Intel® Server Board S5500WB TPS Platform Management Features
Revision 1.3
Intel order number E53971-004
39
5. Platform Management Features
This section explains BIOS and firmware (FW) requirements that drive specific hardware
implementations of the platform. To a large extent, this is background information.
5.1 BIOS Feature Overview
The Intel
®
Server Board S5500WB product uses the AMI Aptio v3.x code base.
5.1.1 EFI Support
The platform BIOS is compiled to support the 64-bit EFI environment, natively. This allows
operating systems that are EFI-aware to take advantage of the EFI-boot process in a native 64-
bit environment. It is expected this will reduce the time required to boot the platform to those
operating systems. Additionally, any utilities that make use of the EFI environment provided by
the platform BIOS need to support either the native 64-bit environment or make use of the EFI
byte code (EBC). Of course, to maintain compatibility with legacy operating environments, a
legacy boot option is provided.
5.1.2 Intel
®
Rapid Boot Toolkit
The BIOS supports the Intel
®
Rapid Boot Toolkit on this platform. The toolkit allows users to
develop payloads that may co-exist with the platform BIOS in the Flash component attached to
the south bridge. The BIOS supports boots to the user-defined payload when this mechanism is
enabled. To enable a variety of payloads, a larger Flash component is required to maintain both
the platform BIOS and a useful payload. An 8 MB Flash should be sufficient to support a
payload of approximately 5 MB. A significant part of this payload is the 4.5 MB used by the
Intel
®
Rapid Boot Toolkit.
5.1.3 BIOS Recovery
The platform BIOS supports a BIOS Recovery Mode Jumper. The BIOS samples this jumper
during POST through a GPIO and, if set, defaults to a recovery mode of operation that allows
restoration of the BIOS Flash to a full operational state.
The platform BIOS supports a Reset BIOS Configuration Jumper. The BIOS samples this
jumper during POST through a GPIO and, if set, resets its configuration information stored in
Flash memory.
5.2 BMC Feature Overview
The server management subsystem consists of multiple components including several
interconnected microcontrollers. The subsystem monitors platform sensors (temperatures,
voltages, fans, hard drives, and so forth); implements platform acoustics, power, and thermal
management policies; provides an intelligent LCD front-panel; and provides facilities for remote
and local management.
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