Chapter 34. Baseboard Management

The Previous Chapter

The previous chapter provided a detailed description of the Subnet Administrator (SA). Specifically, it covered:

• The purpose of the SA.

• The location of the SA.

• Requester access authorization.

• The SA's methods and attributes.

• The definition of a Record Identifier (RID).

• SubnAdmGet() operation.

• SubnAdmSet() operation.

• The definition of a table.

• SubnAdmConfig() operation.

• Database queries using SubnAdmGetTable().

• Fetching the entire database.

• The reliable multi-packet transaction protocol.

• Additional reference information.

This Chapter

This chapter provides an overview of Baseboard Management (BM) and a detailed description of the BM MADs exchanged between the BM and the Baseboard Management Agents (BMAs) within IBA devices. It does not, however, provide a detailed description of all issues related to BM (e.g., hot-install, hot-removal, etc.), nor does it provide a detailed description of the IB-ML bus. These subjects may be covered in a future edition of this book. Specifically, this chapter covers:

• The roles of the other managers.

• The BM reaches behind the IBA front-end.

• A basic definition of a Chassis and a Module.

• The chassis baseboard management elements.

• Passively managed chassis.

• Module BM elements.

• Non-module IBA devices.

• BM MAD format.

• BM methods.

• BM attributes.

• The BM sending a command to the MME.

• The CME sending a command to the BM.

• BM-related Traps.

The Next Chapter

The next chapter provides a detailed description of the Performance Manager (PM), the Performance Management Agent (PMA), and the PM-related methods and attributes. Specifically, it covers:

• The role of Performance Management (PM).

• The required features.

• The optional features.

• PM MAD format.

• PM methods.

• Mandatory PM attributes.

• Optional PM attributes.