration, and then sending the
device to one of our UK data-centres to be hosted. The hosting
company, us, simply supply the necessary network and power
connections. 

The
benefits of colocated hosting is that you have more control over what
hardware is used in your setup. However, unlike with dedicated
servers, the hosting company is not responsible for the hardware of
any colocated devices. With colocated devices, we are not responsible
for replacing any faulty hardware; we are responsible for our
infrastructure only. This also means that a client with a colocated
device would need to have a greater understanding of hardware; as
they would be responsible for their device’s maintenance.

The
‘Shared’ part of our shared colocation package refers to
the fact that the colocated devices would be hosted within a rack
shared by multiple clients; opposed to a client being provided with
an entire rack/part of a rack devoted to their equipment.

If
you have any further questions about our Shared Colocation package,
or wish to discuss if a colocated or dedicated device would be better
for you, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to
help.

#### Cancelling your colo server and arranging collection?
Cancelling your colo server and arranging collection, we offer the below options:

We can de-rack server and have it ready for collection free of charge.

We can de-rack server, and safely package it. Please note Packaging is chargeable to £30 per box, if required we can also provide you with package dimensions. You will be required to arrange your own courier service/costs. We accept pre-paid postage stickers sent via tickets to be attached if needed

We can only store equipment in our goods-out area for 7 days. If the equipment is stored for longer than 1 week, a fee of £25 per week, per device will be added to your account.

Before collection please note and provide info:

Will, you (or another named individual) or a courier company be collecting the device. Photographic identification will be required for named individuals collecting.

You will be required to pay outstanding invoices/account balance before we can release any equipment as being part of our policy

Site address & contact details can be found below:

DC5

RapidSwitch,IOMART
 Spectrum House
 Clivemont Road,
 Maidenhead,
 SL6 7FW

Tel: 01753 471 040

DC3

iomart hosting

2-6 Fishergate

Nottingham

NG1 1FY

DC9

Redstation Limited
 2 Frater Gate Business Park
Gosport Hampshire,

PO13 0GW

### Products & Services - Customer Services & Support Team
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/customer-services-support-team

#### What if I need help or want to speak to someone about an issue?
We
offer 24x7, all year round support and our teams are always happy to
help with any issues or queries you may have. 

Our
ticketing system is constantly monitored by multiple support teams,
who will always promptly respond to any of your questions or support
requests raised through our ticketing system. So if you have any
issues or questions, which are not answered here in our FAQ section,
please feel free to raise a support ticket through MyServers, and a
member of our team will be happy to help you. 

We
also have a support phone line which also operates 24x7, all year
round. Our phone number can be found on our MyServers control panel.
If the issue is urgent and/or you wish to talk to a member of our
team on the phone, the please feel free to use our support line. We
would always suggest raising a support ticket first, before phoning
our support line, so we can use this ticket as a basis of any actions
that need to be taken as a result of the call.

We
have a dedicated customer services team, which work Monday to Friday
9:00-17:00 (GMT/BST), who are always happy to assist with all manner
of enquiries, from upgrades and support requests, to service
migrations and pre-sales assistance. 

Outside
of weekly office hours and at weekends you can escalate any urgent
enquiries to a member of the support team via our ticketing system or
phone line. 

The
customer services team and our support teams are there to help, so
please feel free to utilise them - our primary aim is your full
satisfaction with our service.

### Products & Services - Cutting Costs
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/cutting-costs

#### How can I reduce the price of my service?
There
are two main ways to reduce the price of your service; without
down-grading any of your products or services. 

The
first is to enter into a contract term for the service - usually
between 12 and 36 months. The price reduction will increase in
correlation with contract term increases. This can be applied to both
existing and new server orders.

The
second is to pay an upfront setup fee to reduce the on-going monthly
price of the server. The larger the setup fee, the lower the on-going
monthly fee. If you are trying to reduce the monthly cost of a server
after the activation date, in some instances, you can still pay a
‘set-up’ fee to reduce the cost. 

If
you are interested in either of these two options, please feel to
raise a ticket through the MyServers control panel setting out the
terms you would be interested in, and one of the members of our team
will be in touch to discuss this with you.

#### Can I pay the setup fee after ordering the server?
It
varies on a case by case basis, but it is usually possible to pay a
setup fee or 'additional contribution', in order to reduce the
on-going monthly fee of the server.

This
often occurs when a trial project turns into a longer term
investment, or perhaps if your client is trailing your own services
before committing to a longer term agreement.

If
you are interested in paying a setup fee for the server, please get
in touch and a member of our team will be happy to discuss this with
you.

### Products & Services - Data Backups
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/data-backups

#### Do you backup my server’s data?
As
a managed infrastructure provider, we do not backup the data on our
customer’s servers by default. Taking back-ups of data and
configuration is the responsibility of the client, but with this
being said, we do have a number of backup solutions you can choose
from.

See
below in the “What back-up options do you offer?” section
for more details on what back-up options we currently offer; or
please contact us with your requirements and we will assist with
choosing the best backup solution.

If
you have any more questions, please feel free to get in touch and we
will be happy to help.

#### Should I back-up the data on my server?
Yes,
we strongly encourage all our clients to always back-up any important
data or configuration that they would not want to lose, on a regular
basis, to a device that is external from their primary server(s). 

Due
to the nature of hardware, there is always an unavoidable possibility
that a component of your set-up may become faulty; which may lead to
data loss. We will always replace any faulty hardware that we are
alerted to, however, we cannot recover any data that may be loss due
to this hardware failure. As a managed infrastructure service
provider, we are not responsible for any data loss; so it is our
client’s responsibility to make sure any data of theirs is
backed up in a manor that minimises the chances of their data being
lost. 

If
you have any questions about back-ups or need help with a back-up
solution, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to
help.

#### What back-up options do you offer?
We
offer a variety of back-up options, to cater to a variety of needs.
Which one would be best for you, depends on your requirements. Please
read through the following options, to see which one best meets your
requirements: 

Additional
server – One option would be to have an additional
dedicated server set-up with us; working as a back-up / fail over
server.

Both
your main server and your additional backup sever would have a VLAN
connection, connecting the two servers together. The additional
server would be entirely managed by yourselves; so it would be up to
you to configure your new dedicated backup server to your
requirements, and to setup and install any backups/failovers between
the two servers.

The
benefits of having an additional server are that the additional
server can have as much storage space as is required; if your primary
server were to fail, you would have complete server redundancy, and
you would always have access to your configuration and data through
your secondary server (or vice versa); and you can have multiple
servers connected to the back-up server, through the single VLAN,
meaning you could have one back-up server for multiple devices.

The
pricing of this option would depend on the required hardware
specifications of the additional server; but you can use our shop to
judge pricing based on specification. Having an additional server
set-up is often the most cost effective option and is one of the most
popular options amongst our clients.

Shared
NAS Space – Another option would be to have space allocated
from one of our shared NAS device platform; and have this space
connected to your server as a network drive. This is only an option
if 2TB or less of back-up space is required. Also, this option is
currently only available at certain data centres within our
infrastructure. If this is an option you may be interested in, please
get in touch to see if this option is available at the data centre
your server is hosted at. 

Our
shared NAS devices are an off-site backup option, which is relatively
affordable for low amounts of storage space (2TBs or less). The NAS
space would be mapped to your server as a network drive; so it would
be easy for you to access from your server. As the NAS device is
off-site, your backed-up data would be protected from either network
or power failures within the data-centre your server is hosted in.
However, this can often be more expensive than taking out a second
dedicated server with us when you need to backup multiple devices, as
multiple servers cannot see the same shared NAS backup space; which
means if you have multiple servers with us, each server would require
its own NAS space. 

A
Dedicates NAS Device – A third option would be to have a
dedicated NAS device hosted within our data-centre.

A
dedicated NAS unit would be a storage device, independent from your
main server, which has a large amount of scalable storage space. This
option is best for client’s who require a very large amount of
data to be stored; but is one of our more expensive options. It is
often more cost effective to have an additional dedicated server
set-up with us; with large amount of storage space. If you would
prefer a dedicated NAS device, please let us know and a member of our
team will be happy to discuss this with you. 

The
benefits of having a dedicated NAS device are that multiple devices
can be attached to the NAS device through a vLAN, it has the largest
amount of storage capacity out of all our back-up options and the
amount storage space within the NAS unit is continually scalable, as
most NAS chassis allow for expansion units to be attached.

Avamar
Backup Solution – Our last backup option is our Bare Metal
Restore (BMR) RapidStore Avamar backup package.

The
Avamar backup package is our complete enterprise level backup
solution. It takes off-site backups, so your backed-up data would be
protected from either network or power failures within the
data-centre your server is hosted in; allows multiple servers to be
backed-up to the same RapidStore account; puts you (the client) in
control of the back-ups, allowing you to manage your own back-up
account, take any back-ups or restores that are required, on-demand;
it works quickly; and can store as much or as little data as you
want. The storage amount is set by a monthly allowance, but you can
go above your monthly allocated storage allowance if required;
however, overage charges will be allocated when this occurs. This
option is best for client’s who require less than 2TB of data
stored and require an easy-to-use solution; but, due to its nature,
is a more expensive option. Please note, Avamar is not compatible
with Debian or Ubuntu operating systems.

Please
contact us with your requirements and any questions you may have
about our back-up options, and we will assist with choosing the best
backup solution.

### Products & Services - Domains
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/domains

#### Can I transfer domains in/out from yourselves?
Yes,
certainly. The transfer method depends on the type of domain, so is
handled manually by a member of our team. If you want to transfer a
domain in/out, please raise a support ticket through your MyServers
control panel and we will be happy to help.

Simply
let us know what domain you wish to transfer to us and we will
explain the relevant process.

We
do not charge for transferring domains out. Domains transferred in
may incur a mandatory renewal fee on transfer, which is outside of
our control and applicable to all registrars.

If
you wish to transfer any domains or have any questions about the
transferal process, please feel free to get in touch and we will be
happy to discuss this with you.

#### How do I renew my domain?
All
domain renewals can be carried out via the MyServers control panel.
Unless you have chosen not to, you will receive a notice to say that
the domain is going to expire and it’s up to you whether you
would like to renew the domain or not.

In
some cases you can setup your domain to auto renew in the MyServers
control panel. If, for some reason, the auto-renewal option is not
available to you, please let us know which domain you are looking to
renew in a support ticket and we will setup the domain to auto-renew
for you.

If
you have any questions, please get in touch via a ticket and a member
of our team will be happy to help.

#### Do you offer DNS hosting?
We
do offer DNS hosting. 

We
can provide DNS-only hosting for customers with domains registered
elsewhere for a fee; or customers who have a domain registered
through us can use our free DNS hosting service.

Please
note that our 100% uptime guarantee isn't applicable to our DNS
hosting platform.

If
you are interested in DNS hosting with us or if you have any further
questions, please raise a ticket through your MyServers control
panel, and a member of our team will be in touch.

#### How to purchase a domain?
1. Click “My Domains”

2. Click “Register Domains”

3. Enter a name and select the top-level domain (TLD) in the dropdown menu.

4. Click “Check Availability”

5. Select the domain(s) you would like to purchase.

6. Click “Choose Domains”

### Products & Services - New Dedicated Server Post-Purchase Questions
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/new-dedicated-server-post-purchase-questions

#### I have just ordered a new server; how soon will my server be ready?
We
always aim to deploy new server orders as quickly as possible; as we
know how crucial it can be for our client’s to have their new
devices up and running as soon as possible. The specific ETA for your
new device is dependent on whether the device ordered was a pre-built
device, a customer order or a large deployment.

Our
dedicated systems infrastructure is largely automated - as it resides
within our Bare Metal system - and is designed in a way which allows
us to deploy systems with as little human intervention as possible.
With this in mind, our servers are pre-built to set specifications,
which are designed to match the configurations listed on our
MyServers shop. We refer to these as pre-built chassis. If you have
ordered a new ‘Pre-Built Chassis’ or ‘Dedicated
Server’ through our MyServers shop, or if you have purchased a
pre-built chassis listed by a member of our customer service/sales
team, your server will use one of these pre-built chassis and will
allow us to use our automated system to its full potential. Due to
this, these server will be ready within 42 hours of the order being
received; however, most of these types of servers are deployed within
4 hours of the order being place. 

Our
Enterprise Cloud Servers also utilise our automated Bare Metal
systems; thus have the same deployment window as our pre-built
chassis of 42 hours, however, are normally deployed within 4 hours. 

If
you have ordered a custom dedicated server, through our sales or
customer services teams, we will still aim to get the server deployed
within 42 hours; however, due to the ‘custom’ aspect of
the order, these deployments often take longer to deploy than
pre-built server. 

If
you have ordered a large or complicated deployment through us
(multiple servers, firewalls, SANs, etc), as this is a larger and/or
more complex deployment, the deployment will more than likely take
longer to provision. If you need an ETA for a larger deployment,
please feel free to get in touch, and we will try provide you with an
ETA as accurately as possible. 

If
you have any questions about an order you have placed, feel free to
get in touch and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I access my new server?
There
are several different ways of accessing a server remotely. How you
access your server depends on what operating system has been
installed onto your server and if you were provided with any OOB
remote management access to your device. 

Credentials
for any operating system, control panel and/or OOB remote management
installed onto your server can be found on the IS/VS page of your new
server. As soon as your server has been deployed and activated, full
instructions on how to access your server will be sent to you via
email and through our MyServers portal.

Below
are some examples of ways in which you can access your new server,
depending on the configuration of the device. 

Windows
Server Operating System - If you have ordered a server with the
Windows Server operating system installed onto it, you will be able
to access your server through the Remote Desktop Connection Windows
software, or through a similar piece of RDP software, remotely. 

If
you decide to use Remote Desktop Connection to access your server,
first navigate to the IS/VS page of your new server, which can be
found under the My Servers tab on MyServers. You now need to take a
note of the default IP address of your server, which you can find by
clicking on Show All in-line with IPv4 Addresses. The default IP
address is the one with a green tick in the Def column. 

You
then need to open Remote Desktop Connection and enter the server’s
default external IP address into the Computer text box and then press
Connect. 

You
now need to enter the credentials for the server’s operating
system. To find the credentials for the Windows OS, return to the
IS/VS page of the server and locate RDP within the Credentials table,
then press the 

button. Then enter these credentials into the Remote Desktop
Connection software username and password fields and press Ok. You
may need to press ‘Use another account’ before you are
able to enter a username. 

You
should now have accessed the server’s operating system. If this
is the first time you are logging in to this device, we would
strongly suggest changing the password to something secure and to
something you will remember. Please note, the credentials for the
server’s operating system will be automatically removed from
MyServers after a short period of time (normally 7 - 14 days). 

If
you need further help, please feel free to get in touch through a
ticket, and a member of our team will be able to help.

Linux
Operating System (CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian) - If you have ordered a
server with a Linux operating system installed (e.g. CentOS, Debian,
Ubuntu), you will be able to access your server through a SSH client,
such as PuTTY. 

If
you decide to use PuTTY to access your server, first navigate to the
IS/VS page of your new server, which can be found under the My
Servers tab of MyServers. You now need to take a note of the default
IP address of your server, which you can find by clicking on Show All
in-line with IPv4 Addresses. The default IP address is the one with a
green tick in the Def column. 

You
then simply need to open PuTTY and enter the server’s default
external IP address into the Host Name text box. After entering the
IP address, make sure that SSH is selected in the below radius boxes
and enter the access port number in the Port box. For all our Linux
OS installs, the default port number of 22 is used. Then press Open. 

You
will have now accessed the server’s Linux Operating System. Now
you need to enter the credentials for the server’s operating
system. To find the credentials for the Linux OS, return to the IS/VS
page of the server and locate SSH within the Credentials table, then
press the 

button. Now enter the username into the PuTTY shell and press Enter;
then enter the password and press Enter. Please note, as you enter
the password, no characters will appear to show that you are typing. 

You
should now have logged into the server’s operating system. If
this is the first time you are logging in to this device, we would
strongly suggest changing the password to something secure and to
something you will remember. Please note, the credentials for the
server’s operating system will be automatically removed from
MyServers after a short period of time (normally 7 - 14 days). 

If
you need further help, please feel free to get in touch through a
ticket, and a member of our team will be able to help.

VMware
ESXI - If you have ordered a server with VMware ESXI installed,
you will be able to remotely access your server through a compatible
web-browser. 

To
access your server, first navigate to the IS/VS page of your new
server, which can be found under the My Servers tab. You now need to
take a note of the default IP address of your server, which you can
find by clicking on Show All in-line with IPv4 Addresses. The default
IP address is the one with a green tick in the Def column. 

You
then need to open a compatible web-browser and enter the server’s
default external IP address into the URL box (most popular
web-browsers should be compatible). 

You
will have now accessed the server’s login screen. You now need
to enter the credentials for the server’s operating system. To
find the credentials for the ESXI OS, return to the IS/VS page of the
server and locate SSH within the Credentials table, then press the 

button. Now enter the username and password in the VMware control
panel. 

You
should now have logged into the server’s operating system. If
this is the first time you are logging in to this device, we would
strongly suggest changing the password to something secure and to
something you will remember. Please note, the credentials for the
server’s operating system will be automatically removed from
MyServers after a short period of time (normally 7 - 14 days). 

