Dell introduces the Unified Server Controller (USC) as a part of the latest PowerEdge server embedded management capability that facilitates IT administrators to perform various operations without the use of any media. USC is a one stop shop that enables operating system deployment with integrated driver installations, firmware updates, hardware configuration, and diagnostics. USC is available even when the operating system is not functional or installed which allows added flexibility in provisioning the system and customizing it to suit customer requirements.

USC is an embedded software application that runs in the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) environment. UEFI is a pre‐boot environment that is integrated into the system BIOS. For more information on UEFI, visit www.uefi.org. USC is an embedded extension of the iDRAC6 firmware and can only be invoked when iDRAC6 is functional.

This paper discusses the security features that were carefully considered and implemented as a part of the USC solution. The first section discusses the development process that was used to engineer security into the solution. The remaining sections deal with the various security‐related configuration and authentication options available in USC.