IPMI Overview,

Progress and
Implementation
Tom Slaight
Server Management Architect
Enterprise Server Group
Intel Corporation

John Graf
Server Management Architect
Hewlett-Packard Company

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 Agenda
 Introduction & Overview
 Architecture & Implementation
 What’s New for IPMI v1.0
 Summary & Call to Action

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 Agenda
 Introduction & Overview
 Architecture & Implementation
 What’s New for IPMI v1.0
 Summary & Call to Action

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 IPMI Initiative
Intelligent Platform Management Interface
 IPMI v0.9 announced at Spring ‘98 Intel
Developer Forum
Made available for industry review
 Promoters:
Intel, Hewlett-Packard, NEC, and Dell
Owners of the specification, consolidated
industry review input

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 Initiative Status
developer.intel.com/design/servers/ipmi

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 IPMI Initiative
v1.0 is Ready to Go

 Adopters
Sign royalty-free Adopter’s agreement for
implementing the IPMI v1.0 specification
Details on IPMI Web Site

Ready for Adopters!

http://developer.intel.com/design/servers/ipmi
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 Initiative Status
Adopter News!
IPMI Adopters* - 9/16/98
 Acer Inc.  Reliance Computer Corp.
 American Megatrends Inc.  Seanix
 Bull S.A.  Siemens Nixdorf
 InterWorks Computer Informations systeme AG
Products  Serano Systems Corp.
 Ipex ITG  Silicon Design Resources
 Mitsubishi Electronics  Texas Micro Corp.
PC Division
 Toshiba Corp.
 Olivetti Worldwide
 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
Computer Corp.

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* Third-party marks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
 IPMI Origins
Server Focus

Keep it Running!
RAS Features Focus
 Reliability
 Availability
 Serviceability
Server Environment
 Remote administrator
 Expensive hardware
 High cost for downtime and repair
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 Server Environment
More extensive monitoring, control,
and automatic recovery features
Need for ‘Always Accessible’
management
Complex system topologies
Multipleinternal boards, external
peripheral chassis, modular ‘rack mount’
systems
Multi-OS support
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 The IPMI Challenge
Today’s solutions stacks work -

S/W S/W

S/W S/W S/W

S/W
But not across platforms

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 IPMI Strategy
Specify the interface

Intelligent • Defines a standardized,

Platform abstracted, message-based
Management interface to intelligent platform
Interface management hardware
• Defines standardized records for
describing platform
management devices and their
characteristics

Gateway to Server-class RAS Features

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 IPMI Strategy
Where it fits...
Management S/W
STANDARD I/F
Management ‘In-band’
(e.g. RPC, SNMP)
Applications Remote
Access
STANDARD I/F
Standards

Service Provider (e.g. DMI-MI, CIM)

SP Interface STANDARD I/F

(e.g. DMI-CI, WMI)
Instrumentation Code
IPMI I/F Code

IPMI H/W I/F

IPMI
IPMI
Platform Mgmt. Controller

Complements existing management standards

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 The IPMI Solution
Common hardware
interfaces and abstraction

S/W
S/W IPMI

S/W S/W S/W

Enable cross-platform
S/W
management
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 IPMI Benefits
System

OEM

Software

Hardware

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 IPMI Benefits
System

Provides the foundation for

Intelligent Platform Management
 Autonomous access, monitoring, logging, and
control features that function independently
from the system processors, software, and OS
Provides scalable support for entry to high-
end systems
Supports multi-chassis and modular
configurations

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 IPMI Benefits
OEM

Supports OEM differentiation

 Codes, events, and sensor types reserved for
OEM use.

Supports chassis feature integration

without baseboard modifications
Provides a common platform mgmt.
configuration interface
 no need to touch BIOS FLASH
 no need for platform-specific utilities

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 IPMI Benefits
Software

Speeds instrumentation software porting

 Makes platform management features ‘self-descriptive’ (Plug
‘N Play). Software automatically configures to platform
management hardware

Isolates mgmt. S/W from H/W changes

Enables cross-platform software
 Standardized platform hardware interface enables mgmt.
software and driver to work on multiple platforms.