If
you need further help, please feel free to get in touch through a
ticket, and a member of our team will be able to help.

OOB
Remote Management - If you have ordered a server with OOB Remote
Management (e.g. iDRAC, iLO, IPMI), you will be able to access your
server through a compatible web-browser. 

To
remotely access your server, first navigate to the IS/VS page of your
new server, which can be found under the My Servers tab of MyServers.
You now need to take a note of the remote management’s IP
address/URL and credentials. Locate LOM/HTTPs within the Credentials
table and then pressing the 

button to see the credentials and the IP address/URL (shown as
location) for the remote management software. 

You
then need to open a compatible web-browser and enter the remote
management’s IP address/web-address into the URL box (most
popular web-browsers should be compatible). 

You
will have now accessed the remote management’s login screen
(please note, you may need advance beyond some privacy warnings). You
now need to enter the credentials. Please note, depending on the make
and model of your server, the below may look different from what your
remote management’s software looks like. 

You
should now have logged into the server’s remote management
system. If this is the first time you are logging in to this device,
we would strongly suggest changing the password to something secure
and to something you will remember. Please note, the credentials for
the server’s remote management will be automatically removed
from MyServers after a short period of time (normally 7 - 14 days). 

If
you need further help, please feel free to get in touch through a
ticket, and a member of our team will be able to help.

### Products & Services - Operating Systems & Additional Software
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/operating-systems-additional-software

#### Can I have an Operating System not available on your MyServers Shop installed on my server?
You
are more than welcome to have any operating system you wish running
our dedicated servers; however, I am afraid that the only operating
systems we are able to install are the ones available through our
MyServers Shop. If you do want an operating system running on your
server that is not available through our shop, we do offer the option
for you to install any operating system you wish onto a server. 

If
you do want to install your own OS onto a new server you are
ordering, you are able to select the ‘Install Your Own OS’
option on the MyServers Shop, under the OS option.

If
you have any more questions, please feel free to get in touch and we
will be happy to help.

#### What Operating Systems Support cPanel?
The
only Operating System which we would install onto a dedicated server,
which supports cPanel is CentOS. If you would like to have a system
with cPanel installed, we would need to install CentOS on this system
first.

If
you have any more questions, please feel free to get in touch and we
will be happy to help.

#### What are the iomart developed programs / tools on my Dedicated Server used for?
Some software that we (iomart) have developed is installed on any Dedicated Server which we install an Operating System on, but they are nothing to be concerned about, 
 
These tools are installed to work with our automated system and allow us to automate some of our support tasks; allowing us to more effectively host your platform and provide support. Going forward, they will also allow you to make changes to your Dedicated Server, through our MyServers panel, at a touch of a button. 
 
Any tools and software installed on your system would have been deployed during our OS build process.
These tools are installed to work with our automated system and allow us to automate some of our support tasks; allowing us to more effectively host your platform and provide continuous support.

Since GDPR regulations our system automatically removes credentials from the control panel, forcing us to make sure customers are taking note of these when builds are handed over.
Please rest assured our policy is very security-driven and at no point would we ever access your server at any point.

 
One example of software we installed is called Octopus; which is an SPLA tool we developed. For more details on this specific piece of software, please search Octopus on our FAQ.

### Products & Services - Purchasing a New Dedicated Server
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/purchasing-a-new-dedicated-server

#### I have seen the same server with another provider elsewhere for less. Will you match the price?
We
do have a UK price-match policy against any competitors with a
comparable service level, subject to a review by our sales team.

If
you'd like us to price match a server simply contact us with the
specifications and supplier, and we will take it from there. If you
can also provide us with a link to where this device is advertised,
this can also help speed up the process. 

Due
to the significant difference in operating costs in Europe and other
continents, we cannot price match non-UK suppliers.

#### What is the difference between your Value, Plus and Premium range?
We
offer three main ranges of dedicated servers on a permanent basis;
Value, Plus and Premium. These packages differ in regards to the
minimum and maximum specifications of the server hardware provided
within these packages and the cost associated with the devices. Which
package would be best for you, depends on your requirements, what you
plan to use your server for and your budget. 

Our
Value range provides you with a dedicated server that represents
exceptional value for money. You will get access to your own
dedicated server that can have up to 64GB of RAM, dual or quad core
processors, and up to four hard drives or SSDs. They provide the
upgraded performance of dedicated hardware, if you are migrating from
a VPS. Our value range of dedicated servers are ideally suited for
website hosting, application development, and small e-commerce sites.

The
Plus range represents high-performing, latest-generation hardware,
without moving into enterprise level grade attributes and features.
The plus ranges’ dedicated servers are dual 20 core processor
systems, with 128GB of RAM as standard (which can be upgraded up to
1TB of RAM), and can support large amounts of storage. These systems
are our most popular package, as they offer performance and
scalability without significant cost. Ideal for any application
requiring additional resources and performance beyond the value
range.

Finally,
the Premium range is the pinnacle of hardware choice. The premium
range servers come with enterprise-grade features such as flash-cache
RAID cards and fibre-channel card support, they support up to 1.5TB
of RAM, have quad 56 / 64 processors, redundant power supplies and
support up to 24 drives. These systems are ideal for clients who
require the highest level of performance for the systems they will be
running. 

In
addition to the Value, Plus and Premium packages, we also regularly
offer special deals through our MyServers portal Shop, under the
Dedicated Servers section, including servers that have a lower
specification and price then our Value range. We also have a new
‘Pre-Built chassis’ section on our MyServers Shop. This
section lists set specification of server with set prices. With this
in mind, please check our shop for our latest full range of servers
that we are currently providing. 

If
you wish to discuss alternative specification dedicated servers, or
have any questions about the packages / servers we offer, please feel
free to raise a ticket through our MyServers control panel and a
member of our team will be happy to help.

#### Can I get a different specification of server to the one on your website?
Of
course! As well as the set server specifications listed on our
MyServer Shop, we also can also provision servers with customer
specified specifications, to provide a tailored product to our
client’s needs. This allows our customers to have more control
over the configuration of their new devices, beyond the options
available through the shop. 

The
specifications on our MyServers shop are our ‘pre-built’
servers; which means they are already built to the correct
specifications and just require small configuration changes and an
operating system installed. We also offer ‘custom build’
servers, which offer a wider variety in specifications then the ones
listed on our website, and can be used to tailor a system to your
specific needs. Please note, however, custom build servers incur
additional fees and can require more build time, compared to our
pre-built servers. 

Simply
contact us with a custom configuration you have in mind and our sales
team will be happy to help. Also, if you have any further questions,
please feel free to get in touch.

#### Can I install my own operating system?
Certainly
- we can either provide you with a KVMoIP session, or you can use an
OOB remote console session (if your server has OOB remote management
setup) to install your own operating system remotely onto the server.

You
can either mount an ISO file through your OOB remote management
software onto your server, or you can provide us with a link to a
downloadable ISO file and we will attach this to your server using a
bootable USB drive. Please note that attaching an ISO file through a
USB drive incur a fee.

When
ordering a new dedicated server through our shop, just select Install
Your Own OS as the OS option, and once the server is ready we will
hand it over to you, so that you can install your OS. 

If
you want to install your own OS onto an existing dedicated server on
which we originally installed an OS, you’re more than welcome
to do so, but please get in touch so that we can update our notes. 

If
you have any questions about installing an operating system, please
feel free to get in touch.

#### How many drives do I need for each RAID option?
How many drives do I need for each RAID option?
See below how many drives you need for each RAID configuration we offer:

 No RAID / JBOD - if you order No RAID, will we configure every drive in the server as its own volume. The amount of drives ordered does not matter. 

 RAID 0 – If you select RAID 0 in our shop, every drive in the server will be put into a single RAID 0 Virtual Disk. Any number of drives can be put into a RAID 0; but not multiple types (e.g. 250GB SSDs + 2TB HDDs). Please note, the more drives in a RAID 0, the greater chance of data loss. 

 RAID 1 – For a single RAID 1 configuration, you will need to choose a chassis with 2 drives. 

 RAID 5 – 3 to 16 drives can be put into a single RAID 5. 

 RAID 6 – 4 to 32 drives can be put into a single RAID 6. 

 RAID 10 – You need 4 drives for a RAID 10 or any even quantity of drives above 4 (4x drives, 6x drives, 8x drives, etc.). 

 RAID 0 (2 Arrays) – You need at least 2 drives to select this option. If you choose this option with only one type of drive, the drives will be split equally between the two RAID 0s. If you choose this option with two types of drives (e.g. 250GB SSDs + 2TB HDDs), each type of drive will be added to its own RAID 0. 

 RAID 5 (2 Arrays) – You need at least 6 drives for 2x RAID 5 arrays. If you are ordering a chassis with more than one type of drive (e.g. 250GB SSDs + 2TB HDDs), you will need at least 3 of each type of drive. 

 RAID 6 (2 Arrays) – You need at least 8 drives for 2x RAID 6 arrays. If you are ordering a chassis with more than one type of drive (e.g. 250GB SSDs + 2TB HDDs), you will need at least 4 of each type of drive. 

 RAID 10 (2 Arrays) – You need 8 drives for 2x RAID10 arrays or any even quantity of drives above 8 (8x drives, 10x drives, 12x drives, etc.). 

 RAID 1 + RAID 10 – You will need at least 6 drives or any even number of drives above 6 (6x drives, 8x drives, 10x drives, etc.). 2 drives will be put into a RAID1; the rest will be put into a RAID 10. The OS (if ordered), will be installed on the RAID 1. 

 RAID 1 + RAID 1 + RAID 10 - You will need at least 8 drives or any even number of drives above 6 (8x drives, 10x drives, etc.). 2 drives will be put into the first RAID1, then another 2 drives into the second RAID 1, and then the rest will be put into a RAID 10. The OS (if ordered), will be installed on the first RAID 1. 

 RAID 10 + RAID 1 - You will need at least 6 drives or any even number of drives above 6 (6x drives, 8x drives, 10x drives, etc.). 2 drives will be put into a RAID1; the rest will be put into a RAID 10. The OS (if ordered), will be installed on the RAID 10. 

 RAID 1 + RAID 5 – You will need at least 5 drives. 2 drives will be put into a RAID1; the rest will be put into a RAID 5. The OS (if ordered), will be installed on the RAID 1. 

 RAID 1 + RAID 6 – You will need at least 6 drives. 2 drives will be put into a RAID1; the rest will be put into a RAID 6. The OS (if ordered), will be installed on the RAID 1.

### Products & Services - Remote Management (OOB / LOM)
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/remote-management-oob-lom

#### What is Remote Management?
Remote
management (also known as OOB or LOM) is a device on a server’s
motherboard that allows you to remotely access your server,
independently from the server’s operating system, and provides
functionality that helps you deploy (if you want to install your own
OS), update, monitor and maintain your server.

Key
features include power management, virtual media access, hardware
monitoring and remote console capabilities; all available through an
OOB remote management control panel, accessible through a supported
web browser. It provides our customers with the ability to configure
and work on a server as if they were on site, with a screen, keyboard
and mouse attached to the server. 

We
encourage our clients to order Remote Management with their server,
as it allows the device’s administrator (our client’s) to
check the status of their hardware, as it can be used to identify
hardware related issues and can be used to identify the necessary
information to have any faulty hardware replaced. It also allows the
device’s administrator to be able to start a virtual console at
any time; providing the user greater control over their device, 24/7,
and replaces the need for KVMoIP devices. 

The
version and generation of OOB remote management provisioned on a
device will depend on the manufacturer, generation and model of the
server that you are provided. Examples include iDRAC for Dell EMC
PowerEdge servers and iLO for HPE ProLiant servers. All our OOBs come
with the necessary licenses; as an example, iDRACs will have the
Enterprise license installed. 

We
offer both dedicated and shared OOB connections. See the “What
is the difference between Shared and Dedicated OOB Remote
Management?” section of the FAQ, for more details on this. 

When
ordering a dedicated server, you are able to choose OOB
(out-of-bounds) Remote Management (shared or dedicated) as a
specification option with most of our server packages. We can also
provide OOB remote management to most live servers, but this will
involve a short amount of downtime on the server, for our technicians
to configure the connection. If you want OOB remote management added
to your server, please feel free to get in touch through a support
ticket, and a member of our team will be happy to help. 

If
you have any question, please feel free to get in touch and we will
be happy to help.

#### How do I get Remote Management configured on my Server?
If
you wish for Remote Management (e.g. iDRAC, iLO or IPMI) to be
configured on a new server you are ordering with us, you simply need
to request Remote Management through the MyServers Shop when ordering
the server, or request for remote management to be installed when
discussing the server specifications with a member of our team. If
you wish for the Remote Management to be configured on an existing
device, please feel free to raise a support ticket requesting Remote
Management to be installed, and we will be happy to discuss this with
you. 

Configuring
a server’s iDRAC/iLO/IPMI consists of powering down the server
and configuring the remote management software within the system’s
setup/BIOS menu. If a dedicated Remote Management connection is
required, the set up process also consist of connecting a new network
cable, and configuring our networking infrastructure.

Please
note that the iDRAC component is unique to Dell servers, the iLO
component is unique to HP servers and IPMI is unique to SuperMicro
servers; so iDRAC, iLO or IPMI are only available on our Dell
PowerEdge, HP Proloiant and SuperMicro servers respectively.

When
ordering/requesting remote management for your server, you will be
supplied with two options, dedicated remote management or shared
remote management. Please see our section on what is the difference
between shared and dedicated remote management, for more details. 

If
you have any further questions about Remote Management, please look
through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer,
please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to
help.

#### What is the difference between Shared and Dedicated OOB Remote Management?
We
offer two types of OOB remote management: ‘Shared’ and
‘Dedicated’ remote management. The main difference
between the two is the network cable and connection which is used to
provide this service. 

A
dedicated OOB will have its own network cable running from a
dedicated switch port to a dedicated OOB port on the server. The
benefits of the dedicated connection is that it means your OOB
connection will be independent of the server’s other
connections; meaning that if there is a hardware failure with the
switch port, network cable or NIC port which causes your server to go
offline, you would still have access to your server through the OOB
connection. It also means that traffic would not be shared between
this connection’s primary purpose and the OOB management
connection. 

A
shared connection will share the network cable, switch port and a
port on the server with one of your server’s other connections;
usually the server’s primary external connection. The benefit
of a shared connection is that it is cheaper; due to the fact that it
shares the infrastructure and hardware of the server’s other
connections. 

If
you are interesting in upgrading your package so that it includes OOB
remote management, please feel free to get in touch and we will be
happy to help.

If
ordering a new server, you can select an OOB connection under Remote
Management. 

If
you have any question, please feel free to get in touch and we will
be happy to help.

#### What are OOB Sessions and how do they work?
An OOB Session will give you temporary access to your server’s OOB (also know as LOM, iDRAC, or IMPI). For more information on what OOB is, please read “What is Remote Management”. 

If your server has a Dedicated OOB connection configured and is connected to one of our switches (known as our Remote Management service), the connection will be left disabled as default. 

We do this as OOBs left enabled and open to the internet can leave the server open to being compromised. So, as a security measure, we disable the connected switch port to remove its network access; meaning that no one can use it to access the server. 

Booking an OOB session will temporarily enable the switch port and allow you to access the server’s OOB, then automatically disable itself after a set amount of time. You can also turn all your OOB connections On or Off using the MyServers control panel (see “How do I enable or disable all my OOB connections?” for instructions on how to do this). 

To request a temporary OOB session on a single server, which has a Dedicated OOB connection, follow these steps: 

 1. Log into your MyServers control panel. 

 2. Click on the My Servers tab along the top (or within the burger menu on the mobile version). 

 3. Click on the package reference of the server you want to enable the OOB on.

 Then on the right-hand side (or the bottom of the page on the mobile version), click on Support and then OOB Request. 

 4. You can now configure the OOB session. Start off by choosing whether the session should start immediately or at a specific date and time; then choose how long the session will last. 

 5. Then press Save. 

 Either at the selected start time or within a couple of seconds, the switch port attached to your Dedicated OOB port will enable and your OOB session will be accessible. Then, after the selected duration, the switch port will automatically disable and your OOB will no longer be accessible. 

 If you have any issues accessing your OOB, please raise a support ticket and our engineers will be happy to help.

#### How do I enable or disable all my OOB connections on my servers?
If your servers have a Dedicated OOB connections configured and they are connected to our switches (either because you order Remote Management with your server, or because we supplied it free of charge), the connection will be left disabled as default. 

 We do this as OOBs left enabled and open to the internet can leave the server open to being compromised. So, as a security measure, we disable the connected switch port to remove its network access; meaning that no one can use it to access the server. 

 You can turn all your OOB connections On or Off using the MyServers control panel. 

 Please note that turning on the OOB ports of your servers permanently can be considered a security risk for your devices. If you plan on leaving them all on, we recommend putting some security measures in place to secure the OOB. 

 To either turn your OOB connections all On or Off, follow these instructions: 

 1. Log into your MyServers control panel. 

 2. Click on the My Servers tab along the top (or within the burger menu on the mobile version). 

 3. Now click on My OOB Devices

 5. You will now see a list of servers with a Dedicated OOB connection, attached to our top of the rack switches. You will also be able to see the current status of each OOB connection. 
To enable all the OOB connections, click on Enable All OOB Ports. To Disable all OOB connections, click on Disable all OOB Ports. 

