Dell joins Java jumpers with updated server admin tool

It's a small change but it speaks volumes about what sysadmins want: Dell has added HTML 5 support to its integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) server management tool.

iDRAC ships with every PowerEdge server and lets server admins manage their boxen without having to install agents for tasks like firmware updates and configuration adjustments.

Admins can access iDRAC through their browsers and, until now, Dell has used ActiveX and Java as part of the web client to enhance its functionality. Until now. As Blades Made Simple spotted, iDRAC v emerged on Thursday and “Added support for HTML5 virtual console and virtual media.”

Java and ActiveX are still there, but adding HTML 5 says a lot about where Dell thinks server admins are going, namely as far as they can from plugins and the unwelcome insecurity they bring.

Dell's not alone with its decision to avoid plug-ins if possible : VMware has flushed Flash in new vSphere clients and Google has ordered that advertisers dump Flash. Security types advise removing Flash from everything, if at all possible.

It's not hard to see why that advice has been issued: Java is so buggy that the United States has forced Oracle to make a public apology over its own use of the software. The less said about Flash's never-ending security problems, the better. ®