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I'm searching for a composite solution to have the same features of an IPMI controller on commodity hardware independently from arch/model and without excessive device dependencies.

Essentially the problem can be divided in 2 parts:

1- remote control of basic input/output (can be solved with a small, compact, pure over IP KVM spider) please suggest products, companies, solutions about your experiences.

2- precise and forced of power remote control. - Remote powerup can be done by wake on lan in some cases, - force off need a ups control, - for acpi force off (10 sec pressing of power switch) it's necessary an "always powered and available device controlled by ip", that bypass poweron to simulate to press it. - a complete solution can be an "always powered and available device controlled by ip", that bypass poweron to simulate to press it. and a bypass to input power cord, before power supply. simply a double bypass device.

please suggest products, companies, solutions about your experiences.

Thanks to all.

dorvan
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    Product recommendations are, as general rule, not [on-topic](http://serverfault.com/help/on-topic). The Google term for your second question is a switched/managed PDU, a smart power distribution unit that allows you remotely "yank the power cord" and plug it back in, which combined with a BIOS setting of start on return of AC power is a poor man's form of out-of-band management – HBruijn Jul 10 '14 at 22:27
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    Don't buy a server without out-of-band management. Just don't. You don't want to get into this situation to begin with. IPMI is just a baseline; things like ILO, DRAC, etc., are generally built on top of it. – Michael Hampton Jul 10 '14 at 23:42
  • @MichaelHampton true, about server hardware. i'm speaking about Commodity Hardware. Thanks. but it is not related. – dorvan Jul 11 '14 at 15:36
  • @HBruijn Thanks for suggestion, any idea to simulate acpi force off? – dorvan Jul 11 '14 at 15:37

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I'd suggest just buying better servers. You want this functionality built into the hardware platform, not as an add-on...

Yes, this could be done with switched PDUs (e.g. APC 8941), IP KVMs (i.e. Raritan rackmount or Lantronix Spider)... the higher-end IP KVMs can also perform virtual media functionality via USB dongle.

I've had to manage an environment with more than 1,000 servers and portable IP KVM switches. It sucked. As add-ons, these things are never smooth.

Your cheapest solution could be serial console servers, coupled with switched PDUs and meticulous documentation. The benefit of the serial in this case would be that the per-machine cost is low (a modtap) and you can leverage Cat 5e cabling runs.

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ewwhite
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  • re: serial consoles - There's similar functionality in Windows via the Emergency Management Services feature: http://serverfault.com/questions/554298/windows-serial-console – Evan Anderson Jul 10 '14 at 22:48
  • @EvanAnderson Interesting. I knew something was possible on the Windows side... but in reality, people probably just prefer proper ILO/DRAC/IPMI, right? – ewwhite Jul 10 '14 at 22:49
  • Absolutely. The Windows interface has the neat feature that even in the face of a kernel panic the serial interface may still function (http://msdn.microsoft.com/ru-ru/library/cc784221(v=ws.10).aspx) via a kernel-mode driver. When I have a choice, though, I definitely prefer a dedicated OOB management card (and a switchable PDU, just to be sure). – Evan Anderson Jul 11 '14 at 00:39
  • Thanks Men, BUT. the answer it's not related to OS or server related only. Commodity Hardware, in general. Thanks. – dorvan Jul 11 '14 at 15:40