Server Management Guide

Scenarios and Best Practices
Intel
®
Server Boards and Server Platforms Server Management Guide 97
5.6 SDR Update Guideline
5.6.1 What is SDR?
There is Sensor Data Record (SDR) for many devices in the system. These SDR can be viewed as data
files that are used by the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) to determine system configuration
and translate some BMC IPMI messages.
The basic SDR format is defined in the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) V2.0
specification (which can be downloaded from http://www.intel.com/design/servers/ipmi/). Section 43
describes the format of these records.
SDR contain a description of all management devices in system
 Describe number and type of sensors
 Contain initialization information for sensors
 Define sensor thresholds and event generation capabilities
 Contain information on translating sensor readings to real-world values
 Include information about what FRU a sensor is attached to
When one of the devices goes outside of limits defined in the SDR the BMC will add a record in the
System Event Log (SEL) and drive the System Status LED to indicate the appropriate status for that
failure.
Additionally there are SDR created that provide control curves for the system cooling fans.
The records can include the multiple temperatures in the system. There can be a front panel
temperature, temperature for multiple points on the base board, power supplies, DIMM, and so on), and
processor temperature margin sensors.
There are records for the system voltages, processors (presence, thermal trip, and thermal control %),
power supplies (status, AC power input, 12V % of maximum current, temperature, and/or fan speed),
fan presence, fan speed, Hot Swap Backplanes, hard drives, IO Risers, IO Module, Mezzanine
Modules, and General Purpose Graphic Processor Unit (GPGPU). Also various switches are monitored
such as chassis intrusion, front panel power, front panel reset, and front panel NMI.
System events are also monitored and can include an IPMI watchdog (if setup and enabled), System
Even Log being cleared, System Management Interrupt (SMI) timeout, System Event (Platform Event
Filter/PEF Alerts), BMC Watchdog, Voltage Regulator Watchdog, Catastrophic System Error
(CATERR), Processor ERR2 timeout, and DIMM Thermal Trip.
There are also SDR that are created and monitored by the BMC. This could include Power Unit Status,