 6. All the switch ports attached to your server’s OOB ports will now either enable or disable. Please not that this process can take a while if you have a large number of servers.

### Products & Services - Remote Management (OOB / LOM) - iDRAC
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/remote-management-oob-lom-idrac

#### I receive an error when trying to access my iDRAC’s Remote Console; how can I fix this?
Due
to recent Java updates, there is now compatibility issues between
some versions of the iDRAC remote console tool and some versions of
Java, which causes an error to show when trying to start a remote
console session. 

Please
make sure you are running a supported Java version on your home /
work computer. This may involve updating / rolling back the version
of Java that is currently installed on your computer. 

You
will be able to find which version of Java will work with your
server’s iDRAC online. Simply search the version of iDRAC your
server uses (e.g. iDRAC8), which you can find through the iDRAC’s
control panel, along with “what Java version works with”.
Due to continuing Java updates, I am afraid we are not able to keep
an updated list of what versions of Java works with what versions of
iDRAC. 

Please
also make sure you apply the relevant security acceptations to your
Java software. You can add the security exceptions with the following
method:

Open
"Configure Java”.

Select
the "Security" tab. Then press "Edit Site List"
under "Exception Site List".

You
now need to add the URL for the iDRAC to the exception site list. To
do this, first press “Add”. Then type in the URL of your
iDRAC, which will be the iDRAC’s IP address proceeded by
“https://” (e.g. https://1.1.1.1).

Once
you have done this, you should also add the iDRAC’s URL again,
however, this time with the http protocol (opposed to https); by
pressing “Add” and then entering the iDRAC’s IP
address proceeded by “http://” (e.g. http://1.1.1.1).
When adding an http address, it will bring up a security message as
this is a less secure protocol, so you will need to press Continue to
proceed. 

Once
you have entered both exceptions, press OK on the Exception list and
then on the Java Control Panel.

You
should now be able to start a remote console through your iDRAC
control panel. 

If
you are still experiencing problems once you have applied the above,
please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.

#### What is an Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC)?
Dell
EMC’s Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) is the
Dell PowerEdge version of a ‘Remote Management’ tool.
Remote management tools have been developed to enable their users to
have greater administrative control over their devices remotely.

Dell’s
iDRAC is a hardware and software component which exist on most Dell
EMC 11th generation or newer PowerEdge servers. It can
also be added to older Dell PowerEdge servers; but our ability to
provide this is limited. If you request to have Remote Management
installed on your server, and your server is a Dell EMC PowerEdge,
your server will be configured with iDRAC.

When
iDRAC is configured on a Dell server, the user can access the iDRAC
remotely through a web-based GUI portal, through a dedicated IPv4
address configured on the iDRAC. Once you have accessed and logged in
to a server’s iDRAC control panel, you can use the iDRAC portal
to check the current status of your server and its hardware, to run
operations/tasks on your server, and to start a remote Virtual
Console. 

We
encourage our clients to order Remote Management with their server
(thus iDRAC with a Dell server), as it allows the device’s
administrator to check the status of their hardware, as it can be
used to identify hardware related issues and can be used to identify
the necessary information to have any faulty hardware replaced. Dell
EMC’s iDRAC also allows the device’s administrator to be
able to start a virtual console at any time; providing the user
greater control over their device, 24/7, and replaces the need for
KVMoIP devices. 

The
iDRAC’s available functionality is based on licensing. To
access all of the iDRAC’s functions, your server must be
configured with an iDRAC Enterprise license. If you purchase remote
management through us, your server will be configured with an iDRAC
Enterprise license as part of the package. 

Please
note that the iDRAC component is unique to Dell servers, so iDRAC is
only available on our Dell PowerEdge servers. Servers manufactured by
other companies use other forms of remote management, similar to
iDRAC. Some other examples include iLO for HPE ProLiant servers and
IPMI for SuperMicro servers. This means that the form of remote
management provided depends on the make and model of the server. 

If
you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

#### How do I Access iDRAC?
When
an Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) is configured on
a Dell PowerEdge server, the iDRAC is accessed through any compatible
web-browser (most popular web-browsers should be compatible), using
the iDRAC’s configured IPv4 address. As long as there are no
firewall rules associated with the iDRAC’s connection or IPv4
address, or as long as the firewall rules are configured to allow you
to access the iDRAC from your remote device, you should be able to
access the iDRAC remotely on your home/work computer, or on another
device configured within the same network as the server. Simply enter
the iDRAC’s configured IPv4 Address into your web-browser’s
URL box.

If
you are presented with any security warnings, you should be able to
proceed beyond them, to access the iDRAC’s login screen. You
should now be presented with the Dell iDRAC control panel login
screen. You can now enter the Username and Password for the iDRAC,
and then press Submit. If the iDRAC connection has recently been
configured on your device by a technician, you will be able to find
the credentials of the iDRAC in the MyServers panel, in the
Credentials section of the IS page for the server, under the name of
LOM/https. 

Once
you have entered the credentials and pressed submit, you will be
presented with the iDRAC’s control panel home page. You can now
use the iDRAC to check the health of your server and the device’s
hardware, to run operations/tasks on the server, or to start a
virtual console. We would recommend familiarising yourself with the
control panel and the configuration of the server once you have
logged into it for the first time; so if an error does occur in
future, you already understand how your server should be configured
and how to use the iDRAC application. 

If
you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

#### How do I use iDRAC to check my server’s hardware?
One
of the main benefits of an iDRAC is that it allows you to check the
current health of your server and allows you to check the current
status of your server’s hardware. 

Please
note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set
out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of
servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC
version your server is using when you log in to the iDRAC control
panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the
below may not apply to these older versions. For support with older
versions of iDRAC, if the below does not help, please see Dell EMC’s
support website or please feel free to raise a support ticket through
your MyServers control panel, and we will be happy to help. 

When
you first login to the iDRAC portal, you will be you will be
presented with the current health status of the server. If there are
currently any errors with the server’s health, they will be
displayed here. Please note, the health of the server’s storage
and several other main components (e.g. CPU, memory) are not shown
here, so you will need to check this separately later; which is
outlined further down. 

As
you can see from my example above, all the listed components/items
have a green tick next to them, which indicates that there are
currently no errors with the server’s health in relation to
these items. The status of each component is represented by an icon.
There are four statuses within the iDRAC portal:

 
 
 Icon

 
 
 Status

 
 
 Description

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 OK

 
 
 The component is working as normal
 and is healthy.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 Non-Critical Warning

 
 
 These errors normally indicate a
 problem which is not service impacting, but still require prompt
 attention.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 Failed / Critical Warning

 
 
 The component has either failed or
 has a critical warning. If a critical error has occurred, the
 error must be addressed as soon as possible.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 Unknown Status

 
 
 The status of this component is
 unknown.

 
 

If
an error does appear within the system’s health in this
section, how you go about identifying the specific error and how you
proceed is dependent on what type of component has an error. Click on
the name of the monitored item to find out more details about this
device and its error. 

Please
use our FAQ to see how to check for/investigate errors relating to
storage, processors and memory, using iDRAC. For investigating errors
with pieces of hardware not outlined within this FAQ, information on
this can be found through Dell EMC’s support website, or you
can raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help. 

Once
you have finished checking the server’s health, you should also
check the ‘Recent Logged Events’ section, for any errors
that may have occurred recently. It is good practice to check the
error log, as errors that have occurred historically but then cleared
will not show in the server health section. The log is towards the
bottom of the main iDRAC control panel home page (Overview). 

Any
errors which have recently occurred with your server will be present
here. In my example above, you can see that Drive 3 was removed. 

If
an error does appear within the recent logged event, how you identify
the specific error and how you proceed is dependent on what type of
component has an error. 

Please
see below how to investigate some specific pieces of hardware. For
investigating errors with pieces of hardware not outlined within this
FAQ, information on this can be found through Dell EMC’s
support website, or you can raise a support ticket and we will be
happy to help.

If
you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

#### How do I use iDRAC to check the Storage Status of my Server?
Due
to the nature of hardware, you should regularly check the status of
the storage of your devices, to make sure no errors have occurred
with the server’s virtual or physical drives. If you identify
that an error has occurred with the storage of your Dell PowerEdge
server, you can use your iDRAC to identify which piece of hardware
has an error, and use this information to decide on what action you
wish to take next. 

Please
note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set
out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of
servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC
version your server is using when you login to the iDRAC control
panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the
below may not apply. For support with older versions of iDRAC, if the
below does not help, please see Dell EMC’s support website or
please feel free to raise a support ticket through your MyServers
control panel, and we will be happy to help.

To
check for errors relating to storage, click on Storage in the left
hand side panel of the iDRAC, after you have logged in. 

You
will now be presented with the status of the Physical Disks within
the server in a diagram. You can use this to identify if all your
drives are online or if any of them have encountered an error. In my
example below, you can see that 1 disk has been removed and 3 drives
are online. 

To
find out more details about your physical drives, click on Physical
Disks under Summary of Disks. Here you will be able to see a list of
all the physical drives configured with the chassis, their details
and their status. In my example below you can see that 3 drives are
online, but the fourth drive has been removed.

If
an error has occurred, you can use this information to help inform
your decision on what action you wish to be taken. If you wish for a
drive to be replaced, please see the section on having a drive
replaced using iDRAC, for more details on how to get a faulty drive
replaced using the information on iDRAC. 

Now
you can check the status of the Virtual Disks. To do this, return to
Storage and then click on Virtual Disks. 

You
will now be presented with all the Virtual Disks (or RAID arrays)
configured within the server, their details and their status. In my
example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks; one with
an error and one that is operating normally. 

If
an error has occurred with a Virtual Disk, this is normally caused by
a physical drive having an error or failing, which you should have
been able to identify on the physical disk page. You can use this
information to help you decide what action you wish to be taken. If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, please see the section on having
a drive replaced using iDRAC, for more details on how to get a faulty
drive replaced using the information found on the iDRAC portal. 

Using
the information outlined above you should now know the status of the
storage within your server. If you have any further questions about
iDRAC or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If
our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use iDRAC to check a Server’s Memory & CPU?
Due
to the nature of hardware, you should regularly check the components
of servers, especially the server’s memory and CPU, to make
sure no errors have occurred. The iDRAC control panel allows you to
check the status of the system’s memory and CPU(s). If you do
identify that an error has occurred with your server, you can use
your iDRAC to identify which piece of hardware has an error, and use
this information to decide what action you wish to be taken next. See
below how to use iDRAC to check the status of the memory and CPU(s)
within the chassis.

Please
note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set
out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of
servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC
version your server is using when you log in to the iDRAC control
panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the
below may not apply. For support with older versions of iDRAC, if the
below does not help, please see Dell EMC’s support website or
please feel free to raise a support ticket through your MyServers
control panel, and we will be happy to help.

Memory
- The memory component refers to all the RAM (also referred to as
memory) configured within the chassis. First, to check for errors
relating to memory, click on Hardware in the left hand side panel and
then click on Memory. 

You
will now be presented with the details of the system’s memory;
including the memory’s attributes, a list of the individual RAM
sticks present, the RAM stick’s details and their status. Here
you should be able to identify if there is any errors with any of the
RAM sticks currently configured within the server. If a stick of RAM
ever does become faulty, you will be able to find the details of the
faulty RAM here, unless it becomes completely faulty and no longer
shows on this page. 

If
you wish for a faulty stick of RAM to be replaced, please let us know
all the details found within the Individual Memory Details section,
so we can easily identify the faulty stick of RAM. If possible, a
screenshot of this page would also be helpful. Please see the section
on getting faulty RAM replaced using iDRAC for more details. 

CPU
– The CPU (or processor) page lists all the processors within
the server, their details, and their current status. To check the
status of the CPU(s) within the chassis, click on hardware in the
left hand side panel and then CPU. 

You
will now be presented with the list of CPU(s) within the server. If
you wish to find out more details about a processor you can click on
the 

button in-line with it. If an error does ever occur with a processor,
please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to investigate
this for you. If there is more than one processer installed in your
server, please provide us with the faulty CPU’s name (e.g. CPU
1), so our technicians can easily identify which processor needs
replacing. For more details on getting a faulty CPU replaced, please
see the section on getting a CPU replaced using iDRAC.

#### How do I use iDRAC to identify a failed drive’s details and have it replaced?
If
you do encounter a physical drive with an error and you wish for this
drive to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the
following information as possible about the failed drive, to allow
our technicians to correctly identify which drive needs replacing:

 

 The failed drive’s Serial Number

 

 Type of drive (e.g. SSD, SATA HDD, etc.)

 

 Capacity

 

 Product ID

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number

This
information will aid the technician in locating the failed drive and
swapping it with the correct replacement drive. 

Please
note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set
out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of
servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC
version your server is using when you log in to the iDRAC control
panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the
below may not apply.

You
can use the iDRAC control panel to locate the required information
above. To do this, you must first access the iDRAC control panel and
log in. Once you have logged in, click on storage in the left hand
side panel and then physical disks.

You
will now be presented with a list of physically drives configured
within the server. Once you have found the physical drive with the
error, you will be able to click the 

button to find more details about this drive, including the details
required by our technicians to physically locate the drive. See the
image below as an example of how to find the necessary information
from the details of a physical drive:

You
can supply the above information in a support ticket, requesting for
this faulty drive to be replaced, and the technician should be able
to identify the drive which needs to be replaced. You can also supply
a screenshot similar to the one above for your failed drive; as the
technician can use this information to better locate the failed
drive. 

In
addition to providing the information above, the iDRAC control panel
on most servers will also allow you to set the drive to ‘blink’,
which can be used to help the technician locate the appropriate
drive. To get the drive to blink, while on the page which lists all
the physical disk, click on Identify. Then tick the box for the drive
you wish to blink, which would be the faulty drive, and then press
blink. This will then make the LED light on the drive’s caddy
blink.

If
you are able to set the drive to blink, please inform the technicians
in the support ticket that you have done so. Some chassis may not
allow you to perform this action. If you cannot set the drive bay to
blink, this is most likely not a non-hot-swappable chassis, meaning
this is not required. 

When
the technicians have completed any drive swap, you can use this same
process to set the drive to ‘un-blink’, using the
‘un-blink’ button, to stop the drive bay from blinking.
It is important to do this, to make sure this drive bay isn’t
still blinking during any further drive changes at a later date, as
this may lead to some confusion.

Once
you provide all this information in a support ticket and set the
drive bay to blink (if possible), the local technicians will be able
to look into swapping the failed drive. 

If
the drive is missing from the iDRAC control panel monitoring
completely (opposed to having an error), then you will not be able to
provide the necessary information listed above to get the drive
replaced, nor set the drive bay to blink. Instead, you can provide
the information on all the drives still present on the iDRAC portal
and their details, so that by process of illumination the technicians
can replace the missing drive.

Once
you have provided all the information from the drives that are still
present, the technicians should be able to identify the missing drive
and replace it. 

If
you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

#### How do I use iDRAC to identify a failed RAM stick’s details and have it replaced?
If
you do encounter an error related to the server’s memory (RAM)
and you wish for a RAM stick to be replaced, you will need to provide
as much of the following information as possible, to allow our
technicians to correctly identify which RAM stick needs replacing:

 

 The failed RAM stick’s DIMM slot number (i.e. the Connector
 Name)

 

 The failed RAM stick’s size 
 

 

 The failed RAM stick’s type

This
information will aid our technician in locating the failed RAM stick
and swapping it with the correct replacement RAM. 

Please
note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set
out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of
servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC
version your server is using when you log in to the iDRAC control
panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the
below may not apply.

You
can use the iDRAC control panel find the above required information.
After logging in to iDRAC, click on Hardware in the left hand side
panel, and then click on Memory. 

Here
you will be able to see a list of the RAM sticks attached to the
motherboard, their status, their connector names, their type and
their size. If a stick of RAM appears with an error, you will need to
simply need to supply all the information about this RAM stick that
appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that the technician
can identify the failed DIMM and replace it. You can also supply a
screenshot of this page. 

Occasionally,
if a RAM stick completely fails, it may not appear on this page with
an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together.
As an example, if your server is meant to be configured with 4x 16GB
RAM sticks (or 64Gb of memory in total), but only 3x 16GB RAM sticks
are appearing, then it is quite likely that a stick has completely
failed and needs replacing. If this is the case, you will not be able
to find the information above on the failed RAM stick to get it
replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the RAM
sticks that are present without errors, so our technicians can locate
the failed DIMM through a process of elimination. You can also supply
a screenshot of the Individual Memory Details section. 

Once
you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the
technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty RAM
stick.

If
you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

#### How do I use iDRAC to identify a faulty CPU’s details and have it replaced?
If
you do encounter an error related with a server’s CPU and you
wish for it to be replaced, and if there is more than one CPU in this
server, you will need to provide as much of the following
information as possible to allow our technicians to correctly
identify which CPU needs replacing:

 

 The failed CPU’s name (i.e. the Connector Name/ Slot Number)

 

 The failed CPU’s Make and Model (i.e. Processor Brand
 information)

If
your server only has one CPU installed, we do not require this
information to locate and replace the CPU. Please feel free to raise
a support ticket and we will be happy to help. 

