The IPMI is an abbreviation of Intelligent Platform Management Interface. This industrial
standard is supported by INTEL, Hewlett-Packard, NEC, and Dell. Following this specification, we
are able to monitor the system health of the server computer, such as fan speed, system and CPU
temperature, voltage regulation, watchdog timer, power supply working condition.., etc. If an
abnormal status was detected, it will be logged into the non-volatile memory device, preserved for
later examination.
The key component behind the IPMI-based system is BMC, Baseboard Management Controller.
It is the intelligence of the IPMI. BMC is like a sub-system resides on the system main board. It can
keep monitoring the system status even at power off status. If necessary, it is possible for the BMC to
reboot the system. BMC is connected to the various sensors via IPMB (Intelligent Platform
Management Bus). IPMB is essentially a subset of I
2
C bus. System software could communicate with
the BMC via KCS interface (Keyboard Controller Style). The detailed information of KCS will be
explained in the following sections.
In this project, the implementation meets the specification of IPMI v2.0. This document defines
the specification of BMC implementation, especially some system-specific features.
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