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Intel® Server Board SE7320SP2 & Intel Server Board SE7525GP2 TPS Platform Management
Revision 2.0
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access. The message-based interface isolates software from the particular hardware
implementation.
System Management Software discovers the platform’s sensor capabilities by reading the
Sensor Data Records from a Sensor Data Record Repository managed by the management
controller. Sensor Data Records provide a list of the sensors, their characteristics, location,
type, and associated Sensor Number, for sensors in a particular system. The Sensor Data
Records also hold default threshold values (if the sensor has threshold based events), factors
for converting a sensor reading into the appropriate units (mV, rpm, degrees Celsius, etc.), and
information on the types of events that a sensor can generate.
Sensor Data Records also provide information on where Field Replaceable Unit (FRU)
information is located, and information to link sensors with the entity and/or FRU they’re
associated with.
Information in the SDRs is also used for configuring and restoring sensor thresholds and event
generation whenever the system powers up or is reset. This is accomplished via a process
called the ‘initialization agent’. The mBMC reads the SDRs and based on bit settings, writes the
threshold data. Then it enables event generation for the various sensors it monitors and in
management controllers on the IPMB for systems based on the Standard or Advanced
management models.
System Management Software uses the data contained in the Sensor Data Record information
to locate sensors in order to poll them, interpret, and present their data readings, adjust
thresholds, interpret SEL entries, and alter event generation settings.
5.1.4 Private Management Busses
A ‘Private Management Bus’ is a single-master I
2
C bus that is controlled by the management
controller. Access to any of the devices on the Private Management Bus is accomplished
indirectly via commands to the management controller via the IPMB or system interfaces.
Private Management busses are a common mechanism used for accessing temperature
sensors, system processor information, and other server board monitoring devices that are
located in various locations in the system.
The devices on the Private Management Bus are isolated from traffic on the IPMB. Since
devices such as temperature sensors are polled by the management controller, this gets the
polling traffic off the ‘public’ IPMB bus. This also increases the reliability of access to the
information, since issues with IPMB bus arbitration and message retries are avoided.
Furthermore, placing managed I
2
C devices on the private management bus frees up the I
2
C
addresses that those devices would have used up on the IPMB.
5.1.5 Mini-Baseboard Management Controller
At the heart of platform management is a management controller. To support the Onboard
Platform Instrumentation management model, the Intel Server Board SE7320SP2 and Intel
Server Board SE7525GP2 incorporate the National Semiconductor* PC87431 Mini-BMC
(mBMC) on board.
The mBMC management controller is a microcontroller that provides the intelligence at the heart
of the Intelligent Platform Management architecture. The primary purpose of the management
controller is to autonomously monitor system ‘sensors’ for system platform management events,
such as over-temperature, out-of-range voltages, etc., and log their occurrence in the non-
volatile System Event Log (SEL). This includes events such as over-temperature and over-