If
you do have more than one CPU in the server, this information will
aid our technician in locating the failed CPU and swapping it with
the correct replacement CPU. 

Please
note that this section uses iDRAC8 as an example, but the process set
out below applies to both iDRAC7 and iDRAC8. Different generations of
servers use different version of iDRAC; you can identify the iDRAC
version your server is using when you log in to the iDRAC control
panel. Older versions of iDRAC will have less functionality, so the
below may not apply.

You
can use the iDRAC control panel to find the above necessary
information. To do this, once you are logged in to the iDRAC, press
Hardware in the left hand side panel and then press CPU.

Here
you will be able to see a list of the CPUs installed in the server,
their make and model, their connector name and their specifications.
If a CPU appears with an error, you will need to supply all the
information about this CPU that appears in this table, in a support
ticket, so that our technician can correctly identify the failed
processor and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this
page. 

Occasionally,
if a CPU completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an
error but might actually be missing from this page all together. If
this is the case, then you will not be able to find the information
above on the failed CPU to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide
the information on all the CPUs that are present without errors, so
our technicians can locate the failed processor through a process of
elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page. 

Once
you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the
technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty CPU.

If
you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

#### How do I use iDRAC to start a Virtual Console?
One of the main benefits of having an iDRAC configured on your server is that it allows you to stat a Virtual Console. To start a virtual console through iDRAC, first log in to the control panel, and then press Launch within the Virtual Console Preview Section.

A jnlp file will now be download.

Please note that some older version of iDRAC will name the file “viewer.jnlp([iDRAC’s IP address]@0@idrac…)”; if this is the case, you will have to rename the file to remove everything within the brackets, so the file is just called “viewer.jnlp”.

Now open up the viewer.jnlp file.

The iDRAC virtual console uses the Java application to work. What happens now depends on your Java version and the Java setup on the PC you are accessing the iDRAC on. Depending on the Java settings, a Security Warning box may now appear. If this is the case press Continue. Then a couple of options to run the application may appear; press Run until the virtual console starts.

 

The virtual console should now start. You can now use this Virtual Console to perform tasks such as troubleshooting, the operating system installs and system configuration.

Due to recent Java updates, there is compatibility issues between iDRAC remote console sessions and some versions of Java, which can cause an error to show when trying to start a remote console session. If this is the case, please use the “I receive an error when trying to access my iDRAC’s Remote Console; how can I fix this?” section of our FAQ to see how to address this issue.

If you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use iDRAC to attach an Operating System ISO (Virtual Media)?
Another
advance of an iDRAC is that it allows the user to attach media
remotely. Once example of when this would be used is to upload an
operating system ISO file, so that the user can install an operating
system onto the server. 

To
attach remote media to a server through iDRAC, first log in to the
iDRAC’s control panel and then start a remote console. If you
are not sure how to do this, please use our FAQ to find information
on how to perform these actions. Now click Attached Media at the top
of the virtual console screen. Then click on Connect Virtual Media. 

The
virtual media function will then take a couple of seconds to
initialise. How you proceed now depends on the type of media you are
remotely attaching to the server. Click Virtual Media again, and this
time click either ‘Map Removable Disk’ or ‘Map
CD/DVD’, depending on the type of media you wish to attach. One
of the main reasons for attaching virtual media through iDRAC is to
allow the user to attach an OS ISO to the server, to install an OS.
If this is why you are using the iDRAC to attach virtual media, you
should select Map CD/DVD. 

You
will now be able to use the window that appears to browser for the
file you wish to attach. Press Browse, then select the appropriate
file and then pressing Open. Once this has been done, press Map
Device. 

You
have now mapped the virtual media to the server. You should now be
able to access this content through the server. If you have attached
an ISO to install a new operating system, you should now be able to
access this media through the boot menu. 

If
you have any further questions about iDRAC or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

#### How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - Batteries?
1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "System Tab" and select "Overview" in the dropdown menu. 

2. You will then see different tabs associated with server hardware and components.

3. This option will show what current battery components are present and actively working.

#### How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - Cooling - Fans - Temperatures?
1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "System Tab" and select "Overview" in the dropdown menu. 

2. You will then see different tabs associated with server hardware and components.

3. In the "Cooling" tab shown below, you will see options to check "Fans" & "Temperatures"

#### How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - CPU'S
1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "System Tab" and select "Overview" in the dropdown menu. 

2. You will then see different tabs associated with server hardware and components.

3. In the "CPU's" tab shown below, you will see options to check CPU processor information & processor cache information.

#### How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - Memory?
1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "System Tab" and select "Overview" in the dropdown menu. 

2. You will then see different tabs associated with server hardware and components.

3. In the "Memory" tab shown below, you will see options to check Memory DIMM SLOT information, including the total amount of RAM and if any sticks faulty etc.

#### How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - Network Devices?
1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "System Tab" and select "Overview" in the dropdown menu. 

2. You will then see different tabs associated with server hardware and components.

3. In the "Network Devices" tab shown below, you can see NIC connections and check what type of network card is installed and MAC address.

#### How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to check System - Blink Physical Disks?
1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "Storage" and select "Physical Disks Tab" in the dropdown menu. 

2. As shown in the diagram above you can see all the individual disks and all useful information related to them, of which is the blink drive function which allows technicians to identify faulty drives and replace via hot-swapping.

#### How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to Powerdown/Restart?
1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "Configuration" tab and select "Power" dropdown menu shown below. You can now see the options to power off, power-cycle etc.

#### How Do I Use iDRAC 9 to Import/Delete/Export iDRAC License?
1. When on the main "dashboard", Navigate over to the "Configuration" and select "licensing options" in the dropdown menu.

### Products & Services - Remote Management (OOB / LOM) - iLO
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/remote-management-oob-lom-ilo

#### What is Integrated Lights-Out (iLO)?
Integrated
Lights-Out (iLO) is the Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) version of
‘Remote Management’. If you purchase Remote Management
with your server or request to have Remote Management installed on
your server, and your server is a HPE ProLiant server, your server
will be configured with iLO.

HPE’s
iLO is a hardware component, which exist on most HPE ProLiant
servers, which allow the user to have greater administrative control
over their devices remotely. When iLO is configured on a HPE server,
you can access the iLO remotely through a web-based GUI portal,
through a dedicated IPv4 address configured on the iLO. Once you have
accessed and logged in to a server’s iLO, you can use the iLO
portal to check the current status of your server and its hardware,
to run operations/tasks on your server, and to start a Remote
Console. 

We
encourage our clients to order Remote Management with their server
(thus iLO with a HPE server), as it allows the user to check the
status of their hardware, which means that it can be used to identify
hardware related issues and provide the necessary information to have
this hardware replaced. HPE’s iLO also allows our clients to be
able to start a remote console at any time; meaning that they do not
have to wait for a KVMoIP to setup and providing the user greater
control, 24/7.

Please
note that the iLO component is unique to HPE servers, so iLO is only
available on our HPE ProLiant servers. Servers manufactured by other
companies use other forms of remote management, similar to iLO. Some
other examples include iDRAC for Dell PowerEdge servers and IPMI for
SuperMicro servers. This means that the form of remote management
provided depends on the make and model of the server. 

If
you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please
look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the
answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be
happy to help.

#### How do I Access iLO?
If
Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) is configured on a HP ProLiant server,
you can access the iLO through any compatible web-browser, using the
iLO’s configured IPv4 address. As long as there are no firewall
rules associated with the iLO’s connection, or as long as the
firewall rules are configured to allow you to do so, you should be
able to access the iLO remotely, on your home/work computer or on
another device within this network. Simply enter the iLO’s
configured IPv4 Address into your web-browser’s URL box.

If
you are presented with any security warnings, you should be able to
proceed beyond on them. You should now be presented with the HPE iLO
login screen. You can now enter the Username and Password for the
iLO; then press Submit. If the iLO connection has recently been
configured by our technicians, you will be able to find the
credentials of the iLO in the MyServers panel, in the Credentials
section of the IS page for the server, with the name of LOM/https. 

Once
you have entered the credentials and pressed submit, you will be
presented with the iLO’s control panel. You can now use the iLO
to check the health of your server and its hardware, to run
operations/tasks on the server, or to start a remote console. We
would recommend familiarising yourself with the control panel and the
configuration of the server after you have logged in for the first
time; so if an error does occur in future, you already understand how
your server should be configured and how to use the application. 

If
you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please
look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the
answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be
happy to help.

#### How do I use iLO to check hardware?
One
of the main benefits of iLO is that it allows you to check the
current health of your server and allows you to check the current
status of your server’s hardware. 

Please
note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different
generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can
identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the
iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality
and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ;
so the below may not apply to these older versions.

When
you first login to the iLO portal, you will be you will be presented
with the current health status of the server. If there are currently
any errors with the server’s health, an error will appear next
to System Health. 

To
find out more specific information about the health of the system you
can click on System Health, which will bring up a list of monitored
components within the server. Here you will be able to see the
current status of each monitored sub-system.

 

If
an error does appear within the system’s health in this
section, how you identify the specific error and how you proceed is
dependent on what type of component has an error. Click on the name
of the monitored item to find out more details. For investigating
errors with pieces of hardware not outlined within this FAQ,
information can be found through HPE’s support website, or you
can raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help. 

If
you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please
look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the
answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be
happy to help.

#### How do I use iLO to check the storage status of my server?
Due
to the nature of hardware, you should regularly check the storage of
your servers, to make sure no errors have occurred with the server’s
virtual or physical drives. If you identify that an error has
occurred with the storage of your server, you can use your iLO to
identify which specific piece of hardware has an error, and use this
information to decide on what action you wish to take next. 

Please
note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different
generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can
identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the
iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality
and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ;
so the below may not apply to these older versions.

To
check for errors relating to storage, click on System Information on
the left hand side of the iLO control pane and then click on Storage.

You
will now be presented with the status of any Logical Drives (or RAID
arrays) and any Physical Drives within the server; as well as the
status and details of the RAID Controller. You will also be able to
see all the details of the Logical and Physical Drives. Use can this
information to identify the current status of the storage of your
server. 

In
my example below, you can see that my server has two Logical Drives,
four physical drives, and the drives are split so that there is two
drives configured within each logical drive. You can also see that
the Physical Drive in bay 4 has degraded, which has cause the status
of Logical Drive 2 to also be degraded. 

If
an error has occurred, you can use this information to help you
decide what action you wish to be taken. If you wish for a drive to
be replaced, please see the section on having a drive replaced using
iLO, for more details on how to get a faulty drive replaced using the
information found through the iLO portal.

Using
the above information you should now know the status of the storage
of your server. If you have any further questions about iLO or Remote
Management, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does
not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and
we will be happy to help.

#### How do I use iLO to check my server’s memory & CPU status?
Due
to the nature of hardware, you should regularly check the components
of the server, especially the memory and CPU, to make sure no errors
have occurred. iLO allows you check the status of the system’s
memory and CPU(s), through the control panel. If you identify that an
error has occurred with the memory or with a CPU of your server, you
can use your iLO to identify which piece of hardware has an error,
and use this information to decide on what action you wish to take
next. See below how to use iLO to check the status of the memory and
CPU(s) within the chassis.

Please
note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different
generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can
identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the
iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality
and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ;
so the below may not apply to these older versions.

Memory
- The memory component refers to all the RAM within the chassis.
First, to check for errors relating to memory, click on System
Information in the left hand side panel and then click on Memory. 

You
will now be presented with the details of the system’s memory;
including a list of the individual RAM sticks, the RAM stick’s
details and their status. Here you should be able to identify if
there is any errors with any of the RAM sticks currently configured
within the server. If a stick of RAM ever does become faulty, you
will be able to find the details of the faulty RAM here, unless it
becomes completely faulty and no longer shows on this page. 

If
you wish for a faulty stick of RAM to be replaced, please let us know
all the details found within the Memory Details section, so we can
easily identify the faulty stick of RAM. If possible, a screenshot of
this page would also be helpful. Please see the section on getting
faulty RAM replaced using OMSA for more details. 

CPU
– The CPU (or processor) page, lists all the processors within
the server, their details, and their current status. To check the
status of the CPU(s) within the chassis, click on System Information
and then Processors.

You
will now be presented with the list of CPU(s) within the server,
their details and their current status. If an error does ever occur
with a processor within a server, please feel free to get in touch
and we will be happy to investigate this for you. If there is more
than one processer installed in your server, please provide the
processor’s number in a support ticket (e.g. Processor 1), so
our technicians can easily identify which processor needs replacing.
For more details on getting a faulty CPU replaced, please see the
section on getting a CPU replaced using iLO.

#### How do I use iLO to Identify a failed drive’s details and have it replaced?
If
you do encounter a physical drive with an error and you wish for this
drive to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the
following information as possible about the failed drive, to allow
the technicians to correctly identify which drive needs replacing:

 

 Serial number

 

 Type of drive (e.g. SSD, SATA HDD, etc.)

 

 Capacity

 

 Model

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number

This
information will aid the technician in locating the failed drive and
swapping it with the correct replacement drive. You can use the iLO
control panel to locate the required information above. 

Please
note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different
generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can
identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the
iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality
and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ;
so the below may not apply to these older versions.

To
do use iLO to find this information, you must first access the iLO
control panel and log in. Once you have logged in, click on System
Information and then Storage.

You
will now be presented with a list of physically drives configured
within the server. Once you have found the physical drive with the
error, you will be able to find see the details required by our
technicians to physically locate the drive. See the image below as an
example of how to find the necessary information from the details of
a physical drive:

You
can supply the above information in a support ticket requesting for
this faulty drive to be replaced. The technician should then be able
to identify the drive which needs to be replaced. You can also supply
a screenshot of the above; as the technician can also use this. 

Once
you provide all this information in a support ticket, the local
technicians will be able to look into swapping the failed drive for
you. 

If
the drive is missing from the iLO control panel monitoring completely
(opposed to having an error), then you will not be able to provide
the necessary information listed above to get the drive replaced.
Instead, you can provide the information on all the drives still
present on the iLO control panel and their details, so that by
process of illumination our technicians can identify and replace the
missing drive.

Once
you have provided all the information from the drives that are still
present, the technicians should be able to identify the missing drive
and replace it. 

If
you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please
look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the
answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be
happy to help.

#### How do I use iLO to identify a failed RAM Stick’s details and have it replaced?
If
you do encounter an error related to the server’s memory and
you wish for a RAM stick to be replaced, you will need to provide as
much of the following information as possible, to allow our
technicians to correctly identify which RAM stick needs replacing:

 

 The failed RAM stick’s DIMM slot number (i.e. the Memory
 Location + Socket)

 

 The failed RAM stick’s size 
 

 

 The failed RAM stick’s type

This
information will aid the technician in locating the failed RAM stick
and swapping it with the correct replacement RAM. You can use the iLO
control panel find the above required information.

Please
note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different
generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can
identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the
iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality
and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ;
so the below may not apply to these older versions.

To
locate the required information above, after logging in to iLO, click
on System Information and then Memory. 

Here
you will be able to see a list of the RAM sticks attached to the
motherboard, their status, their location and socket number, their
type and their size. If a stick of RAM appears with an error, you
will need to simply need to supply all the information about this RAM
stick that appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that our
technician can identify the failed DIMM and replace it. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page. 

Occasionally,
if a RAM stick completely fails, it may not appear on this page with
an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together.
As an example, if your server is meant to be configured with 4x 32GB
RAM sticks (or 128Gb of memory in total), but only 3x 32GB RAM sticks
are appearing, then it is quite likely that a stick has completely
failed and needs replacing. If this is the case, you will not be able
to find the information above on the failed RAM stick to get it
replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the RAM
sticks that are present without errors, so the technicians can locate
the failed DIMM through a process of elimination. You can also supply
a screenshot of this page. 

Once
you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the
technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty RAM
stick.

If
you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please
look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the
answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be
happy to help.

#### How do I use iLO to identify a faulty CPU’s details and have it replaced?
If
you do encounter an error related with a server’s CPU and you
wish for it to be replaced, and if there is more than one CPU in this
server, you will need to provide as much of the following information
as possible to allow our technicians to correctly identify which CPU
needs replacing:

 

 The failed CPU’s number (e.g. Processor 1)

 

 The failed CPU’s name (i.e. the Make and Model)

If
your server only has one CPU installed, we do not require this
information to locate and replace a CPU. Please feel free to raise a
support ticket and we will be happy to help. 

If
you do have more than one CPU in the server, this information will
aid the technician in locating the failed CPU and swapping it with
the correct replacement CPU. You can use the iLO control panel to
find the above necessary information.

Please
note that this section uses iLO 4 as an example. Different
generations of HPE servers use different version of iLO. You can
identify the iLO version your server is using when you log in to the
iLO control panel. Older versions of iLO may have less functionality
and the portal may look different to the examples shown in this FAQ;
so the below may not apply to these older versions.

