Intel® Server Board Set SE8500HW4

Server Management

5.1.3System Event Log (SEL)

The BMC allocates 65,536 bytes of non-volatile space for storing system events. Each event record is padded with an additional four bytes of timestamp, resulting in 20 bytes of storage space per record. A total of 3,276 SEL records can be stored in the system. When an attempt is made to add a SEL record after 3,276 records, the BMC fails the request, an out of space completion code is returned and the new event is not added to the SEL. The SEL can be cleared in the system BIOS setup, or by using the SEL viewer utility or ISM application.

5.1.4Rolling BIOS

The Intel® Server Board Set SE8500HW4 Mainboard provides two firmware hubs that can contain two independent BIOS versions. This allows BIOS updates without a system reboot as well as failover to a good BIOS image in the event of BIOS corruption. BMC support for this feature includes the following:

ƒPersistent storage of the currently selected the BIOS image (firmware hub) and the validity of each image, on the IMM

ƒOEM command support for the BIOS to query/change the currently selected the BIOS image (firmware hub)

ƒPhysical control of the currently selected the BIOS image (firmware hub)

5.1.5First Boot with a New IMM

Since the IMM is shared among several Intel server products, a new IMM may not be initially programmed with the Intel® Server Board Set SE8500HW4 SDRs and BMC code. After installing a new IMM, the user is required to load the Intel® Server Board Set SE8500HW4- specific BMC firmware, SDRs and the BIOS during the first system boot.

The IMM module contains a persistent flag indicating the firmware hub that contains the primary the BIOS image. During a BIOS update, the new BIOS image overwrites the inactive (secondary) firmware hub. The IMM flag is updated to reference the inactive firmware hub as the primary BIOS image and, after a reboot, the updated BIOS image will load.

A new IMM is programmed to boot using the BIOS image on firmware hub 0. For this reason, users should always update BMC, SDRs and the BIOS when first installing a module. See Table 10 for an example of rolling BIOS behavior with a new IMM.

Table 10. Example Rolling BIOS Behavior with a New IMM

 

Events

Newest BIOS

Firmware Hub 0

Firmware Hub 1

 

 

 

available from

 

 

 

 

 

support.intel.com

 

 

 

 

Server received

BIOS P02

BIOS P01

BIOS P01

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New IMM installed

BIOS P02

BIOS P01 (primary)

BIOS P01 (secondary)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BMC, SDRs, and BIOS

BIOS P02

BIOS P01 (secondary)

BIOS P02 (primary)

 

 

updated due to new IMM

 

 

 

 

 

installation

 

 

 

 

 

Server is in use for

BIOS P03

BIOS P01 (secondary)

BIOS P02 (primary)

 

 

months …

 

 

 

 

 

BIOS updated because a

BIOS P03

BIOS P03 (primary)

BIOS P02 (secondary)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revision 1.0

 

 

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Intel order number D22893-001