Management Component Transport Protocol (MCTP) is a
protocol designed by the
Distributed Management Task Force
Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit industry standards organization that creates open manageability standards spanning diverse emerging and traditional IT infrastructures including cloud, virtualization, network, s ...
(DMTF) to support communications between different intelligent hardware components that make up a platform management subsystem, providing monitoring and control functions inside a managed computer system. This protocol is independent of the underlying physical
bus properties, as well as the
data link layer
The data link layer, or layer 2, is the second layer of the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking. This layer is the protocol layer that transfers data between nodes on a network segment across the physical layer. The data link layer p ...
messaging used on the bus. The MCTP communication model includes a
message format In telecommunications, a message format is a predetermined or prescribed spatial or time-sequential arrangement of the parts of a message that is recorded in or on a data
Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that con ...
, transport description, message exchange patterns, and operational
endpoint characteristics.
MCTP allows the transmission of a wide variety of management commands over alternative types of links. Simplified nature of the protocol and reduced
encapsulation overheads make MCTP suitable for implementation and processing within system firmware and integrated
baseboard management controllers (BMCs), on a wide range of platforms including servers, workstations and embedded devices.
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
's network interface controller
A network interface controller (NIC, also known as a network interface card, network adapter, LAN adapter and physical network interface) is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network.
Early network interface ...
s (NICs) include support for MCTP over PCI Express and SMBus since 2012, allowing these NICs to be controlled and monitored at a low level over MCTP. Exposed configuration and monitoring operations include power management, control of Address Resolution Protocol
The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a communication protocol for discovering the link layer address, such as a MAC address, associated with a internet layer address, typically an IPv4 address. The protocol, part of the Internet protocol s ...
(ARP) offloading, configuration of the out-of-band management
In systems management, out-of-band management (OOB; also lights-out management or LOM) is a process for accessing and managing devices and infrastructure at remote locations through a separate management plane from the production network. OOB all ...
traffic (which can be separated from the Ethernet traffic visible to the operating system by using RMCP ports filtering, a separate MAC address
A MAC address (short for medium access control address or media access control address) is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface controller (NIC) for use as a network address in communications within a network segment. This use i ...
, or through VLAN
A virtual local area network (VLAN) is any broadcast domain that is partitioned and isolated in a computer network at the data link layer ( OSI layer 2).IEEE 802.1Q-2011, ''1.4 VLAN aims and benefits'' In this context, virtual refers to a ...
tagging), and handling of NIC's interrupts and error conditions.[
DMTF also defines the Management Controller Host Interface (MCHI), which includes a set of discovery options and registration commands, allowing ]UEFI
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI, as an acronym) is a Specification (technical standard), specification for the firmware Software architecture, architecture of a computing platform. When a computer booting, is powered on, the UEFI ...
, BIOS
In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is a type of firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization d ...
or the operating system to communicate with a MCTP-enabled BMC. Discovery options include PCI/PCI Express class codes as part of the PCI configuration space, MCHI Description Table and control methods defined and exported via ACPI
Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) is an open standard that operating systems can use to discover and configure computer hardware components, to perform power management (e.g. putting unused hardware components to sleep), auto con ...
, and data structures exported via SMBIOS.
See also
* Out-of-band management
In systems management, out-of-band management (OOB; also lights-out management or LOM) is a process for accessing and managing devices and infrastructure at remote locations through a separate management plane from the production network. OOB all ...
* Intelligent Platform Management Interface
The Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is a set of Interface (computing), computer interface specifications for an autonomous computer subsystem that provides management and monitoring capabilities independently of the host system's C ...
(IPMI)
* Intel Active Management Technology
Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) is hardware and firmware for remote out-of-band management of select business computers, running on the Intel Management Engine, a microprocessor subsystem not exposed to the user, intended for monitor ...
(AMT)
* NC-SI
NC-SI, abbreviated from network controller sideband interface, is an electrical interface and protocol defined by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF). The NC-SI enables the connection of a baseboard management controller (BMC) to one or ...
(Network Controller Sideband Interface)
* Platform Management Components Intercommunication
Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit industry standards organization that creates open manageability standards spanning diverse emerging and traditional IT infrastructures including cloud, virtualization, network, s ...
(PMCI)
* Intel Management Engine
The Intel Management Engine (ME), also known as the Intel Manageability Engine, is an autonomous subsystem that has been incorporated in virtually all of Intel's processor chipsets since 2008. It is located in the Platform Controller Hub of m ...
(ME)
References
External links
Platform Management Components Intercommunication (PMCI)
a set of standards defined by the Distributed Management Task Force
Computer hardware standards
DMTF standards
Out-of-band management
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