To
use iLO to locate this information, once you are logged in to the
iLO, first click System Information and then Processors

Here
you will be able to see a list of the CPUs installed in the server,
their make and model, their identification number and their
specifications. If a CPU appears with an error, you will need to
supply all the information about this CPU that appears in this table
and the processor number, in a support ticket, so that our technician
can identify the failed processor and replace it. You can also supply
a screenshot of this page. 

Occasionally,
if a CPU completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an
error but might actually be missing from this page all together. If
this is the case, then you will not be able to find the information
above on the failed CPU to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide
the information on all the CPUs that are present without errors, so
the technicians can locate the failed processor through a process of
elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page. 

Once
you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the
technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty CPU.

If
you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please
look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the
answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be
happy to help.

#### How do I use iLO to start an Integrated Remote Console?
One
of the main benefits of having iLO configured on your server is that
it allows you to stat an Integrated Remote Console. The remote
console provides you with the same controls you would have if you
were stood at the server, with a keyboard, mouse and monitor
attached. 

To
start a remote console through iLO, first log in to the control panel
and then press Java Web Start in-line Integrated Remote Console. A
jnlp file will now download. 

Now
open up the viewer.jnlp file. 

The
Java Web Start iLO remote console uses the Java application to work.
What happens now depends on your Java version and your Java setup on
the PC you are accessing the iLO on. Depending on the Java settings,
a Security Warning box may now appear. If this is the case press
Continue. You may also be asked if you want to run the Java
application. If so, press run. 

The
virtual console will window should now start. 

If
you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please
look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the
answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be
happy to help.

#### How do I Use iLO to Remotely Attach an ISO File?
Another
advantage of having iLO configured on your server is that it allows
the user to attach media remotely. One example of when this would be
used is to upload an operating system ISO file; so the user can use
this to install an operating system remotely. 

To
attach an ISO file to a server through iLO, first login to the iLO’s
control panel and then start a remote console. If you are not sure
how to do this, please use our FAQ to find information on how to
perform these actions. Now click Virtual Drives at the top of the
virtual console screen. Then click on ‘Image File CD/DVD-ROM’

A
window will now appear allowing you to navigate your computer’s
files. Select your ISO file and press Open.

You
have now mapped the virtual media to the server. You should now be
able to access this content through the server. If you have attached
an ISO to install a new operating system, you should now be able to
access this media through the boot menu. 

If
you have any further questions about iLO or Remote Management, please
look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the
answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be
happy to help.

### Products & Services - Remote Management (OOB / LOM) - IPMI
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/remote-management-oob-lom-ipmi

#### What is an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)?
SuperMicro’s
Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IMPI) is SuperMicro’s
version of a ‘Remote Management’ tool. Remote management
tools have been developed to enable their users to have greater
administrative control over their devices remotely. 

SuperMicro’s
IPMI is a hardware and software component which exist on most
SuperMicro rack-mount servers. If you request to have Remote
Management installed on your server, and your server is a SuperMicro
server, it will be configured with IPMI.

When
IPMI is configured on a SuperMicro, the user can access the IPMI
remotely through a web-based GUI portal, through a dedicated IPv4
address configured on the IPMI. Once you have accessed and logged in
to a server’s IPMI control panel, you can use the IPMI portal
to check the current status of your server and its hardware, to run
operations/tasks on your server, and to start a Remote Console. 

We
encourage our clients to order Remote Management with their server
(thus IMPI with a SuperMicro server), as it allows the device’s
administrator to check the status of their hardware and as it can be
used to identify hardware related issues. SuperMicro’s IPMI
also allows the device’s administrator to be able to start a
remote console at any time; providing the user greater control over
their device, 24/7, and replaces the need for KVMoIP devices. 

Please
note that the IPMI component is unique to SuperMicro servers, so IPMI
is only available on our SuperMicro servers. Servers manufactured by
other companies use other forms of remote management, similar to
IMPI. Some other examples include iLO for HPE ProLiant servers and
iDRAC for Dell EMC PowerEdge servers. This means that the form of
remote management provided depends on the make and model of the
server. 

If
you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

#### How do I access IPMI?
When
an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IMPI) is configured on
a SuperMicro server, the IPMI is accessed through any compatible
web-browser, using the IPMI’s dedicated configured IPv4
address. As long as there are no firewall rules associated with the
IPMI’s connection or IPv4 address, or as long as the firewall
rules are configured to allow you to access the IPMI from your
device, you should be able to access the IPMI remotely on your
home/work computer, or on another device configured within the same
network as the server. Simply enter the IPMI’s configured IPv4
Address into your web-browser’s URL box.

If
you are presented with any security warnings, you should be able to
proceed beyond them. You should now be presented with the SuperMicro
IPMI control panel login screen. You can now enter the Username and
Password for the IPMI, and then press Submit. If the IPMI connection
has recently been configured on your device by one of our
technicians, you will be able to find the credentials of the IPMI in
the MyServers panel, in the Credentials section of the IS page for
the server, under the name of LOM/https. 

Once
you have entered the credentials and pressed submit, you will be
presented with the IPMI’s control panel home page. You can now
use the IPMI to check the health of your server and the device’s
hardware, to run operations/tasks on the server, or to start a
virtual console. We would recommend familiarising yourself with the
control panel and the configuration of the server, once you have
logged in to it for the first time, so if an error does occur in
future, you already understand how your server should be configured
and how to use the IPMI application. 

If
you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

#### How do I use IPMI to check my server’s hardware?
One
of the main benefits of IPMI is that it allows you to check the
current health of your server and allows you to check the current
status of your server’s hardware. 

Once
you have logged into the IPMI portal, to navigate to the section
regarding the server’s current status, click on Server Health.
You will now see on the left hand side that Sensor Readings, Event
Log, and Power Consumption appears. You can use the Sensor Readings
and Event Log pages to evaluate the current status of the server and
to check for historical issues. First, click on Sensor Readings. 

You
will now be presents with a list of all the components/services
monitored by the system, their status and their readings. You will be
able to use the information in this table to determine if any of the
components currently have any errors. Please note that the server’s
sensor reading page may not always be able to detect the status of
the drives within the chassis. In my example below, you can see that
the HDD Status reading is Not Present and its status is N/A. 

Once
you have checked the server’s current health, you should also
check the event log of the server. It is good practice to check the
event log, as errors that have occurred historically but then cleared
will not show in the server health section. To do this, click on
Event Log. 

You
will now be presented with a table that lists all the events, picked
up by the server’s sensors, since the server was first powered
on or since the event log was last cleared. You should be able to use
this table to ascertain whether any components/services have recently
developed any errors. Please note that if a component/service is not
monitored by the server (e.g. as shown in my earlier example, the
server’s drive status was not shown), it will most likely also
not be shown in the server’s Event Log.

If
an error does appear within either the Server Health or within the
Event Log, please feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be
happy to help. You can also supply us with a screenshot of where the
error appears within IPMI, as this may help our team troubleshoot
this issue. 

If
you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

#### How do I use IPMI to Start a Virtual Console?
One
of the main benefits of having an IPMI configured on your server is
that it allows you to stat a Remote Console. 

To
start a remote console through IPMI, first log in to the control
panel. Then press Remote Control, then Console Redirection and then
press Launch Console. 

A
jnlp file will now download. Open the jnlp file. 

The
IPMI console uses the Java application to work. What happens now
depends on your Java version and your Java setup on the PC you are
accessing the IPMI on. Depending on the Java settings, a Security
Warning box may now appear. If this is the case press Continue. Then
an option to run the application may appear; press Run until the
remote console starts, accepting any security risks. 

The
remote console should now start. 

If
you encountered any security errors, which meant that you could not
start the remote console, you may have to add the IPMI’s IP to
the list of excepted sites. To do this, follow these instructions:

Open
"Configure Java”.

Select
the "Security" tab. Then press "Edit Site List"
under "Exception Site List".

You
now need to add the URL for the IPMI to the exception site list. To
do this, first press “Add”. Then type in the URL of your
IPMI, which will be the IPMI’s IP address proceeded by
“https://” (e.g. https://1.1.1.1).

Once
you have done this, you should also add the IPMI’s URL again,
however, this time with the http protocol (opposed to https); by
pressing “Add” and then entering the IPMI’s IP
address proceeded by “http://” (e.g. http://1.1.1.1).
When adding an http address, it will bring up a security message as
this is a less secure protocol, so you will need to press Continue to
proceed. 

Once
you have entered both exceptions, press OK on the Exception list and
then on the Java Control Panel.

If
you are still experiencing problems once you have applied the above,
please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help.

If
you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

#### How do I Use IPMI to Remotely Attach an ISO File?
Another
advantage of having IPMI configured on your server is that it allows
the user to attach media remotely. One example of when this would be
used is to upload an operating system ISO file, to install an
operating system remotely, through the IPMI. 

To
attach an ISO file through IMPI, first login to the IPMI’s
control panel and then start a remote console. If you are not sure
how to do this, please use our FAQ to find information on how to
perform these actions. Now click Virtual Media at the top of the
remote console’s screen. Then click on Virtual Storage. 

A
Virtual Storage window will now appear. To attach an ISO file you now
click on CDROM&ISO and then select the ISO File in Logical Drive
Type (you can also select Web ISO if you are installing an ISO
directly from a website; however, this guide will show you how to
upload an ISO file locally stored on your PC). 

Now
press Open Image. You will now be able to use the Open window to
select the ISO file you wish to attach. Navigate through your
home/work computer’s files, select the ISO file, and then press
Open.

The
file’s name and location will now appear under Image File Name
and Full Path. Next, press Plug in to attach the file.

You
should now see a message appear under connection status history,
which shows as “Plug-In OK!!”. You can now press OK. 

You
have now mapped the virtual media to the server. You should now be
able to access this content through the server. If you have attached
an ISO to install a new operating system, you should now be able to
access this media through the boot menu. 

If
you have any further questions about IPMI or Remote Management,
please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have
the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will
be happy to help.

### Products & Services - SSL Certificates
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/ssl-certificates

#### What SSL certificates do you offer?
We
have a wide range of SSL certificates from multiple providers that we
can provide for domain, organisation, and extended validation
certificates.

Contact
us to discuss your requirements and we will provide the relevant
options and prices for you. Please also feel free to get in touch if
you have any further questions.

### Products & Services - Upgrading my Products & Services
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/upgrading-my-products-services

#### Can I upgrade the specifications of my server?
Absolutely.
As our client’s businesses grow, so do their requirements for
their dedicated server devices, so we are always happy to facilitate
an upgrade to any dedicated device. 

Some,
indeed most of clients opt to take out additional dedicated servers
with us. However, if you wish to upgrade the components of your
current live server, a member of our team will be happy to discuss
this with you and quote you the cost of any upgrade. If your current
device is not capable of the increased specification you require, our
support team will happily provide you with options available for you
to upgrade and migrate to a higher specification of server. 

Please
feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be able to work out
an upgrade option and process which best suites your needs; and
discuss any associated cost.

#### How can I add more storage space to my server?
There
are several options available for someone who wishes to add storage
to their server. Which one would be best for your server depends on
your requirements, the current specification of your server, and the
model of your dedicated server. 

If
you are looking to upgrade the storage space of your server as you
wish to use this additional space for backups, please look at our
“What back-up options do you offer?” section within the
FAQ, as this will provide you with more details tailored to this
scenario. 

If
you want to upgrade the storage of your server for other reasons,
please see below for some examples of options you that we would
suggest, dependent on your current server’s setup. Please also
feel free to get in touch through a ticket and we will be happy to
discuss what options are available to you.

One
option would be to add additional drives of the required size to your
server, in one or more of any available drive bays. This is the
simplest and often the cheapest solution; however, your server must
have available drive bays for this to be possible, the server and any
RAID controller present must be compatible with the increased storage
size and this also depends on how many drives / how much storage you
wish to add. 

A
second option, which is often used when the above is not possible,
would be to replace the drives that are currently in your server with
larger drives. If this option is possible is dependent on how many
drives you require, how much storage you wish to add, and the model
of your server. This option is also a relatively cheap; however,
replacing the drives of your server with larger drives would mean
data loss; so you would need to re-build your server’s
configuration and data from back-ups taken on an external device. 

If
the two options above are not feasible for one reason or another,
another option that would be open to you would be to migrate to a
new, higher specification server, which would be an upgrade on your
current device and have a higher storage capacity.

Another
option would be to have space from one of our shared NAS devices
assigned to your server as a network drive. The benefit of this
solution is that there are less restrictions caused by hardware and
it means the data will be stored on a device which is separate to
your server, within a geographically different site, protecting it
from any hardware, network or power failure linked to your device.
However, this option is only available for relatively smaller amounts
of storage space, of 2TBs of less, and is currently only an available
option within certain data centres within our hosting infrastructure.

If
you require a large amount of storage space added to you server,
another option would be to have a dedicated NAS device deployed and
hosted with us, and attached to you server as an external storage
device. This is one of the more expensive options; but benefits
include having data on an external device within a different rack to
your server, making it less likely to be effected by network, power
and hardware failures which affect your main server; and NAS devices
are scalable solutions which would allow you to upgrade the storage
space the device in future, when required. You can also attach a
single NAS storage unit to multiple servers; meaning you can use it
as a storage unit for multiple servers. 

A
more cost effective way to increase storage space compared to a
dedicated NAS device, when large amounts of storage is required, is
to order an additional dedicated server. The benefit of this method
is that you can order as much storage space as you require, your
servers can be connected via a private VLAN and your data can be
spread across multiple devices. 

If
you are interested in any of the above solutions, or if you wish to
discuss an alternative solution, please feel free to get in touch
through a ticket and we will be happy to discuss this with you.

### Support
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/support-50

#### How to add credentials to MyServers?
Credentials can be added to any server on your account, however this section is only visible for contacts with Technical privileges. Credentials must be added via this portal and not handed over in plain text for security purposes.

 Please see below instructions to change contact privileges.
 

-To add credentials to a server on your account, ensure you are logged into your MyServers account. 
 

-Once logged in, please click into the My Servers section near the top of the screen, which will bring you to your Server list. 
 

 -Choose the appropriate reference of the server you would like to add credentials to on the left hand side of the screen, under Name.
 

 -Once you are on the server page, click on the Add Credentials button in the centre of the screen and fill in the appropriate information, including type of credentials (e.g. SSH, RDP) and the amount of time you would like to credentials to be displayed on your account. 
 

 -Click on the Add Credential box on the right hand side of the screen to finish this process. The credentials will then be visible on the server page. 
 

 -Please note, these options are not linked to your physical server and this will not affect your server credentials. This is simply a reference for both other contacts on your account and members of staff that will be able to view the credentials through the server page.

#### Do we wipe disks for clients?
General Drive-wipe

This is a standardised process we use throughout our server recycle process, this includes a SMART test.

 Active KillDisk (HMG IS5 Enhanced)

When you erase data with Active@ KillDisk, you destroy data permanently by conforming to any one of more than twenty international data sanitizing standards or using your own custom settings at the end of each drive-wipe you will be provided with a certificate which clarifies serial numbers, date, time etc.

During the Killdisk process we select the (3 passes) option where the write head passes over each sector three times, writing zeroes (0x00), then 0xFF, and finally random characters.

Killdisk is chargeable per disk wiped.

DBAN

DBAN – This is another option that can be used to wipe drives, this can be attached to the server via an ISO and KVM or alternatively, if you’re server has a LOM/iDRAC installed this can run this way. Please note we do charge additionally if you require us to DBAN drives locally otherwise its non-chargeable if taking the ISO/KVM root.

Drive Destruction

Drives that come to end of life, we use S2S a 3RD party drive destruction company who come onsite. This service is only for internal use and for making customers aware of methods we take with the end of life stock.

#### Adding a cPanel licence in the control panel?
Click “My Servers”

Click “Licences”

Click “Add” and you can select the type of licence, the server and the IP to assign it to.

When adding a licence you may have to run the following script in the OS to renew the licence:

usr/local/cpanel/cpkeyclt

#### How to change contact privileges within MS control Panel?
1. To change a customer’s privileges on MyServers you will need to navigate to the “My Account” page and then “Contact”.

2. From here you can click on the user that you would like to change the privileges of, this will then lead you to the following page:

3. From here, press the “Edit Contact” button and you can change the privileges of users on the account.

#### How do I mount access to shared NAS in Windows?
1. Open File Explorer

2. Right-click on the 'network' tab and select 'map network drive'.

3. Enter the NAS share location via the ‘browse’ option as highlighted below. This information can be found on the associated server's IS page in MyServers.

4. Please make sure you select “Reconnect at logon".

5. Select 'Finish'

6. Enter the Username/Password associated with the NAS share. This information can be found by selecting 'show password' on the share within the associated server's IS page in MyServers.

7. Select 'Remember my password'.

8. Select 'Finish'.

9. The newly mounted share should appear within the 'Computer' section of Windows.

#### How to add a contact to your MS account?
To add a contact to your account, you will first need to navigate to the MyServers control panel.

From here you need to press “My Account”

From here click on the “Contacts” link and you will be greeted by the following page:

To add a new contact, press the “Add Contact” button and fill in the details for the new contact.

