I am currently running four servers, and I think the R620 is pretty much beyond any future updates. My process has been to bump them to the last BIOS rev, then flash the PERC controller to IT mode, then I can start loading the operating system. So that’s at least four different flash keys to go through (and stupid me, I didn’t even write down the specific until setting up this last new machine).

I don’t expect to ever have to touch any of these items again in their usable lifetime, but I do want to keep some basic hardware checks in place. So like if there’s anything I could shut down that is actively looking for updates, I could nix that. Checking PCI cards for bootable devices when the system has 8 internal bays I’m making use of? Yeah that’s a waste of time. The problem is we have limited control over what checks can be disabled for our specific needs, and it’s not always easy to decipher the mean of those options. I never would have thought it would be a good idea to disable my SATA controller, until I noticed a line at boot saying no AHCI devices found.

Speaking of iDRAC… I’ve never used this feature before, but my understanding is that using this is the same as doing it directly on the console – if you make any changes then the server is forced to reboot. Is that correct? Or is there a way to save the new settings but hold off on applying them until the next intentional reboot? Like I would love to get the settings on all of my machines identical now that I’ve somewhat figured out what I need to do, but I don’t want to reboot them until the next good window (and then I’d rather reboot ALL of them together instead of messing with each one at a time). I’m just curious if any of this is possible or if there’s really no advantage except remote management?