IBM Power Systems S822LC Technical Overview And Introduction page 52

Service processor
The service processor supports the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI 2.0) and
Data Center Management Interface (DCMI 1.5) for system monitoring and management. The
service processor provides the following platform system functions:
Power on/off
Power sequencing
Power fault monitoring
Power reporting
Fan/thermal control
Fault monitoring
VPD inventory collection
Serial over LAN (SOL)
Service Indicator LED management
Code update
Event reporting through System Event Logs (SELs)
All SELs can be retrieved either directly from the service processor or from the host OS
(Linux). The service processor monitors the operation of the firmware during the boot
process.
The firmware code update is supported through the service processor and IPMI interface.
Multiple firmware images exist in the system and the backup copy is used if the primary
image is corrupted and unusable.
Diagnosing
General diagnostic objectives are to detect and identify problems so that they can be resolved
quickly.
Using the extensive network of advanced and complementary error detection logic that is built
directly into hardware, firmware, and operating systems, Power Systems servers can perform
considerable self-diagnosis.
Host Boot IPL
In POWER8, the initialization process during IPL changed. The service processor is no longer
the only instance that initializes and runs the boot process. With POWER8, the service
processor initializes the boot processes, but on the POWER8 processor itself, one part of the
firmware is running and performing the central electrical complex chip initialization. A new
component that is called the PNOR chip stores the Host Boot firmware and the SBE is an
internal part of the POWER8 chip itself and is used to start the chip.
Device drivers
In certain cases, diagnostic tests are preferably performed by operating system-specific
drivers, most notably adapters or I/O devices that are owned directly by a logical partition. In
these cases, the operating system device driver often works with I/O device Licensed Internal
Code to isolate and recover from problems. Potential problems are reported to an operating
system device driver, which logs the error.
General problem determination
Accessing the Advanced System Management GUI interface provides a general overview of
sensor information and possible errors.
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IBM Power Systems S822LC for High Performance Computing