#### How to create a support ticket in MS?
1. When on the homepage for Myservers Navigate to My Servers tab

2. Select the server IS you wish to raise a ticket with, in some cases, you will have more than 1 server.

3. Navigate to Create a ticket

4. Enter a Subject title and select relevant Please specify details of issue or question you have regarding your account. If needed you can Attach files when sending documents or screenshots. Under the Affected Servers column, you have options to speak about multiple IS’s If needed by selecting the Tick Box and Create Ticket

#### How to set-up or change security question?
Firstly, click onto the “Contacts” tab on the MyServers Control Panel

Then click on the Contact’s name and navigate to the “Edit Contact” button in the right-hand corner.

From here scroll to the “Security Details” section, this is where you can set-up or change the security question for this contact.

You have now added or changed a security question for a contact.

#### Do we support 3rd Party software downloaded by the client?
RapidSwitch does not provide any software support for software package either purchased through us or a 3rd party.

Should you require software support, you will need to contact the vendor of the software.

If you require a managed solution, we can look at putting you in touch with one of our sister companies that provide such a package.

#### Does Rapidswitch clone drives, for data retrieval?
As an unmanaged IaaS provider, RapidSwitch does not offer a drive cloning service or data migration.

#### How do I mount access to shared NAS in Linux?
1. Run the following command to bring up the interface associated with the NAS share (Replace the * with the associated interface number)

ifup eth*

2. Make a NAS directory by issuing the following command:

mkdir /nas

3. Run the following command. This will install a service that helps to communicate with Windows-based filesystems:

yum install samba-client

4. Run the following command and enter the appropriate details to have the NAS mount on boot: 

nano /etc/fstab

Please see the image below as an example for what information to put in this file:

Make sure the format is the same as above and replace the 'nas-share' 'nas-username' and 'nas-password' is changed to the clients NAS account details.

 

5. You should now be able to run the following command to mount the clients NAS share:

mount /nas

 

Please note:

if you have already run the command: 

mount -t cifs -o username=nas-username,password=nas-password //10.0.5./nas-share /your-mount-point*

#### How to set the primary billing/technical contact?
1. When on “My Accounts”, navigate over to the “Billing Details Tab”.

2. Select preferred “Billing Contact/Technical Contact/Emergency Contact” if required.

3. “Save”

#### Do we allow drives out of the data centres?
Due to strict GDPR regulations, our standard procedures do not allow any leased hardware to leave our premises which have had past/current confidential data written.

We do offer alternative services onsite which delete all data, with no possibility of future recovery.

Please check the FAQ link below for more information on this.

https://myservers.rapidswitch.com/FAQ/Default.aspx?s=50&q=238

#### How do I resolve email bounce backs?
1. Check MX tool box https://mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx. To make sure IPS’s are not blacklisted. If your IP is blacklisted, please contact the relevant blacklist to have it removed

2. Please use the below links to assist you.

MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/supportrequestform/8ad563e3-288e-2a61-8122-3ba03d6b8d75

Office 365 - https://sender.office.com/

Yahoo - http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/postmaster/bulkv2.html

Gmail - https://support.google.com/mail/troubleshooter/2696779?hl=en-GB&ref_topic=7280460

3. You can also try the mail tester linked below, to resolve any issues before contacting us.

Mail Tester - https://www.mail-tester.com

If you’re unable to resolve using the above methods, please raise a ticket and send us the full email bounce back, so that we can investigate further.

#### MyServer API Documentation
Customer API - Allows customers to do most of the operations they can do directly through MyServers.

1. When logged into your Myservers account, Navigate over to the API tab shown in the diagram below.

 

2. Then Select Documentation.

 

3. When on the API documentation page, select the "View Documentation Online" 

 

4. This page will show you the Rapidswitch.MyserversAPI functions are avaliable.

### Support - Access
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/access

#### Access request?
Physical Access to the datacentre is only granted if the client has collocated equipment or has a meeting organised with a member of staff. Physical access to shared racks used by more than one client is not permitted under any circumstance. To gain physical access, the Client may request usage of the Build Room. This is subject to availability, and charged at £30 per hour or part thereof. If available datacentre staff will remove the Clients equipment to the Build Room, and allow the Client access to the equipment in the Build Room. To raise an access request you can do this in your control panel by logging in:

1) Go to the “My Tickets Section” 

2) Underneath click “Access Requests” 

3) Click “Create”

### Support - Getting Support
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/getting-support

#### How can I receive support?
Support
is available 24x7, 365 days a year, via our MyServers customer portal
ticketing system and through our telephone support line. All urgent
quires will be answered by a member of our team, no matter the time
of day or night, nor what day of the year it is.

If
you need support or have any general queries, which are not answered
by our FAQ section, please raise a ticket through you MyServers
account. If the support you require is urgent and / or if you want to
speak to a member of our team over the phone, please feel free to
call our support line, and a member of team will always be happy to
help. Please note, we would suggest raising a ticket first and then
phoning, as this allows us to use this ticket as a basis for any
work/actions that may need to be taken. This will also allow our team
to respond and process your request / query quicker and easier. 

Tickets
can be raised through your MyServers control panel account and our
telephone number can also be found on MyServers. 

If
you have any more questions about support, please feel free to get in
touch and we will be happy to help.

#### What support do you provide?
As
a managed infrastructure service provider, our standard support
package includes a fully managed hardware package, which covers
replacement of any failed hardware provided to you.

We
also provide 24x7 monitoring of your dedicated devices, with
unlimited free e-mail and SMS alerts, including ping monitoring,
switch port monitoring, OS access service monitoring (e.g. RDP), and
several other monitoring services. These are all controlled through
your MyServers portal and can be added / edited by yourselves at any
time. Please note, not all of these monitoring systems are applied
as standard.

We
also provide support with any issue or query related to our
infrastructure; in regards to networking, power and environmental
infrastructure. 

As
well as our standard managed infrastructure service package, we also
offer other managed packages and products. We can also provide
installation and initial configuration services for more complex
deployments if required. If you are interested in a fully-outsourced
IT platform and service, with bespoke management options, we are also
able to discuss these with you.

If
you have any questions please feel free to get in touch.

#### Do you charge for support?
We
will not charge for any support within our standard package.

If
you have a dedicated device with us, we will not charge for the
replacement of any faulty hardware, nor for investigating any issues
that may lay within our infrastructure. 

Any
support requested that falls outside of your packages will not be
performed or charged for without prior consent. The relevant team
will liaise with you on any work that may be required, compile a full
schedule of work to be performed and an upfront quotation for the
work.

If you have any questions please feel free to get in touch.

#### What details do I need to provide when phoning you?
Our
support team operate 24x7, 365 days a year, and they are always happy
to take your call. If you do need to call our support line for
anything related to your account or to your services, we will first
need to identify your account and then you will need to pass our
phone-call security process, as outlined below. 

To
identify your account, we will simply need either the account name,
an IS number assigned to your account or an invoice number. Once we
have located your account on our system, we will then check your name
against the list of people named on your account. Please note, you
must be named on the account’s contacts to phone our support
line.

To
ensure that all our clients’ details and accounts are secure,
when a person phones our support line with a request or query related
to their account, we will require them to pass the security question
listed against their name before we can proceed. This policy is in
place to leave you safe in the knowledge that no unauthorised persons
can phone our support line and make changes to your account or
services. 

To
pass our security question, you must be a person named on your
company’s / personal MyServers account, you must have a
security question setup against your name on the MyServers account
and you must know the answer to this security questions when asked
over the phone.

If
you are not a named person on the MyServers client account, either
you or someone with access to the MyServers account control panel
must add you as a contact to the account, before you can phone our
support line and pass security. 

If
you have access to the MyServers portal, to check who is currently
listed on the account and can phone our support line, login to your
MyServers account and then under the My Account tab click on the
Contacts. You will now be able to see a list of the people named on
the account and their permissions. These people will be able to phone
our support line, as long as they know the answer to their security
question. 

If
you need to add a new contact to the account, first press Add
Contact. You will now need to fill in all the details of the new
contact. Please make sure that these details are added correctly, as
we will use this information to contact this person, if the need ever
arises. After filling in the new contact’s details, you now
need to set a password and security question for the new contact. We
would suggest asking the new contact to fill in this information; as
they will need to use the password to log in to their MyServers
account and they will need to know the answer to the security
question if they ever wish to phone our support line. Finally, you
should set the roles of the new contact. The roles selected will
limit the access this new person has to the MyServers account and
limits the information we can provide over the phone, so please set
these correctly. Once you have finished filling in all these details,
press Save to add the new contact. 

Once
this has been completed, the person that has been added to the
account is free to phone our support line whenever they have a
question or query.

If
you are a named person on the MyServers account, but you cannot
remember the answer to the security question or you have not set an
answer to any security question, you can also login to the MyServers
control panel and reset/set the answer to a security question. To do
this, login to your MyServers account using your own login and click
on Personal Details under the My Account tab. Now select a Security
Question and then input your answer to this security question. Then
press Save. 

You
will now be able to use the answer to this security question to pass
our phone-call security question. 

Please
note, before phoning our support line, we would always advise our
clients to raise a support ticket with all the details, so we can use
this as a basis to reply to you and perform any work after the phone
call. 

Once
you know the answer to your security question, please phone our
support line any time you wish to speak to a member of our team or
escalate an urgent issue.

If
you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

### Support - Hands On Assistance
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/hands-on-assistance

#### Scheduling in hands on assistance with our technicians?
Datacentre technicians are available 24/7, however, we do not schedule in advance any manual work during the hours between 06:00 - 08:00 and 18:00 and 20:00. If you would like to schedule in any necessary work you would need to open up a ticket advising us what work needs to be carried out along with the date and time you would like for us to carry it out. If you have any further question or wish to schedule in work, please feel free to get in touch via our ticketing system, and a member of our team will be happy to help.

### Support - How do I check the status of my drives and RAID array through the RAID BIOS?
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/how-do-i-check-the-status-of-my-drives-and-raid-array-through-the-raid-bios

#### How do I check the status of my drives and RAID array through the RAID BIOS?
Sadly,
on occasion, errors can occur with the storage components of a
server. As we know how frustrating this can be, this FAQ section has
been created to help our client’s investigate their server’s
storage through their server’s RAID BIOS. 

If
you believe an error has occurred with either a server’s RAID
array or with a server’s physical drives, when a RAID
controller is present within the server, one way you can check the
status of a server’s storage is through the server’s RAID
BIOS menu. You can use the server’s RAID BIOS to identify any
failed drives and identify the details required to have them
replaced.

Checking
a server’s RAID BIOS involves rebooting a server while
accessing it through either a KVMoIP device or while having a remote
management’s virtual/remote console open, then accessing the
RAID controller’s BIOS menu while the server goes through POST.
This does require the server and anything the server is hosting to be
offline during the entire process. Due to this, it is normally
preferable for clients to use either Remote Management software or
monitoring tools configured on the server’s operating system to
identify any issues with a server’s storage; however, if this
not possible then you may have to use the server’s RAID BIOS.

How
to boot into a server’s RAID controller’s BIOS menu and
check the drives’ and arrays’ health depends on the model
of your server and the model of the RAID controller it is using.
Below, you will see some examples of how to check the RAID BIOS for
some of our combinations of RAID controllers and server models. If
your server and RAID controller are not listed below, you can either
find material online to help you perform this action, or raise a
support ticket and a member of our team will be happy to discuss what
we can do to help. 

If
you are un-sure what model your server and RAID controller is, please
see below how to use MyServers to identify this.

#### How do I identify what the make and model of my dedicated server and RAID controller is, using MyServers?
If
you have a dedicated server hosted with us, you will be able to
identify the make and model of your device through our MyServers
control panel, on the IS page of the device. 

First,
log in to the MyServers control panel and then navigate to the IS
page of the server you wish to check the model of. A list of servers
can be found by clicking on the My Servers tab. Once you are on the
IS page of the server, you will be able to find the make and model of
the server within the Service Description box, in line with the IS
number. In my example below, you can see that the make of my server
is a Dell, while the model of the server is a PowerEdge R210 II. 

Within
the Service Description, you should also be able to see the model of
the RAID Controller. If no RAID controller is present in this box, it
may mean that either no RAID controller exists in the chassis, the
RAID controller is built into the chassis’ motherboard
(integrated), or that this device was deployed before we added RAID
controllers to this box for every server. If the RAID controller is
not present in this box, you can either identify what RAID controller
the server is configured during the server’s POST screens, or
please feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy to help. 

You
should now know what the make and model of your server and RAID
controller is. If you have any more questions about your server’s
RAID controller, please look through our FAQ for more information.
Alternatively, or if you have not been able to identify this
information, please feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy
to help.

#### How do I check the RAID BIOS of my 13<sup>th</sup> Generations Dell PowerEdge server (R_30) with a H730 RAID controller?
To
check the RAID BIOS of a 13th generation Dell EMC
PowerEdge server (e.g. R230, R630, R730xd), when it has a H730 raid
controller installed (this includes multiple variations, including
H730Ps and H730P Minis), you should first have either a KVMoIP device
attached to the server or a remote console session on the server
opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to
open an iDRAC remote console. 

Once
you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need
to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and
everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain
offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision
to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within
the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your
server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait
for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press
F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your
server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below;
however, it is always F2 to enter the server’s System Setup
menu.

The
System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device
Settings. To navigate through the System Setup menu, use either the
mouse, or the arrow keys, Esc key and Enter key. 

Now
select the RAID controller. 

You
are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of
the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s
and Physical Disk’s health. First, we’ll check the
Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays
configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual Disk
Management. 

You
will now be presented with a list of all the Virtual Disks (or RAID
arrays) configured in this server. You will also see some of the
Virtual Disks’ details, including their statuses. In my example
below, you can see that one Virtual Disk’s status is Ready,
meaning that there are no errors, and one has a status of Degraded,
meaning that there is an error with the RAID array. Click on a
Virtual Disks to find more information on the array. You should do
this if you identify a Virtual Drive with an error. 

Here
you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk and can select
operations to perform. You can also choose to see a list of the
physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across
a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now select View Associated
Physical Disks to see the status of the drives configured within this
array. 

You
will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within
this array. You will also be able to see their statuses; which you
can use to identify if there are any errors with any drives. As you
can see from my example below, the second drive in this array (1:03)
is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error,
you can use this window to view the details of the physical drive. To
do this, tick the box in-line with the drive you wish to check and
press View Physical Disk Properties.

You
will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s
details; including its current status and all the details needed by
our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with
an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the
following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a
support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive
correctly: 

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)

 

 Capacity (i.e. Size)

 

 Model Number

 

 Serial number

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay
to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the
LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing our
technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this,
set the Operation drop-down box to ‘Blink’ and then press
Go. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use
this same process, except setting the drop-down box to ‘Un-Blink’,
to stop the drive bay from blinking. You should do this to make sure
the drive bay is no longer blinking, as this may lead to some
confusion if you need other drives replacing in future. If you do set
the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the
support ticket. 

Once
you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to
blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive
replaced. 

If
you did not encounter any issues with the Virtual Disks, you can also
check the status of all the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep
pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s
main menu, and then select Physical Disk Management. 

You
will now see a list of Physical Disks present in the server, along
with their current status. In my example, you can see that there are
four drives, three are online and one is currently offline. To find
out more information about a drive, simply click on it/select it. 

You
will now be on the physical drive’s page, which lists all of
the drive’s details, allows you to run operations (or tasks) on
the drive and shows you the drives’ status. As outlined above,
you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a
drive replaced and set the drive to blink. 

Using
the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the
current status of all the drives configured within the server and the
status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to
have any faulty drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### RAID BIOS of my 12<sup>th</sup> Generations Dell PowerEdge server (R_20) with a H710 RAID controller?
To
check the RAID BIOS of a 12th generation Dell EMC
PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H710 raid
controller installed (this includes other variations, including
H710Ps and H710 minis), you should first have either a KVMoIP device
attached to the server or a remote console session on the server
opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVMoIP session
or how to open an iDRAC remote console. 

Once
you have either a KVMoIP session or a remote console session open,
you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that
the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline,
and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process.
Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and
any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any
effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your
server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup
menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on
the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly
different to the one below; however, it is always F2 to enter the
System Setup menu. 

The
System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device
Settings. To navigate the System Setup menu, use either the mouse, or
use the arrow, Esc and Enter keys. 

Now
select the RAID controller. 

You
are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of
the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s
and Physical Disk’s health. First, we will check the Virtual
Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays
configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual Disk
Management, then Manage Virtual Disk Properties.

You
will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array
configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk
drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more
than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you
will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk(s). In my
example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks, one with
a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a
status of Offline, meaning that there is currently an error. 

Below
you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk selected in the
drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list of the physical
drives configured within this array. If you have come across a
Virtual Disk with an error, you should now do this to see the status
of the drives. To do this, press View Associated Physical Disks. 

You
will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within
this array. You will be also see their status; which you can use to
identify if there any errors with a drive. As you can see from my
example below, the second drive in this array (1:03) is currently
offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, you check the
properties of this drive, by ticking the box in-line with the drive
you wish to check and then pressing View Physical Disk Properties.

You
will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s
details; including its current status and all the details needed by
our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with
an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the
following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a
support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive
correctly: 

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)

 

 Capacity (i.e. Size)

 

 Model Number

 

 Serial number

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay
to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the
LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the
local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do
this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select
Physical Disk Management. Then click on Select Physical Disk
Operations.

