Data center administrators and IT managers want the ability to securely manage and trouble-shoot platforms and devices remotely, which requires that additional software, hardware and firmware be interfaced with storage adapters and other server components. Microchip Technology Inc today announced it has added this capability to its Adaptec Smart Storage adapters, which now seamlessly interoperate with MegaRAC® SP-X remote monitoring and diagnostics firmware from American Megatrends (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 Center 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 customization to support additional features.”
Interoperability between Adaptec Smart Storage adapters and MegaRAC SP-X manageability firmware powering embedded base management controllers (BMCs) reduces data center operational costs by enabling remote management capabilities including platform status monitoring and problem notifications, diagnosis and recovery. Out-of-band management enables the adapters to be reached directly over a network connection if the server is powered off or unresponsive and improves security by eliminating the need for proprietary software or host tools on either the server or storage system. AMI has leveraged a combination of the widely adopted management component transport protocol (MCTP) protocol and Microchip’s StorageCore application programming interface (API) to add basic support for the Adaptec Smart Storage adapters in its MegaRAC 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.”