There are lots of technologies and products to help network managers maximize their server’s uptime, but these usually have a high purchase and/or operational cost. In order to offer a common management standard, the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) was created.
IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) is a bit of technology that can save you a few hundred to over a thousand dollars in hardware used to remotely administer your server. So exactly what can IPMI do for you and your dedicated server? With IPMI you can

• View server chassis and motherboard sensor output remotely, such as status, intrusion detection, monitor system health and manage the system
• Remotely power on, power off, reboot the server and flash the identification light.
• Ability to set up a console on a serial port and redirect that console over a network port, which gives you the ability to view the BIOS, bootloader, bootup and shutdown procedures and console output should the machine hang or lock up, just as you would if you were interacting with the machine locally.
• Remotely manage your server from a many simple devices such as a PDA.

IPMI works independently of the operating system (OS) even if the monitored system is not powered on. The IPMI is made up of a main controller called the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) and other satellite controllers. The BMC is basically a primitive computer that is always powered on and able to interact with the server with or without the OS. Essentially, IPMI will save you from having to buy a remote power control unit to restart the server and an IP KVM (Keyboard Video Monitor) to console and administer the server.

IPMI is available on Singlehop’s latest line of Xeon Servers. The exact motherboard models that have IPMI are the X7DVL-E and X7DVL-I models

So, when you need more hands on control over your server and want to manage it as if you were standing right in front of it, consider upgrading to a server with IPMI built into it.