You
now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the
Select Physical Disk drop-down box. Then press Blink. The drive bay
should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive
swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’,
to stop the drive bay from blinking. It is good practice to do this,
because if you need other drives replacing in future, leaving this
drive by blinking may cause some confusion. If you do set the drive
bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket. 

Once
you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to
blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive
replaced. 

If
you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks
menu, you can also check the status of the Physical Disks directly.
To do this, keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID
controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management,
and then select View Physical Disk Properties. 

You
will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive
configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk
drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than
drive is present within this server. Within the drop-down box you
will also be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my
example below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks; three
with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one
with a status of offline.

To
find out more details about a Physical Disk, simply select it in the
drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and
see the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this
page to identify all the information needed to get a faulty drive
replaced and you can navigate to the operations page to set the drive
to blink. 

Using
the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the
current status of all the drives configured within the server and the
status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to
have any faulty drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I check the RAID BIOS of my 12<sup>th</sup> Generations Dell PowerEdge server (R_20) with a H310 RAID controller?
To
check the RAID BIOS of a 12th generation Dell EMC
PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H310 raid
controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device
attached to the server or a remote console session opened on the
server. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to
open an iDRAC remote console. 

Once
you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need
to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and
everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain
offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision
to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within
the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your
server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait
for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press
F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your
server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below;
however, it is always F2 to enter the System Setup menu. 

The
System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device
Settings. To navigate through the System Setup menu, use either the
mouse, or the arrow, Esc and Enter keys. 

Now
select the RAID controller. 

You
are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of
the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s
and Physical Disk’s health. First, check the Virtual Disks’
health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the
server. Select Virtual Disk Management, then select Manage Virtual
Disk Properties.

You
will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array
configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk
drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more
than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you
will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk(s). In my
example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks; one with
a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a
status of Failed, meaning that there is currently an error. 

Below
you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk selected in the
drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list of the physical
drives configured within this array. If you have come across a
Virtual Disk with an error, you should now do this to see the status
of the drives. Press View Associated Physical Disks. 

You
will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within
this array. You will also be able to see their status; which you can
use to identify if there any errors with a drive. As you can see from
my example below, the only drive in this array is currently offline.
If you do come across a drive with an error, now tick the box in-line
with the drive and press View Physical Disk Properties, to view more
information about the physical drive. 

You
will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s
details; including its current status and all the details needed by
our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with
an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the
following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a
support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive
correctly: 

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)

 

 Capacity (i.e. size)

 

 Model Number

 

 Serial number

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay
to blink using this menu. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the
LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the
local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do
this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select
Physical Disk Management. Then click on Select Physical Disk
Operations.

 

You
now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the
Select Physical Disk drop-down box. Then press Blink. The drive bay
should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive
swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’,
to stop the drive bay from blinking. It is good practice to make sure
the drive bay is no longer blinking; so that if you need other drives
replacing in future, there is no confusion. If you do set the drive
bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket. 

Once
you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to
blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive
replaced. 

If
you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you
can also check the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing
Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main
menu. Now select Physical Disk Management and then select View
Physical Disk Properties. 

You
will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive
configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk
drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than
one is present in this server. Within the drop-down box you will also
be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example
below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks; three with a
status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a
status of offline.

To
find out more details about a Physical Disk, simply select it in the
drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and
see the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this
page to identify all the information needed to get a drive replaced
and you can navigate to the operations page to set the drive to
blink. 

Using
the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the
current status of all the drives configured within the server and the
status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to
have any faulty drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I check the RAID BIOS of my 11<sup>th</sup> Generations Dell PowerEdge server (R_10) with a H310 RAID controller?
To
check the RAID BIOS of a 12th generation Dell EMC
PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H310 raid
controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device
attached to the server or a remote console session opened on the
server. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to
open an iDRAC remote console. 

Once
you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need
to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and
everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain
offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision
to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within
the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your
server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait
for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press
F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your
server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below;
however, it is always F2 to enter the System Setup menu. 

The
System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device
Settings. To navigate through the System Setup menu, use either the
mouse, or the arrow, Esc and Enter keys. 

Now
select the RAID controller. 

You
are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of
the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s
and Physical Disk’s health. First, check the Virtual Disks’
health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the
server. Select Virtual Disk Management, then select Manage Virtual
Disk Properties.

You
will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array
configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk
drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more
than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you
will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk(s). In my
example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks; one with
a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a
status of Failed, meaning that there is currently an error. 

Below
you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk selected in the
drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list of the physical
drives configured within this array. If you have come across a
Virtual Disk with an error, you should now do this to see the status
of the drives. Press View Associated Physical Disks. 

You
will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within
this array. You will also be able to see their status; which you can
use to identify if there any errors with a drive. As you can see from
my example below, the only drive in this array is currently offline.
If you do come across a drive with an error, now tick the box in-line
with the drive and press View Physical Disk Properties, to view more
information about the physical drive. 

You
will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s
details; including its current status and all the details needed by
our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with
an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the
following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a
support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive
correctly: 

 

 Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)

 

 Capacity (i.e. size)

 

 Model Number

 

 Serial number

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay
to blink using this menu. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the
LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the
local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do
this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select
Physical Disk Management. Then click on Select Physical Disk
Operations.

 

You
now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the
Select Physical Disk drop-down box. Then press Blink. The drive bay
should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive
swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’,
to stop the drive bay from blinking. It is good practice to make sure
the drive bay is no longer blinking; so that if you need other drives
replacing in future, there is no confusion. If you do set the drive
bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket. 

Once
you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to
blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive
replaced. 

If
you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you
can also check the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing
Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main
menu. Now select Physical Disk Management and then select View
Physical Disk Properties. 

You
will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive
configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk
drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than
one is present in this server. Within the drop-down box you will also
be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example
below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks; three with a
status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a
status of offline.

To
find out more details about a Physical Disk, simply select it in the
drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and
see the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this
page to identify all the information needed to get a drive replaced
and you can navigate to the operations page to set the drive to
blink. 

Using
the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the
current status of all the drives configured within the server and the
status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to
have any faulty drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I check the RAID BIOS of my 11<sup>th</sup> Generations Dell PowerEdge server (R_10) with a H200 RAID controller?
To
check the RAID BIOS of an 11th generation Dell EMC
PowerEdge server (e.g. R210, R210 II, R310, R410), when it has a H200
RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP
device attached to the server or a remote console with the server
opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to
open an iDRAC remote console. 

Once
you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need
to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and
everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain
offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision
to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within
the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your
server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait
for the option to enter the RAID configuration menu to appear; then
press Ctrl+R to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings
of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one
below.

The
RAID BIOS configuration menu will now appear. To check the status of
the server’s storage, you should first select the RAID
controller and then select RAID properties. If more than one RAID
controller is configured in your server, you will need to repeat this
process outlined below for every RAID controller. To navigate through
this RAID BIOS, you need to use the arrow keys, the Enter key and the
Esc key, as well as the keys shown at the bottom of the window.
Select the RAID controller and then RAID properties. 

If
your server’s RAID array has already been configured, you will
now be presented with the first RAID array’s (or volumes)
details, a list of drives configured within this array, their
details, their status and the details of the RAID array configured on
the server. If you have more than one RAID array configured on the
server, you can use the keys Alt+N to navigate between the volumes. 

Along
the top of the page, you will be able to see the details of the RAID
array currently selected (press Alt+N to navigate to the next page),
including its current status. 

Below
the RAID array’s details you will be able to see a list of the
physical drives configured within the currently select array (press
Alt+N to navigate to the next page); including the drives’
details and their current statuses.

You
can use the details and statuses shown on the pages described above
to identify whether or not there is currently an error with the
storage of your server, by checking if there are any errors with
either the RAID arrays (or volumes) or the Physical Drives.

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information about the failed
drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians
can identify the drive correctly: 

 

 Slot Number

 

 Drive Type (i.e. Device + Identifier)

 

 Capacity (i.e. Size)

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

Once
you have supplied the above information, our support team will be
happy to help get your drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I check the RAID BIOS of my SuperMicro server with a LSI MegaRAID 9240-4i RAID controller?
To
check the RAID BIOS of a SuperMicro server, when it has a LSI
MegaRAID 9240-4i RAID controller installed, you should first have
either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console
session on the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to
request a KVMoIP session or how to open an IPMI remote console. 

Once
you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need
to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and
everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain
offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision
to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within
the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your
server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait
for the option to enter the LSI MegRAID configuration menu to appear.
Then press Ctrl+H to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS
settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to
the one below.

After
you press Ctrl+H, you will be presented with a list of adapters
configured on the server. You should now enter the first RAID adapter
configured on the server. Most servers will only have one adapter
installed, but if your server has more than one controller, you
should repeat the below process for every adapter. You can navigate
through this menu either using a mouse, or the Tab, Enter, Esc and
arrow keys. 

You
will now be on the WebBIOS page for this RAID controller. On the
right hand side panel of this WebBIOS, within the Logical View, you
will be able to see a list of Virtual Drives (or RAID arrays) and
Physical Drives configured within the controller and their current
status. You can use this screen to identify if any of either the
Virtual Drives or Physical Drives attached to this controller has any
errors. In my example below, you can see that the only Virtual Drive
is degraded and one Physical Drive is Offline. 

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information about the failed
drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians
can identify the drive correctly and replace it: 

 

 Slot Number

 

 Drive Type

 

 Capacity

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive. 

Once
you have supplied the above information our support team will be
happy to help get your drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I check the RAID BIOS of my SuperMicro server with an Adaptec 2405 / 5405 RAID controller?
To
check the RAID BIOS of a SuperMicro server, when it has an Adaptec
RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP
device attached to the server or a remote console opened on the
server. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to
open an IPMI remote console. 

Once
you have either a KVMoIP or a remote console session open, you now
need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the
server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline and
will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also,
the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any
company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects
rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server,
you need to wait for the option to enter the Adaptec RAID
Configuration menu to appear. Then press Ctrl+A to enter it. Please
note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may
look slightly different to the one below. Also, the below uses a 5405
RAID controller; however, the RAID BIOS for a 2405 controller is very
similar, so the steps set out below should also apply to the 2405
card.

You
will now be presented with the RAID controller’s configuration
utility. You should now select Array Configuration Utility. To
navigate through this utility, use the Enter, Esc and arrow keys, as
well as the keys listed at the bottom of the window. 

To
check the current status of the storage within the server, you should
first check the current status of all the RAID arrays configured on
the server. Do this by first selecting Manage Arrays. You will then
be presented with a list of arrays. 

To
check the status of the RAID array, press Enter while it is
highlighted. You will now be presented with the RAID array’s
details, it status, and a list of drives within the array. In my
example below you can see the RAID1 array is currently degraded. You
can also see the second drive in this array (Dev01) is greyed out;
which indicates that it currently has an error. 

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information about the failed
drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians
can identify the drive correctly and replace it: 

 

 Slot Number

 

 Drive Type

 

 Capacity

You
can use this current page to find this information. You can also
supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this
information to help them locate the correct drive.

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also turn on the
Identify Drive function. Turning on the Identify Drive will set the
LED lights on the drive bay to blink, allowing the local technicians
to identify the drive bay with greater ease. Please note, using the
Identify Drive function through this RAID configuration utility will
require the server to remain within the Adaptec Utility menu, to keep
the drive bay blinking. This means that your server will have to
remain offline while the drive bay blinks. To do this, keep pressing
Esc until you reach the options menu, then select Disk Utilities.

It
will now take a while to load the list of drives. You now need to
highlight the drive you wish to set the LEDs to blink and then press
enter. 

Then
select Identify Drive and press Enter. 

The
caddy’s LED for this drive will now start flashing. To stop the
LEDs from flashing, you simply need to press any key. If you have set
the drive bay’s LED to flash, please let the support team know
in the ticket. 

Once
you have supplied the above information our support team will be
happy to help get your drive replaced. 

You
should repeat the above mentioned process, checking every RAID array
configured on this server. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I check the RAID BIOS of my HPE ProLiant G9 server with a HPE Smart Array P440 RAID controller?
To
check the RAID BIOS of an HP ProLiant G9 server (e.g. HP Proliant
DL160 G9), when it has a HPE Smart Array P440 Controller installed,
you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server
or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ
section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iLO remote console.

Once
you have either a KVMoIP or remote console session open, you now need
to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and
everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain
offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision
to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within
the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your
server may have. 

Once
you have rebooted your server, you will need to wait for the option
to enter the System Utilities to appear, and then press F9 to enter
it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your
screen may look slightly different to the one below.

After
the Systems Utilities menu appears, select System Configuration, then
select the Smart Array P440 Controller option, then finally select
the Exit and launch HP Smart Storage Administrator (HPSSA) option.

The
HPE Smart Storage Administrator will now load; this can take a couple
of minutes. Once it has loaded, you can use this menu to check the
current status of the server’s storage. When checking the
status of a server’s storage, you should check the status of
the server’s Arrays and the Physical Drives. 

First,
select the RAID controller of your server within the left hand side
panel. In my example below, you can see that I have two controllers.
One is the on-board, integrated RAID controller - the Dynamic Smart
Array B140i RAID - and the other is a PCI-e RAID controller - the
Smart Array P440. The storage of my server is currently only
utilising the PCI-e RAID controller; which will be the case of most
servers which display both; however, you should check every
controller present for arrays and drives. 

Once
you have clicked onto the RAID controller, press Configure. 

Now press Logical Devices on the left hand side panel. 

You
will now be presented with a list of Arrays configured on this
controller and a list of the drives configured within this array. You
can use this page to identify the current status of your server’s
storage. 

If
there are any errors with either an array or with a drive, there will
be one of two warning symbols next to the device’s symbol.
There are two warning symbols within the HPESSA; the 

symbol represents a critical error which needs urgent attention,
while the 

symbol represents a less crucial error which you should address as
soon as possible. In my example below, you can see that one array and
one drive within this array have errors. 

If
you do encounter an error, you can click on the device and then press
View more Details, to identify what the error is and to see more
details about this device.

The
device details will now appear at the top of the window appears,
while the Status Message appears at the bottom of this window. This
will provide you with more information on the error. 

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information about the failed
drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians
can identify the drive correctly and replace it: 

 

 Capacity (Size)

 

 Drive Type

 

 Drive Model

 

 Drive Serial Number

You
can use the ‘View more details’ page to identify this
information; as demonstrated below. 

If
you wish for a drive to be replaced you can also turn on the Identify
Device function. Turning on the Identify Device will set the LED
lights on the drive bay to blink, allowing the local technicians to
identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, click close on
the ‘View more details’ window and then click Identify
Device while the drive you wish to be swapped is still selected under
the list of devices.

Then
select how long you wish for the drive bay to blink for or when you
wish for it to turn off. We would suggest setting the LED to stop
blinking after 4 hours. Then press OK and then Finish. 

If
you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in
the support ticket. Once you have supplied the above information and
set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help
get your drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

#### How do I check I check the RAID BIOS of my HP ProLiant G7 server with a HP Smart Array P410 RAID controller?
To
check the RAID BIOS of an HP ProLiant G7 server (e.g. HP Proliant
DL360 G7), when it has a HP Smart Array P410 Controller installed,
you should first have either a KVMoIP or a remote console session
with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request
a KVMoIP request or how to open an iLO remote console. 

Once
you have either a KVMoIP or a remote console session open, you now
need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the
server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and
will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also,
the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any
company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects
rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server,
you will need to wait for the option to enter the System Utilities to
appear. Then press F9 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS
settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to
the one below.

You
now need to make sure that Power-On Logo is disabled; as this allow
you to see more options during POST, including the one for entering
the RAID menu. First select Advanced Options. You can use the arrow,
Enter and Esc keys to navigate through the BIOS menu. 

Then
select Advances System ROM Options.

Now
select Power-On Logo and make sure it is set to Disabled. 

Once
you have set the Power-On Logo to disabled, you can now exit the BIOS
menu by pressing Esc multiple times and then pressing F10 to Confirm
Exit Utility. The server will now start to reboot. When the option to
enter the HP Smart Array P410 controller appears, you should now
press F8, to enter the controller’s utility menu.

You
will now be in the main menu for the RAID controller’s utility.
To check the current status of your server’s storage, you
should check each array configured on your server’s status and
the status of each physical drive configured within these arrays. To
do this, first select View Logical Drive. 

You
will now be presented with a list of Logical Drives (or arrays)
configured on the server. You will be able to see their details and
their statuses. In my example below you can see that I have two RAID
Arrays; one with a status of OK and one with a status of Degraded.
Once you have checked the status of the RAID arrays, you should now
check the status of the Physical Drives within these arrays,
especially if there is an error with a RAID array. To do this,
highlight an array and press Enter. 

You
will now be presented with a list of Physical Drives configured
within this array. You will also be able to see their status and
their details. In my example below you can see that one drive has a
status of OK and one drive is degraded.

If
you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced,
you will need to supply the following information about the failed
drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians
can identify the drive correctly and replace it: 

 

 Bay Number

 

 Capacity

 

 Drive Type

You
can use this current page to identify this information, as
demonstrated below. You can also supply a screenshot of this page in
a support ticket. 