Can be used with any mgmt. S/W stack

 Designed for simple mapping to WMI/CIM

Supports localization
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 IPMI Benefits
Hardware

Preserves ability to innovate hardware

Provides standardized interfaces for
extending management features
 IPMB - for intra-chassis extensions and standardized Emergency
Management Card Access
 ICMB - for inter-chassis extensions

Facilitates ‘out-of-band’ secondary access

 Message based interface supports bridging to secondary
management interfaces - NIC, RS-232, etc.

Uses ‘off-the-shelf’ components

Standardizes the interface,
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not the implementation

 Agenda
Introduction & Overview
 Architecture & Implementation
 What’s New for IPMI v1.0
 Summary & Call to Action

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 IPMI Architecture
Key Elements
 IPMI Messaging Command Sets
Abstraction
 Sensor Data Records
 Event Messages
 Baseboard Mgmt. Controller
Hardware  System Interface
 Non-volatile Storage
 Intelligent Platform Mgmt. Bus
 Intelligent Chassis Mgmt. Bus

Software  An example: HP TopTools

 An example: Intel Server Control

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 IPMI Abstraction
Messaging & Command Sets

 All
IPMI operations are accomplished by
sending messages to the management
controllers
Standardized commands defined in the IPMI
specification
All messages use a Request / Response Protocol

 Facilitates
delivery over multiple transports:
system interface, IPMB, ICMB, etc.

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 IPMI Abstraction
Messaging & Command Sets

IPMI Commands grouped by functionality

Supports modular firmware development
– Sensor and Event commands
– Application commands for controller specific
functionality
– Chassis commands for chassis control & status
– Storage commands for non-volatile storage access
– Bridge commands
– Firmware Transfer commands
– OEM commands

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 IPMI Abstraction
SDRs

Sensor  Describe the population of sensors

 Location, ID, and access method
Data  Type (temp, voltage, processor, etc.), unit of
Records measurement (volts, amps, bytes/sec, etc.), reading
type (digital/discrete/analog) and threshold support
 Guide software in presenting sensor
information
 normal reading ranges, sensor accuracy and tolerance
 sensor id string
 Identify the entity and/or FRU associated
with each sensor
 Direct the sensor initialization process
 Initialization of Event Generation, Thresholds,
Hysterisis, and/or Event Scanning

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Key to Plug ‘N Play Management
 IPMI Abstraction
Event Messages

Event  Standardized content - Event

Messages Messages Encapsulate Key Event
Info:
Sensor Type, Event Type, Event
Transition, & Event Generator

 Combine with SDR info for richer

event analysis
Allowapplication to identify Entity
and FRU associated with event
Sensor short ID String
etc.
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 IPMI H/W Elements
 Baseboard Mgmt. Controller
 System Interface
 Non-volatile Storage

Baseboard

Monitoring Baseboard - System Event Log

& control Mgmt. - SDR Repository
circuitry Controller - Baseboard FRU Info

System Interface

System Bus

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 IPMI H/W Elements
BMC

Baseboard  Management Micro-controller

Management provides the Intelligence for
Controller IPMI:
 Autonomous monitoring and logging
 Interface to IPMI Storage
 Receives and logs event messages
 System interface to IPMB / I2C
 System Watchdog Timer
 Optional power control functions.

