Intelligent Platform Management Interface

The Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is a set of standardized interfaces to computer hardware and firmware that is used to maintain the computer and manage. It is also used to generate automatic reports about errors. The IPMI standard is a development of the hardware manufacturers Intel, Hewlett -Packard, NEC, and Dell.

Versions

The IPMI specification lies in the following versions:

• IPMI v1.0 ( presented on 16 September 1998 )
• IPMI v1.5 ( presented on 27 February 2001 )
• IPMI v2.0 ( presented February 18, 2004 )

The current version of the IPMI specification is IPMI v2.0 Errata Revision 4

Operation

IPMI can communicate via a serial connection or a local area network with a remote computer. In addition, error messages can be sent via SNMP.

The ports operate independently of an operating system and allow the administration even without an installed or running operating system and even when the computer (if it is standby power is available). IPMI works but also during operation and in this case offers more options for maintenance than a conventional running in the operating system management software. For example, the switch or button can be enabled or disabled for the switching on and off and the reset or the computer is turned on and off. Using Serial Over LAN ( SOL) is possible, among others, can also access the BIOS. A watchdog is provided.

The heart of IPMI is called the baseboard management controller, can be connected to the controller for specific purposes such as monitoring of special hardware. This connection is made via the Intelligent Platform Management Bus ( IPMB ) as above.

On current server motherboards baseboard management controller is already integrated.