Simplifying development of out-of-band remote storage management solutions

Data centre administrators and IT managers need the ability to securely manage and troubleshoot platforms and devices remotely, which needs additional software, hardware and firmware to be interfaced with storage adapters and other server components. Microchip Technology has announced it has added this ability to its Adaptec Smart Storage adapters, which now seamlessly interoperate with MegaRAC SP-X remote monitoring and diagnostics firmware from AMI and are supported in its MegaRAC solution development framework.

“Our Adaptec Smart Storage adapters are now easily combined with AMI’s widely adopted MegaRAC SP-X remote storage management firmware solutions that enable server component monitoring, auto-discovery of system issues and other diagnostics from anywhere in the world,” said Pete Hazen, vice president of Microchip’s Data Centre Solutions business unit. “Support for our adapters in the MegaRAC development framework speeds time to market for solutions that provide baseline remote management functionality and allows for easy customisation to support additional features.”

Interoperability between Adaptec Smart Storage adapters and MegaRAC SP-X manageability firmware powering embedded BMCs decreases data centre operational expenses by facilitating remote management abilities incorporating platform status monitoring and problem notifications, diagnosis and recovery. Out-of-band management allows the adapters to be reached directly over a network connection if the server is unresponsive or powered off and improves security by removing the requirement for proprietary software or host tools on both the server or storage system. AMI has employed a mixture of the widely adopted MCTP protocol and the company's StorageCore API to add basic support for the adapters in its development framework’s Storage Adapter management tool.

“Combining Microchip’s Adaptec Smart Storage adapters with MegaRAC SP-X BMC management firmware greatly simplifies the development of remote secure storage management solutions,” said Stephen Bignault, director of business development with AMI. “We are proud to have worked closely with Microchip to add support for its adapters in our MegaRAC development framework and will deliver the required code packages, tools and development expertise to our mutual valued customers, enabling them to speed TTM and enhance their platform management capabilities.”