 Plus OEM ‘value added’ mgmt.

features
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 IPMI H/W Elements
System Interface

3 styles of I/O Mapped interface:

Keyboard  Classic ‘8742’ Interface
Controller  Available built-in to micros
Style

Server  Simple 3 I/O port, byte based interface

Management  Implementable using FPGA or discrete
Interface logic
Chip

Block  Simple 3 I/O port, block based interface

NEW
Transfer  Implementable using FPGA or discrete
logic
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 IPMI H/W Elements
Non-volatile Storage

System  Centralized non-volatile

Event storage for time-stamped
Log Event Messages
 Compact 16-byte Event Records
include provision for OEM event types
and fields
 Message format tied to Sensor
representation and access

SDR Repository  Centralized NV-storage for

Sensor Data Records

FRU Devices  Distributed non-volatile

storage for FRU Information
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 IPMI H/W Elements
 IPMB - Intelligent Platform Management Bus
 Private Management Busses
Front Panel
FRU SEEPROM

Aux. IPMB RAID Backplane

Baseboard IPMB
Chassis
Mgmt.
SEL, SDR, FRU Controller
Monitoring Baseboard
& control Mgmt.
circuitry Controller Private Mgmt. Bus
Chassis
Sensors
System Interface
FRU SEEPROM FRU SEEPROM
System Bus
Memory Card

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IPMI Messages
 IPMI H/W Elements
IPMB

Intelligent  Standardized bus and protocol

Platform for extending management
control, monitoring, and event
Management
delivery within the chassis.
Bus
 Provides integration point for
chassis mgmt. features
 Offers standardized connection
for ‘emergency management’
cards
 Multi-master I2C-based bus
 Simple request/response protocol
 Uses IPMI Command sets
 Supports non-IPMI devices
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 IPMI H/W Elements
Private Management Busses
 I2C-based, single master busses accessed
via management controller
 Used primarily for IPMI FRU SEEPROMs
 Available for ‘value added’ I2C devices - outside IPMI
context
 Shareable with ‘hidden’ I2C devices owned by the
management controller

 Accessed via Master Write-Read I2C command

 Other I2C busses may be present - but these aren’t IPMI
‘Private Busses’ unless command access is provided

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 IPMI Software
Example: HP TopTools

HP TopTools*
Web-based management application for
HP’s NetServers, Kayak workstations, and
Vectra desktop clients*
Data exposed to Java applications
through a combination of DMI and SNMP
NetServer agents have standardized on
IPMI for hardware event log, sensors, and
OS watchdog
* Third-party marks and brands are the property of their respective owners.

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 IPMI Software
Example: Intel Server Control

Intel Server Control

IPMI-based instrumentation software for
Intel’s server board sets
Automatically integrates additional
chassis sensors:
– fans, temperatures, voltages, chassis
intrusion, and power supplies
Also uses non-IPMI interfaces, such as
SM BIOS

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 IPMI Specifications IPMI
Tie it all together...

 IPMI - Intelligent Platform Management

Interface
 BMC and satellite management controller functions
 Command set specifications
 Sensor Data Record and Event Log data formats

 IPMB - Intelligent Platform Management Bus

Protocol
 Transportprotocol, timing, electrical specifications, and
connectors for the IPMB

 Plus supporting specifications...

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 IPMI Specifications IPMI
v1.0 supporting documentation

 FRU Inventory Format specification

 Comprises
product, board, chassis, power supply, and
OEM FRU information

 IPMB Address allocation

the allocation of I2C addresses for devices that
 specifies
connect to the IPMB

 Platform Event Trap Format Specification

 specifies
a common format for asynchronous SNMPv1
traps generated by platform events

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http://developer.intel.com/design/servers/ipmi
 Development Support IPMI

 Developer information
IPMI Implementer’s Guide
IPMI FAQ
Development test tools

 Hardware development aids

I2C Bus interfaces, monitors, & s/w:
– Micro Computer Control Corporation*
– Calibre UK Ltd*

 More to come…
* Third-party marks and brands are the property of their respective owners.