Once
you have supplied the above information in a ticket, our support team
will be happy to help get your drive replaced. 

If
you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your
RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a
support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

### Support - I Need Support Due to Hardware Failure or an Offline Product
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/i-need-support-due-to-hardware-failure-or-an-offline-product

#### Some hardware has failed in my dedicated server; what shall I do?
Hardware
components on our dedicated servers are fully managed. This means we
will happily replace any failed component for you, free of charge, if
and when you have identified a failed component.

Hardware
failures can happen and we know how frustrating it can be when they
do. As a result of the impact they can have upon your service, we
will liaise with you to try and select the option of least disruption
to you, to try and get your services back online and running to their
full capacity.

If
you do encounter a piece of faulty hardware and you wish for it to be
replaced, please identify the specific piece of hardware that has
failed and then raise a ticket through your MyServers panel asking
for the failing hardware replaced. A member of our support team will
then be in touch, to lease with you about the replacement of the
faulty hardware. 

When
identifying the failed hardware, we will require you to give us
enough information to locate the specific piece of hardware that has
failed. As an example, if a drive has failed in a server with
multiple drives, we would need information such as the drive’s
serial number and physical bay number, so that we can correctly
identify which drive will need replacing. To aid you in identifying
which specific piece of hardware has failed, we have added advice on
how to do so in our FAQ section. Please look through our FAQ section
for help on this. 

Please
note, if it is not feasible to replace the faulty hardware or if it
is impossible to accurately identify the faulty component, we will
provision you with a different chassis (with the same specifications)
to migrate over to, free of charge. 

If
you are looking to minimise downtime when architecting your solution,
we can help with solutions in order to maximise the uptime and
availability of the service and reduce the time to restore services
in the event of a failure.

If
you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

#### Some hardware has failed in my colocated server; what shall I do?
If
hardware has failed on a collocated server, how and when the hardware
is replaced will be up to you to dictate, within our standard
processes.

There
are two options. The first is to raise an access request ticket, so
that you can come to the site and replace the faulty hardware
yourself, while bringing your own replacement hardware. If your
device is hosted within one of our ‘shared’ colocated
racks, we would need to de-rack the device for you, so that you could
perform this work in one of our build rooms. If you require access to
one of your colocated devices / racks, please raise an access ticket
through your MyServers control panel.

The
second option would be to raise a remote hands request and have one
of our technicians replace the faulty hardware for you. As we do not
manage your hardware this work may be chargeable. If the work is
chargeable, we would discuss this with you and agree on the cost
before any work is carried out. We would also require you to send the
replacement components to our data centre; to use to replace the
faulty hardware. If you would like us to perform a remote hands task
for you, please raise a ticket through your MyServers control panel,
and we will happily discuss this process with you. 

If
you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will
be happy to help.

#### My dedicated server has gone offline; what should I do?
If
you can no longer access your server remotely, we would first suggest
power-cycling your server, effectively turning your server off and on
again. 

Power-cycling
a server can fix some issues that servers encounter and is the first
troubleshooting option we would suggest; however, please be aware
that power cycling a machine that has not been shut down or reset
gracefully can cause files to be lost and/or damaged. As a Managed
Infrastructure Services provider, we are not responsible for any
data-loss and the choice to power-cycle your server must be your own.

If
you wish for your server to be power-cycled, you can raise a
power-cycle request through your MyServers control panel, on the IS
page, under the support section. 

If
a power-cycle does not bring your server back-online, we would then
suggest checking the status of your server through a remote console
(started through the OOB remote management panel) or through a
KVMoIP. If you do not have OOB remote management with your server,
you can raise a KVMoIP request through our MyServers control panel.
You can use the remote console/KVMoIP session to check for the cause
of the server going offline; to check for things such as a crashed
operating system or hardware errors. 

If
you cannot identify why the server has gone offline or if you have
identified an issue with the server you require help with, please
feel free to raise a support ticket through our MyServers control
panel, and a member of team will be happy to help. When raising a
ticket, please confirm all the troubleshooting steps you have already
performed; so we know not to suggest these troubleshooting actions.

Please
also feel free to get in touch if you have any further questions and
we will be happy to help.

### Support - KVMoIP Sessions & Power cycles
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/kvmoip-sessions-power-cycles

#### What is a KVMoIP session?
We
offer our client’s a KVMoIP session (often referred to as a KVM
or virtual KVM) as a way of remotely accessing their servers; in a
way which is independent of their hardware and software. 

Our
KVM devices act as a virtual Keyboard, mouse and monitor. The devices
are attached to the USB and VGA ports of your server, as well as a
switch port on one of our top of the rack switches, and replicate the
access you would have if you were in the Data Centre, with a
keyboard, mouse and monitor attached to the server.

KVMs
are normally used as the first way in which clients can troubleshoot
a server that is inaccessible. They can also be used to install your
own operating system onto a server; or to perform work on a server
which involves the server becoming inaccessible remotely. KVMs can be
used to access an OS, which is not directly remotely accessible
through the operating system, so that it and its configuration can be
troubleshooted by the client. KVMs can also be used to confirm the
current status of a server; to check for any hardware related issues
or errors.

You
can raise a KVMoIP request through your MyServers control panel;
through the IS page, under support. Each client is allocated a
certain amount of free KVMoIP sessions. If you run out of free
sessions, KVMoIP sessions may be chargeable. Please see the section
on requesting KVMoIP sessions for more details on this. 

If
you have any further questions about KVMoIP that is not answered by
our FAQ page, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy
to help.

#### How do I request a KVMoIP session?
A
KVMoIP session can be easily requested through your MyServers
account. 

To
request a KVMoIP sessions, first log in to your account on the
MyServers control panel. Once on your account, click on the My
Servers tab.

Then
click on the IS number of the server you wish to have the KVM
attached to. 

Now
you are on the IS page for the device. Click on Support and then
KVMoIP Request, on the right hand side of the page. 

You
will now be taken to the KVM request page. Here, you will see how
many free KVM sessions you have left, how many other clients are
currently waiting for a KVM, and the estimated time it will take for
the session to be ready for you to access. If you have no free KVM
sessions available, you will be charged a one of fee for this
session. Once you are ready, press Request KVM Session.

The
KVM request will now be sent to the local technicians to action. 

You
will receive an email once the KVM device has been setup and is ready
for you to use. KVMs are normally set-up within half an hour of the
request being made; however, it can sometimes take longer, based on
our technicians work load, how many KVM devices are currently
available at this site and how many other clients are in the queue.
Please wait for the email saying your KVM is activated. Please also
make sure you check your junk folder for this email. You can also
keep an eye on the KVM request from the MyServers IS page. 

If
you have any more questions about our KVMoIP sessions, please look
through our FAQ section for help, or raise a support ticket and a
member of team will be happy to help. 

Please
be aware that we also offer remote management access packages (OOB
access; such as iDRAC, IPMI and iLO) on most of our dedicated
servers. These remote management systems provide you with permanent
remote access, similar to our KVM sessions, which you can use at any
time. It can also be used to monitor the health of your server.
Please get in touch, via a ticket, if you wish to know more.

#### How do I access a KVM device?
Once
 you have requested a KVM session (or we have done this on your
behalf) and the local technicians have set-up the KVM device, you
will receive an email to the email address associated with your
account, which will contain the KVM’s access details. Please
make sure you check your Junk folder for this email. You can also
find the KVM’s access details for the KVM session on the
server’s IS page. 

Please
note that once the KVM has been activated, the standard length of a
KVM session is 4 hours. You now have 4 hours to use the KVM. 

To
access our KVM devices, you will first have to have VNC viewer
downloaded and installed onto your home/work computer. You can find a
link to the latest version of the VNC viewer software at the
following address: http://95.154.206.51/

Open
up the software once you have downloaded and installed VNC viewer.
Now take the IP address for the KVM device, supplied in the email and
on the IS page, and enter it into the search box/IP address box of
VNC viewer and press enter. 

Please
note that the appearance of your version of the VNC viewer may differ
from the version used in the screenshots above and below; however,
the principles outlined in the steps in this FAQ are the same. Also,
both the username and password change and are randomly generate each
time a KVM session is setup, automatically. So the credentials in the
images above and below no longer apply to any of our KVM devices. 

You
now should be presented with a window where you can enter the login
details. Enter the Username and Password from the email into the
window. Then press OK / Enter. 

You
will now be presented with a remote console window. In my example
below, my remote console shows that my server (which has a Windows
Operating System) is sat at the lock screen, as I would expect. 

Please
note that if there is something wrong with your server (such as a
hardware error), you may be presented with BIOS or OS error messages.
If there is a problem with your server that has caused it to
completely crash, the KVM and server may not be responsive. If this
is the case, you may need to raise a power-cycle request.

You
can now use the KVM until the session expires (normally 4 hours after
the session is activated). If you need longer, please get in touch
and we can discuss extending the KVMoIP session for you. Please note,
this may incur a fee.

If
you have any more questions about our KVMoIP sessions, please look
through our FAQ section for help, or raise a support ticket and a
member of team will be happy to help.

#### How do I use one of your KVM devices?
Once
the KVM device has been set-up and once you have logged into the KVM
session using VNC viewer, you are able to use the VNC viewer window
to control the KVM device. Our KVM devices replicate the access you
would have to the server if you were at the server, with a monitor,
keyboard and mouse attached. You can now use the KVM to work on your
server. 

While
clicked onto the KVM’s VNC Viewer window, you can use your
mouse and keyboard to issue commands, like you would on a normal
computer. The only difference is that certain key commands may not
work over KVM (like Ctrl+Alt+Delete), as these affect the computer
you will be using VNC viewer on. When this is the case, you can use
the command buttons on the VNC viewer window to issue these commands.

There
are also some controls at the top of the window. The below table
shows you what these controls do:

 
 
 
 Button

 
 
 What is does

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 Use this button to re-sync your
 computer’s cursor with the cursor on the server/KVM.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 Use this button to calibrate the
 remote console (video, keyboard, etc.).

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 This is the Ctrl+Alt+Delete
 button. Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete on your keyboard will not work
 on the remote console; it will instead affect the system you are
 using the VNC viewer on. Use this button to issue this command to
 the server instead.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 If you press the controls button,
 it brings up a list of some extra controls. You can use these
 controls to change the session’s settings and add Virtual
 Media. 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 Pressing the arrows here will
 switch the KVM user between Shared and Private mode. In shared
 mode, multiple people can access that session, if they know the
 username, password and the IP address of the KVM. In private,
 only the person on the KVM session at the time will have access
 to the KVM.

 
 
 

Please
note that if there is a hardware or software error that has caused
the server to crash, the KVM may not be responsive. You can raise a
power-cycle request in MyServers to reboot the system, in an attempt
to make the KVM and server responsive again. If you believe you need
some hardware replaced or a re-install, please raise a ticket and we
will be happy to help. 

The
KVM session will automatically become un-available after the session
expires; typically after four hours. If you have finished using the
KVM, the user and its credentials will be deleted after the session
expires. If you require more time, you can either raise another KVM
request after the session has ended, or you can raise a ticket on
your MyServers account asking for the window to be extended. Please
note, having a KVM session extended may incur a fee. 

If
you have any more questions about our KVMoIP sessions, please look
through our FAQ section for help, or raise a support ticket and a
member of team will be happy to help.

#### What is a power-cycle?
A
power-cycle involves your device being hard powered off and then
powered back on. 

When
a power-cycle request is raised against a device, one of our
technicians or our automated system will remove the power going to
your server; then, after a short period of time, the power will be
restored to your server. 

Power-cycles
can fix some issues that servers encounter and is the first
troubleshooting option we would suggest if you encounter a problem
with your device.

However,
please be aware that power cycling a machine that has not been shut
down or reset gracefully can cause files to be lost and/or damaged.
As a Managed Infrastructure Services provider, we are not responsible
for any data-loss and the choice to power-cycle your server must be
your own. 

You
can raise a power-cycle request through your MyServers control panel,
under the device’s IS page, under the support section. Please
see the “How can I get my server power-cycled?” section
of the FAQ for more details.

If
your device is a colocated device and there is a specific method for
troubleshooting your server (e.g. do not hold the power button),
please raise a ticket through the control panel, rather than
requesting a power-cycle. 

If
you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will
be happy to help.

#### How can I get my server power-cycled?
You
can raise a power-cycle request through your MyServers control panel.

Once
you have logged in to your account, locate the device’s IS
page. A list of IS numbers can be found under the My Servers tab.

Once
you are on the IS page, click Support and then Power Cycle on the
right hand side of the page. 

What
the screen looks like now will depend on whether or not your device
is hosted within our automated Bare Metal system or not. If it is,
you will be presented with the option to Soft or Hard reboot your
server. A hard reboot will completely remove the power to your server
and then power it back on; while the soft reboot option will attempt
to send a command to the device to reboot without powering off. If
you server has crashed or is not responsive, we would suggest using a
hard reboot. Click on the reboot type you require. If your server is
not in our automated Bare Metal system, you can simply press Request
Power Cycle.

Either
a technician or our automated Bare Metal system will now power-cycle
your machine; by removing the power going to your server; then, after
a short period of time, restoring the power to your server (unless
you requested a soft reboot). Please note that if your server is not
hosted within the automated Bare Metal system, the power-cycle will
completed when the next text becomes available. 

If
your device is a colocated device and there is a specific method for
troubleshooting your server (e.g. do not hold the power button),
please raise a ticket through the control panel, rather than
requesting a power-cycle.

This
can fix some issues that servers encounter and is the first
troubleshooting option we would suggest if your server has encounter
an issue. 

However,
please be aware that power cycling a machine that has not been shut
down or reset gracefully can cause files to be lost and/or damaged.
As a Managed Infrastructure Services provider, we are not responsible
for any data-loss and the choice to power-cycle your server must be
your own.

If
you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch and we will
be happy to help.

#### My Enterprise Cloud Server has encounter a problem; what should I do?
If
your Enterprise Cloud Server has encountered a problem, we would
first suggest stopping and then starting the Virtual Machine, through
our MyServers control panel. 

This
option can be found on the VS page. A list of VS/IS numbers belonging
to your account can be found under the My Servers tab.

Once
you are on the VS page, you will see the current status of the VM
(e.g. Running and Halted) and the option to Stop/Start the VM. If you
have encountered a problem with the VM, you can now press the Stop VM
button, wait a minute or two for the VM to successfully stop, and
then press Start VM to affectively power-cycle the VM. 

Please
note that there is always a risk of data-loss when stopping and
restarting a VM. As a Managed Infrastructure Services provider, we
are not responsible for any data-loss and the choice to start and
stop the virtual machine must be your own.

If
you are still experiencing issues after you have restarted the VM,
please raise a ticket through the MyServers control panel, and a
member of our team will be happy to help. 

If
you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

### Support - Operating System Re-Installs
URL: https://www.rapidswitch.com/faq/operating-system-re-installs

#### Can you re-install my Operating System?
Yes;
if you have encountered an issue with your server’s operating
system and you wish for it to be reinstalled, we can perform this
action for you.

If
the server’s operating system was previously installed by us
and you want the same operating system installed, we can perform the
operating system re-install for a one of fee. Please raise a ticket
and we will be happy to discuss this with you.

Please
be aware that the server will not be available to you for the
duration of the reinstall and the reinstall will lead to total data
loss on the server. Also, we no longer install certain older version
of operating systems (e.g. Windows Server 2008); so, if you do have
one of these legacy operating systems, we may need to install a newer
version of the operating system instead. If this is the case, we will
discuss this with you before proceeding. 

If the server’s operating system was previously installed by us
but you now wish to change to a different operating system (which we
do provide), or if we have not previously installed the operating
system on this server before, we can still certainly perform this
task for you. 

However,
there will be a one of fee for the work and there may be a change in
the monthly cost of the server, depending on what OS you are changing
to and from. If you request for a different operating system to be
installed on your server than before, or if is this the first time we
are installing an OS on this server, we will discuss and agree to the
associated costs with you before taking any actions. Please raise a
ticket and we will be happy to discuss this with you.

If
you have any further questions, please let us know and we will be
happy to help.

#### Can you attach an ISO file to my server?
Yes,
we are able to attach ISO files to your server for you, using a
boot-able USB drive. 

Please
note, depending on the situation and your package, this may be
chargeable work. 

We
would require you to provide us with a link to an ISO file for us to
download, we would then download the file, and attach it to you
server. 

Alternatively,
if you have OOB remote access to your server (e.g. iDRAC), you can
use this to mount an ISO file onto your server without our
intervention. Or you can ask us to install a default image of one of
our supported operating systems onto your server. This would be
chargeable work, however. 

If
you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

#### Can you upgrade existing OS versions?
RapidSwitch does not offer OS upgrades. OS upgrades are managed by the client, due to the unmanaged provider status of RapidSwitch.
 
We can, however, provide you with a KVM to allow you to do this, or attach an ISO you may require along with it providing you supply a direct link to the ISO software.
 
 If you require a reinstall of your OS we can perform this for you at a rate of £30 per reinstall. This method will also wipe all of your existing data, so please ensure you have all the data you require backed-up.