Life cycle management (LCM) is a priority for every IT operations team. It ensures that systems maintain a sound security posture, run at peak performance and availability, and benefit from newly released features and functionality. However, LCM is often neglected due to manual processes that are time consuming and prone to human error. Dell Technologies and Microsoft remove the stress associated with applying critical updates to HCI infrastructure by automating the process. Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center makes the update process efficient, repeatable, and predicable.

This white paper quantifies the profound impact that this automation has on a Dell EMC HCI Solutions for Microsoft Windows Server environment. In the Dell Technologies labs, we used two different approaches to update component firmware and Windows Server 2019 operating system drivers (referred to as hardware updates). In the first test, we applied updates by using a fully automated, cluster-aware approach that was enabled by Dell EMC OpenManage Integration. In the second test, we performed updates by using a manual, node-based approach enabled by the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) on each AX node.

This paper details the testing methodology that we followed, including assumptions, procedural steps, task durations, and conclusions.