Dell Deployment Install & Configuration Resources

Symantec & Dell have collaborated to provide you with the following helpful resources to make it easy to provision and manage your Dell PowerEdge servers.

QuickStart Tools

Before proceeding with the download and installation of the Deployment Solution for Dell Servers product, we recommend that you first view the quickstart videos provided on our Symantec Connect community website.

Product Documentation

Please read the Deployment Solution for Dell Servers Release Notes BEFORE installing. There are many technical caveats that could apply to your environment.

*Note - Product documentation for Deployment Solution for Dell Servers 3.1 SP2 has not changed due to the lack of additional features being added - only support for the latest Dell PowerEdge Server hardware listed on this page. The documentation listed below is current.

Product Downloads

Select "Deployment Solution for Dell Servers 3.1 SP2" from the drop-down menu. Download options and details are presented on the download page.

Dell Resources

This version of the DTK is fully integrated with Deployment Solution for Dell Servers 3.1 SP2 and is the enabling component for bare-metal hardware provisioning. Currently, the DTK supports the WinPE and Linux pre-boot automation environments and supports 6th-11th generation Dell PowerEdge Server hardware consisting of the following models: 1800, 1850, 1855, 1950, 1955, 2900, 2950, 2970, 6800, 6850, 6950, 800, 650, 2600, 2650, 6600, 6650, 4600, 700, 750, M600, M605, M610, M710, M805, M905, 1900, 830, 840, 850, 860, 2800, 2850, 1650, 1655MC, 1600SC, 1750, R200, R300, R610, R710, R805, R900, R905, T105, T300, T605, T610, and SC1435.

Support

Please note that the Deployment Solution for Dell Servers product includes unlimited knowledgebase and forum support. Phone support is NOT included, but can be purchased either through incident packs or a support contract. For more information about support offerings, click link below.

Knowledge Forums

The Symantec Connect website is an IT user community of product enthusiasts and empowers users to collaborate, learn, and share ideas about the Symantec family of service-oriented management solutions. The link below takes you to the Dell section of the website where users can share best practices, tips and tricks, utilities, ask a question, etc. surrounding the use of Dell branded products. The forum provides answers to most technical questions through help from the community as well as the technical Product Management teams. Post a question or search existing posts and knowledgebase articles.

White Papers

The following white papers can add value to your Deployment Solution for Dell Servers implementation by explaining how to take advantage of the solution's key features.

Videos

This silent video demonstrates the native capability of Deployment Solution for Dell Servers to recover a blade server in the event of a hardware failure. Options include the ability to re-deploy a computer based on the job history of that particular failed blade, run a predefined job from the Deployment Solution Console, wait for user interaction prompting the IT administrator to drag and drop a job(s) on the newly managed server from the Console, and finally, ignore the change, once again prompting the IT administrator to take action when it's convenient for them. (2m 31s) (11.6 MB)

This silent video provides an in-depth look at what transpires behind the scenes when a Dell PowerEdge 1950 Server is deployed from bare metal using Deployment Solution for Dell Servers. The video provides callouts to identify the configuration processes that take place both in a WinPE pre-boot and post-OS environment during the provisioning process. Some of the tasks include configuring the BIOS, BMC, DRAC and RAID components from bare metal; installing the 32 MB Dell Utility Partition (diagnostic partition); deploying Windows Server 2003 in the form of a hardware-independent image for Dell servers; remotely deploying Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA), and finally, deploying a Dell Update Package (DUP) to update the BIOS as a post-OS task to demonstrate the ability to patch hardware components during the provisioning process - all completely unattended! (9m 03s) (11.5 MB)

This silent video demonstrates how VMware's ESX Server can be deployed using Deployment Solution’s pre-defined jobs. The video shows how a target server can be pre-provisioned in the Deployment Solution Console by specifying its hostname, IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS information. The Deployment Solution job is then dragged and dropped to the target server. The rest of the video demonstrates what transpires on the target system as ESX Server is being remotely deployed - all completely unattended! (2m 43s) (127.7 MB)

This narrated video demonstrates how Deployment Solution for Dell Servers can remotely deploy SQL Server 2005 using supplied pre-defined jobs. The video shows how to import the pre-defined jobs into the Deployment Solution Console, a breakdown of how the jobs work so they can be customized to fit a customer's environment, and a demonstration of what transpires on the target server as SQL Server 2005 is being remotely deployed - all completely unattended! (5m 49s) (64.5 MB)

This silent video demonstrates how Deployment Solution can remotely deploy Oracle 10g using Deployment Solution's pre-defined jobs. The video shows how the jobs work so they can be customized to fit a customer's environment and a demonstration of what transpires on the target server as Oracle 10g is being remotely deployed - all completely unattended! *Note: The video is a bit distorted during the Linux operating system demonstration because it's being captured from a video capture device. (7m 5s) (14.7 MB)

This silent video demonstrates the simplicity of adding the Deployment Solution for Dell Servers add-on into HP's Rapid Deployment Pack console. The Dell Deployment add-on integrates the Dell Tool Kit (DTK) and provides pre-defined Dell management jobs to assist with the remote bare metal deployment and management of Dell PowerEdge Servers. This helps an IT Admin manage a heterogeneous environment of both HP and Dell hardware WITHOUT having to switch or replace environments.

Customer Success Stories

Dell IT

How can you do a better job of managing server provisioning? Altiris solutions allow you to automate the process of deploying thousands of systems faster and easier. This podcast features Christopher Casias, senior systems engineer in the Core Engineering team at Dell. You will hear about best practices learned at Dell and thousands of its customers on how to save time and money, while at the same time increasing opportunities for your IT staff to work on more mission-critical projects.