The Baseboard Management Controller

The Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) is a remote management device that is built into the motherboard of the FAS2000 series storage systems. It provides remote platform management capabilities, including remote access, monitoring, troubleshooting, logging, and alerting features.

The BMC firmware supports Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) version 2.0, which by default supports Serial Over LAN (SOL) for console redirection.

The BMC stays operational regardless of the operating state of the storage system. Both the BMC and its dedicated Ethernet NIC use a standby voltage for high availability. The BMC is available as long as the storage system has input power to at least one of the storage system’s power supplies.

The BMC monitors environmental sensors, including sensors for the temperature of the system's non-volatile memory (NVMEM) battery, motherboard, and CPU, and for the system's voltage level. When the BMC detects that an environmental sensor has reached a critically low or critically high state, it generates AutoSupport messages and shuts down the storage system. The data generated by the sensors can be used as a reference point to help you troubleshoot storage system issues. For example, it can help a remote system administrator determine if a system was shut down due to an extreme temperature change in the system.

The BMC also monitors non-environmental sensors for the status of the BIOS, power, CPU, and serial-attached SCSI (SAS) disks. These sensors are recorded by the BMC to assist support personnel.

The following table lists the names and the description of the sensors that BMC monitors:

The following diagram illustrates how you can access the storage system and the BMC.

Figure 1. Accessing the storage system and the BMC

If you have a data center configuration where management traffic and data traffic are on separate networks, you can configure the BMC on the management network.

• What the BMC does
  The BMC command line interface (CLI) commands enable you to remotely access and administer the storage system and diagnose error conditions. Also, the BMC extends AutoSupport capabilities by sending alerts and notifications through an AutoSupport message.
• Ways to configure the BMC
  Before using the BMC, you must configure it for your storage system and network. You can configure the BMC when setting up a new storage system with BMC already installed or after setting up a new storage system with BMC already installed.
• How to manage the BMC with Data ONTAP
  You can manage the BMC from the storage system by using the Data ONTAP bmc commands and by changing the AutoSupport settings that are used by the BMC.
• How to log in to the BMC
  You can use "root", "naroot", or "Administrator" to log into the BMC. These users have access to all commands available on the BMC. The password for all these three account names is the same as the Data ONTAP root password. You cannot add additional users to the BMC.
• How to manage the storage system with the BMC
  The BMC enables you to manage the storage system by using the BMC CLI. The BMC CLI has the same features available in the Data ONTAP CLI.
• How to display information about the storage system and the BMC
  The BMC provides several ways to display information about the storage system and the BMC itself. You can display real-time information using the commands in admin or advanced mode, or you can display information stored in the BMC's System Event Log (SEL) or Console Log.
• Comparison of Data ONTAP and BMC commands
  Whether you use a Data ONTAP command or a BMC command to manage the BMC depends on the task you want to perform.
• How to troubleshoot the storage system with the BMC
  When you encounter a problem with the storage system, you can use the BMC to display information about the problem, dump a system core, and reboot the storage system, even if the storage system's firmware is corrupted.
• How to update the BMC firmware
  The BMC firmware is bundled with the Data ONTAP distribution, which is stored on the CompactFlash card. The update_bmc macro automatically updates the BMC firmware from the Data ONTAP image on the CompactFlash card. The BMC firmware is also available for download.
• How to troubleshoot BMC problems
  BMC problems might result from communication problems, configuration problems, connection problems, BMC hardware failures, or BMC firmware update problems.