During a scheduled maintenance window, a systems administrator attempted to apply a UEFI firmware update to a 1U rack server. Part-way through the flash, an unexpected power outage occurred. When power is restored, POST reports:
"Current System ROM is corrupt … now booting redundant System ROM."
The OS boot volume is still healthy, and business services need to come back online as quickly as possible. Which of the following actions should the administrator perform NEXT to return the server to its approved firmware baseline while keeping downtime to a minimum?
Clear the CMOS settings with the maintenance switch, then reinstall the operating system from backup.
Boot from the backup ROM image and re-flash the vendor-approved firmware from the ROM-based setup utility.
Replace the system board to obtain a new, factory-programmed ROM chip.
Disconnect all production drives, boot to a rescue ISO, and perform a low-level format before reinstalling firmware.
Modern rack servers store the system firmware in two separate banks. If a flash process is interrupted and the primary image becomes unreadable, the platform automatically starts from the backup (redundant) ROM so that the server can still boot. The fastest, vendor-recommended recovery step is to allow the system to finish booting from this backup image and then re-flash the current, approved firmware package. Doing so restores a good copy to the primary bank without replacing hardware or wiping configuration data.
Clearing CMOS or reinstalling the operating system does nothing to repair the corrupted firmware image. Replacing the system board is unnecessary because the backup ROM is working. Removing drives and low-level formatting would only extend the outage and risk data loss.
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What is a UEFI firmware update, and why is it important?
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What is the purpose of having a backup or redundant System ROM in servers?
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How does clearing CMOS differ from re-flashing the firmware?