OpenManage Mobile Brings the Power of Augmented Reality to PowerEdge MX
Download PDFMon, 16 Jan 2023 17:14:53 -0000
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Summary
Dell EMC OpenManage Mobile, a unique Android or iOS app, helps IT Administrators track data center issues and respond rapidly to unexpected events. Anytime. Anywhere. OpenManage Mobile (OMM) is a powerful tool inside the data center also, perhaps especially with regard to the PowerEdge MX chassis. With OMM’s Augmented Reality capabilities, IT Admins can simply point the camera of their mobile device at the front of the MX chassis, tap the screen, and get a visual health overlay of the MX platform. Tapping the screen again drills down into lower-level health messages. Many systems management actions can similarly be taken directly from the mobile device, using OMM. These capabilities greatly boost the efficiency of IT Admins, helping them to save time, gain better understanding of their data center, and reduce potential for error and downtime.
Introduction
Dell EMC OpenManage Mobile (OMM) is a mobile application for monitoring and managing Dell EMC PowerEdge servers, the PowerEdge MX7000 chassis and other datacenter equipment, from Android and iOS mobile devices. OpenManage Mobile enables IT Administrators to perform a subset of server configuration, monitoring, troubleshooting, and remediation tasks from anywhere. Thus, whether the IT Admin is in the data center or away from it, he or she can monitor and manage their infrastructure from their mobile device. They can also receive proactive notifications from OpenManage Enterprise consoles and take appropriate actions, as needed.
Quick Sync 2
When the IT Admin is in the data center, OpenManage Mobile can communicate directly with a PowerEdge server or an MX chassis with Quick Sync 2, an optional wireless module embedded in the server or MX chassis. The Quick Sync 2 module eliminates the need for mobile device to be on management network. The IT Admin uses the OpenManage Mobile app on their mobile device and taps the Quick Sync button on the hardware to connect with the app via Bluetooth. The Admin can now access information about their PowerEdge server or PowerEdge MX platform from the app. Users can browse the screens to view inventory, view health status, or even do basic configuration and take action, e.g. change the IP address, change the password, or change key BIOS settings.
Remote management – in the data center
Even though in this scenario these actions are being performed in the data center (rather than remotely, away from the data center), this does not minimize the benefits of flexibility and efficiency brought to the data center itself by OpenManage Mobile: The IT Admin is no longer tied to a console on a desk - instead, he or she can roam the data center at will. And, when roaming the data center, he or she is no longer dragging a crash cart along with them – all the functionality of the crash cart is right in the IT Admin’s hand, on their smart device.
Augmented Reality
With a PowerEdge MX7000 chassis, OMM utilizes Augmented Reality to make monitoring even simpler. The IT Admin simply views the chassis through their mobile device camera in the OMM app and is able to see the chassis image with health overlays on top of individual components.
This capability is activated in just a few simple steps:
- In the OpenManage Mobile app with Quick Sync activated, focus your camera on an MX chassis.
- The OMM app identifies the MX chassis.
- The OMM app places health overlays on top of every component in the MX image, as shown in Figure 1 below.
- Clicking on any health overlay provides more details.
Figure 1: OpenManage Mobile with Augmented Reality provides visual overlays to give IT Admins at-a-glance health status of their PowerEdge MX platform, right on the camera of their mobile device.
A brief, 1-minute video, Manage your PowerEdge MX with Augmented Reality https://youtu.be/TSiNRmX2H60, shows this technology in action.
How does Augmented Reality on PowerEdge MX work?
OpenManage Mobile uses Augmented Reality (AR) to provide an overview of health updates by looking at the MX chassis through the mobile device camera. By calculating the plane of the chassis’ front face and identifying key shapes that make up important components, such as the fan or power button, OpenManage Mobile creates a 3D boundary of where the chassis exists in the real world and overlays a blueprint of all the chassis parts and components on top of the boundary.
How does Quick Sync feed into AR?
In order to draw meaningful data onto the detected chassis, OpenManage Mobile reads details about the chassis health status from the Quick Sync 2 module on the chassis. Quick Sync 2 utilizes Bluetooth Low Energy to wirelessly host its health and component data, allowing OpenManage Mobile to connect and read the server. All Quick Sync 2 communications are encrypted with a secure handshake like what is available in HTTPS connections. If OpenManage Mobile has connected to the chassis at least once before working with augmented reality, the broadcast address and chassis certificate will quickly and automatically match and validate the Quick Sync 2 connection.
In Conclusion
Dell EMC OpenManage Mobile (OMM) liberates IT Admins by allowing them to perform many management functions without having to be physically present at a console in the data center. With OMM, IT Admins don’t need a crash cart anymore; the OMM app on a mobile device is the crash cart. With OMM’s powerful Augmented Reality capabilities, IT Admins can learn the health status of their PowerEdge MX platforms within seconds, by simply aiming the camera of their mobile device at the MX chassis and tapping the screen. This not only saves time and greatly simplifies the day of the IT Admin, it also boosts efficiency, productivity, and reduces the potential for error and downtime.
Notes:
- View the brief video, Manage your PowerEdge MX with Augmented Reality, available at https://youtu.be/TSiNRmX2H60
- Read the white paper Understanding Augmented Reality Monitoring in OpenManage Mobile
- Find still more information at the OpenManage Mobile website, https://www.delltechnologies.com/en- us/solutions/openmanage/mobile.htm
- Download OpenManage Mobile for iOS or Android