Silicon Graphics Altix XE320, User Manual

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Appendix B
B. IPMI 2.0 Management Utility
This section describes the baseboard management controller (BMC) intelligent platform
management interface (IPMI) 2.0 management utility. It provides basic overview information for
the application that supports remote access (KVM-over-LAN).
IPMI defines the protocols used for interfacing with the BMC on the node board. The BMC links
to a main processor and other onboard elements using a serial bus.
The BMC monitors onboard instrumentation such as temperature sensors, power status, voltages
and fan speed, and provides remote power control capabilities to reboot and/or reset the server. It
also includes remote access to the BIOS configuration and operating system console information
via serial-over-LAN (SOL) or embedded KVM capabilities. Because the controller is a separate
processor, the monitoring and control functions work regardless of CPU operation or system
power-on status.
An administrator accesses the BMC by using an IPMI-compliant management application loaded
on a PC or via a web interface on a management appliance that includes IPMI management and
KVM. The IPMI protocol leverages an out-of-band network (typically dedicated for server
monitoring and management), which provides a a secure path for mission-critical applications
when regular in-band connectivity is lost or is unresponsive. IPMI messages follow the same
format whether they are received through an operating system or are sent and received
out-of-band.