iDRAC9 is built off the features and functionality of iDRAC8, which is embedded in the previous 13th generation PowerEdge servers. iDRAC9 is designed to make system administrators more productive, allowing them to deploy, monitor, update, and manage PowerEdge servers, both locally and remotely, either from GUI or scripting. The iDRAC controller is a piece of hardware integrated on the motherboard of the server, and as well as other BMC solutions, has its own processor, memory, network connection, and access to the system bus. The iDRAC provides remote access to the system console (keyboard and screen), allowing the system BIOS to be accessed over the Internet when the server is rebooted.

Key features of iDRAC include power management, virtual media access, and remote console capabilities. These features give administrators the ability to configure a machine as if they were sitting in front of the local console. Previous server generations and versions of iDRAC were loaded with a lot of options, and now, iDRAC9 has new features that are available only on the 14th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge servers. iDRAC9 has a brand new processor, which Dell claims to be four times faster than the previous generations, allowing all the GUI pages to change and load faster, as well as all the backend processes. Another feature is Connection View, that helps knowing where the iDRAC, as well as PCIe devices, are connected at the top rack switch, so you could know where are all cables connected without going into the server room. And System Lockdown mode, it is a secure mode that when is enabled, the system doesn’t allow any configuration changes whether wanted or unwanted into the system. Types of licensesĮach generation of iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller comes with a basic level of functionality.

Idrac8 enterprise license