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R410 platform update
Hi,
Before installing any OS on new R410 system I decided to perform a complete update of embedded firmware (BIOS, NIC, PERC, iDRAC, LifeCycle Controller, etc). I've found a number of different technologies (Server Update Utility, System Build and Update Utility, Unified Server Configurator). I'm newbie in Dell servers so I may failed to choose a proper way, but as far as I understood Dell now recommends Unified Server Configurator (USC) for firmware update in pre-OS environment (am I right?).
So I ran USC-LCE and executed "Platform Update" option. I did it subsequently with two update sources as follows:
1) USB-stick with "Dell Server Update DVD" (om653_suu_a00.iso) image
2) ftp.dell.com (as anonymous user)
Results:
1) A lot of firmware was updated, e.g. BIOS 1.4.8 --> 1.8.2, LifeCycle Controller 1.4.0.445 --> 1.5.1.57, etc.
2) Only Dell OS Drivers Pack was updated 6.3.0.23 --> 6.5.3
Next I visited support.dell.com, "Drivers & Downloads" for R410 and found the following updates:
- recommended BIOS update ver.1.9.0 (PER410-010900c.exe),
- urgent LifeCycle Controller update ver. 1.5.2.7, A00 (Lifecycle-Controller_Application_6JF90_LN32_1.5.2.7_A00.BIN),
- etc
Question 1. Why these updates (urgent and recommended) were not installed from ftp.dell.com via USC-LCE "Platform Update"? Is there some delay between appearing them on support.dell.com and ftp.dell.com? (though someone would expect minimal delay for urgent updates!)
Question 2. I need unified and convinient procedure to keep firmware up to date during my server's lifetime. What whould you recommend?
Best wishes,
Evgeny
DELL-Chris H
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May 17th, 2012 06:00
Evgeny,
The USC was the correct choice for Pre-OS. With the disks you listed the Build and Update Utility (BUU) is used for the OS install itself, it will load the raid drivers and prompt you to assist in the install. The Server Update Utility(SUU) is what you would use to update from within the OS.
The reason that Support.Dell versions were more recent is due to the release intervals for the SUU versions are not as frequent as the update releases. So the version you used was released before the newer updates.
The SUU will be what you will use to update the server for its lifetime, you will just need to use the most recent version at the time of the updating.
Let me know how it goes.