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 Agenda
Introduction & Overview
Architecture & Implementation
 What’s New for IPMI v1.0
 Summary & Call to Action

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 What’s New in IPMI v1.0
Highlights

 Block Transfer interface

 System Interface interrupts
 Deassertion event status
 Improved command consistency
 Optional POH (power on hour)
Counter

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 What’s New in IPMI v1.0
Highlights

 Improved
identification of
Management Controllers
Manufacturer ID based on IANA
Enterprise ID
Optional controller GUID

 Modal SDR Repository support

Supports incorporation SDRs in FLASH

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 What’s New in IPMI v1.0
Highlights

New FRU Record Types

Power Supply Information
– input voltage ranges, wattage, input current,
fan/predictive-fail support, etc.
DC Output
– power delivery capabilities of individual PS outputs
Power Consumption
– DC loading records that match DC Output records
Management Access Record
– stores alternate access paths for peripheral and
systems

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 What’s New in IPMI v1.0
 Entity Association records
 Standardized Watchdog Timer
 Assignable sensor types
 New sensor & event types

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 Entity Association Records
 Identifies relationship between physical
and/or logical entities
 Single bit defines entity as logical or
physical entity. e.g. processor or processor
group.
 Links to FRU information
 Supports multiple mappings
– physical - to - physical, logical - to - physical,
logical - to - logical, nested

 Can be used to populate CIM associations

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 Entity Association
Simple Entity - to - FRU Association

presence sensor for memory module

Sensor FRU
Record Locator
Record
presence
sensor memory
module 1 FRU
device
Entity ID
memory
FRU address
module 1

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 Entity Association Records
Example 1

voltage sensor for processor pair

Sensor Entity
Record Association
Record
voltage
sensor processor
group 1
Entity ID
processor processor 1
group 1 processor 2

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 Entity Association Records
Example 2
power unit redundancy sensor
FRU Locator
FRU Locator
Sensor Entity FRU Locator
Record Association power supply 3
power supply 2
Sensor Type Record power supply 1
redundancy power unit FRU
sensor 1 device

Entity ID power supply 1 FRU address

power unit
power supply 2
1
power supply 3

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 Watchdog Timer
 Specified to generate selectable actions on
timeout:
 Reset
 Power Cycle
 Power Off
 Interrupt: NMI, SMI, or IRQ
 Maintains identity of timer use
 BIOS, FRB/ASR, OS, OEM
 Automatically logs timeout action and use
 Provides common platform mgmt. access
for Emergency Mgmt. Cards
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 Assignable Sensor Types
 Supports
the creation of generic
management controllers
 Sensor Type assigned at initialization
 Works with discrete and threshold-based
‘analog’ sensors
 Supports mix of Pre-defined and Generic
sensors in system
 Leaves SDR Repository and Event
Logging functions decoupled

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 Assignable Sensor Types
+5 voltage
BMC init Generic
Initialization Controller
Agent Init Agent 1
IPMB
assigns
Sensor Type Event +5 voltage
event msg.
Rcvr. analog
sensor 12
SDR
Repository Later
SEL event msg.
controller 1 Controller 1, carries
Event sensor 12 valuable
sensor 12
+5 voltage standalone
+5 voltage over content
critical threshold
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 New Sensor & Event Types
 Security status
Physical Security
– extension of chassis intrusion includes:
 drive bay & I/O bay intrusion
 LAN Leash and unauthorized dock/undock
Platform Security Violation Attempt
– pre-boot & out-of-band password violation

 Slot / Connector
– interlock, fault, presence, and power status
for ‘hot-plug’ slot support
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 New Sensor & Event Types
 System ACPI Power State
– for out-of-band reporting of ACPI state

 Platform Alert
– for platform generated alerts, e.g. LAN
alerts and telephone pages

 Entity Presence Sensor

– for auto-configuration support

 Plus:
– LAN, Monitor ASIC, Boot & Pre-boot
Events, Boot and OS-Load Errors

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 Agenda
Introduction & Overview
Architecture & Implementation
What’s New for IPMI v1.0
 Summary & Call to Action

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 Summary
 IPMI provides the foundation for
Intelligent Platform Management
Provides‘Plug N Play’ platform management
Preserves differentiation
Implemented with off-the-shelf components

 IPMI v1.0 is ready to go

 Stay tuned ... more to come!

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 Call to Action
 Get the specs
 Become an IPMI 1.0 Adopter
 DeployIPMI v1.0 in your server
products

developer.intel.com/design/servers/ipmi

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