Day: May 26, 2020

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Telemetry Streaming with Dell EMC PowerEdge 14G servers, Python, InfluxDB and Grafana

In early 2020 a new feature was added to the PowerEdge 14G servers called “Telemetry Streaming’. This feature makes it possible to send a continuous stream of telemetry containing in-depth information about the state of the server and its various components including, but not limited to, the following:

  • CPU, Memory and Fans
  • FPGA and GPU
  • PCIe slots
  • Airflow inside server
  • Power usage information

Since the level and depth of information collected with this method FAR exceeds what has been previously possible using IPMI or other tools, this feature can help in several areas. For example:

  • Power ML algorithms for Anomaly Detection
  • Provide detailed inventory, usage and status information
  • Assist with security and auditing

Blog posts in this series

Introductory video and demo

Links to useful documents / scripts published elsewhere:

Implementation of the DMTF Redfish API on Dell EMC PowerEdge Servers: http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20442330

Python scripts on Github: https://github.com/dell/iDRAC-Telemetry-Scripting

Introduction to Telemetry Streaming (highly recommended practical guide!): https://downloads.dell.com/Manuals/Common/dell-emc-idrac9-telemetry-streaming-basics.pdf

Analyst report on the Telemetry Streaming feature: https://www.dellemc.com/resources/en-us/asset/analyst-reports/products/servers/tolly-dell-emc-idrac9-v4-telemetry-streaming.pdf

Feature overview whitepaper: https://www.dellemc.com/resources/en-us/asset/white-papers/products/software/direct-from-development-datacenter-telemetry.pdf

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Enable Telemetry Streaming with RACADM, Scripts and/or Redfish and Postman

This post aim to describe three methods with which to enable the Telemetry Streaming feature in the iDRAC9 on Dell EMC 14G PowerEdge servers:

  • Enable using RACADM / SSH
  • Enable using provided GitHub scripts
  • Enable using Redfish and Postman

Enabling using RACADM and Redfish are selective methods while using the GitHub script enables ALL reports in one go. Personally I’d recommend being selective to start with until it is clear what data is required / desired.

Note that enabling everything will result in just shy of 3M data points / 24h / server

Blog posts in this series:

License

Get a 30 day trial of the iDRAC9 Datacenter license here: https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln309292/idrac-cmc-openmanage-enterprise-openmanage-integration-with-servicenow-and-dpat-trial-licenses?lang=en

Enable using RACADM / SSH

Enable using GitHub script

Enable using Redfish and Postman

URI and payload for Postman

URI:
https://IDRAC_IP/redfish/v1/Managers/iDRAC.Embedded.1/Attributes

Auth: Basic (root / calvin by default)

Methods: 
GET for viewing current settings
PATCH for changing settings

Payload for enabling streaming telemetry (indentation doesn't work properly in Wordpress, sorry):
{
"Attributes": {
"Telemetry.1.EnableTelemetry": "Enabled"
}
}

Payload for enabling / disabling reports (indentation doesn't work properly in Wordpress, sorry)
{
"Attributes": {
"TelemetryCPUSensor.1.EnableTelemetry": "Enabled",
"TelemetryPowerStatistics.1.EnableTelemetry": "Disabled",
"TelemetrySensor.1.EnableTelemetry": "Enabled"
}
}