November 1st, 2009 
Kiwi Si 
How many of your HP Proliant servers do you re-commission as virtualization hosts or have running that have outdated firmware? With the wide-spread adoption of virtualization there is more reason than ever to keep your server’s firmware updated to ensure that the hardware has updates that could provide possible enhanced virtualization compatibility or performance.
There are a couple of methods of updating the firmware of your HP Proliant server and its components (eg: array controllers, disk drives, etc) but one of the easiest, if you have easy physical access to the servers, is by downloading the HP Firmware Maintenance CD, burning it off and then booting your server from it. Once booted the Smart Update Manager (SUM) will determine what, if any, firmware updates are required and gives you the option to install them.
The latest firmware maintenance CD version at the time of writing this post was v8.60 which can be downloaded from here. Always check the HP server drivers and support section of the HP support website for the latest version.
The HP Smart Update Manager can also be started from the HP SmartStart CD, pointed to a Proliant Support Pack (PSP) and used to update the firmware (where possible) to remote Proliant servers. See HP’s support document here for more details.
Below: Main splash screen
Below: HP Smart Update Manager detects current hardware firmware revision levels
Below: Once HP Smart Update Manager has detected your current hardware firmware revision levels it then presents you with the option to update any out-of-date components
Result = Happy server and peace of mind. 
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My name is Simon Seagrave and I am a London (UK) based Technical Architect. 
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kiwi_Si: New TechHead Post: http://tinyurl.com/yj8tegd – HP Proliant Server Firmware Update CD…
Unfortunatly for the ML110 / ML115 Home Lab users these are notsupported by the Firmware Maintenance CD.
… For a detailed listing of the supported servers, please visit: Firmware Maintenance CD Server Support Guide:
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/c-products/servers/management/smartstart/FWServerSupportGuide8.60.pdf
How do you Guys update these servers (Bios, Firmware etc)
I installed W2k3 Server on a dedicated HDD which i plug in just for Updates and remove it, when done.
anyone knows if the folowing procedure (described in Release Notes of FwMaintCD works (if I place ML110 Software in the \compaq\swpackages directory on the USB-Stick, even if ML110 is not supported by FwMaintCD itself)???
“The HP USB Key Utility is available and can be used to copy your SmartStart CD version 7.6x or later and Firmware Maintenance CD version 7.6x or later on your portable USB key storage device.
Supplemental updates for ProLiant servers and options without firmware on the Firmware Maintenance CD can be done by using the HP Smart Update Manager, which is found on the Firmware Maintenance CD.
* Place the Firmware Maintenance CD on a USB key using the USB Key Creator Utility.
* Place the desired firmware to be updated in the directory, \compaq\swpackages on the USB key.
* Update the firmware in the usual manner.
* Also, in offline mode, you can use the Add Supplemental feature.”
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Also worth mentioning is if you follow the ESX4i tutorial on making an embedded installation whe you try to use the usb key for anything else you have to use the older ‘HP USB flash key utility ‘ to reformat your usb key back to it’s orignal raw size (not to be confused with the HP USB key utility mentioned above) as the vmware installation creates a few volumes including a prmary partition with is 3.96mb.
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link to older HP USB drive utility link
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=US&swItem=MTX-UNITY-I23839
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