Data Sheet

System Manageability—Ethernet Controller I210
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10.0 System Manageability
Network management is an important requirement in today's networked computer environment.
Software-based management applications provide the ability to administer systems while the operating
system is functioning in a normal power state (not in a pre-boot state or powered-down state). The
Intel® Out of Band Management fill the management void that exists when the operating system is not
running or fully functional. This is accomplished by providing mechanisms by which manageability
network traffic can be routed to and from a Management Controller (MC).
This chapter describes the supported management interfaces and hardware configurations for platform
system management. It describes the interfaces to an external MC, the partitioning of platform
manageability among system components, and the functionality provided by in each platform
configuration.
10.1 Pass-Through (PT) Functionality
Pass-Through (PT) is the term used when referring to the process of sending and receiving Ethernet
traffic over the sideband interface. The I210 has the ability to route Ethernet traffic to the host
operating system as well as the ability to send Ethernet traffic over the sideband interface to an
external MC. See Figure 10-1.
Figure 10-1. Sideband Interface
MC
NIC
Host
Host
Interface
Sideband
Interface
Port 3
Port 0
LAN
Interface