In various computing systems, computing nodes are equipped with a dedicated management controller that communicates with a control server over the network for the purpose of remote monitoring and control. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2008/0086580, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a system and method for managing a baseboard management controller (BMC). The system comprises at least one BMC, at least one primary node board connecting to the at least one BMC via a bus, wherein the bus is a differential bus, and the at least one BMC and the at least one primary node board connect to the differential bus in bus topology, respectively.
As another example, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0195704, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes certain aspects that are directed to a baseboard management controller (BMC). The BMC includes a processor and a memory having firmware. The firmware includes a master management instance and a plurality of assisting management instances. When the firmware is executed at the processor, the master management instance is configured to manage a chassis of a computer system, and each of the assisting management instances is configured to manage at least one health or performance related aspect a respective different computer node of a plurality of computer nodes of the computer system.
As yet another example, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2014/0344431, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a baseboard management system suitable for use in a high-density server system. The baseboard management system comprises a plurality of baseboard management controller (BMC) nodes, respectively located on the servers, and a main BMC coupled to a network and to the BMC nodes through a communication link for executing management software. Each BMC node is connected with a corresponding host processor and with server board peripherals individually on a corresponding server. The main BMC in cooperation with the BMC nodes is used to manage the servers remotely.