Local Manageability Service Question

[idata]

I was reading through the document titled "An_Introduction_to_Intel_Active_Management_Technology[1].pdf" and came across a paragraph that was a bit confusing on page 8. The Paragraph is entitled "Network-Compatible Interface" and my question is:

If AMT has an out-of-band access to the Ethernet controller and a Firmware based TCP/IP stack, then why does the Local Manageability Service (LMS) reroute SOAP/HTTP messages to the AMT via MEI driver?

Isnt AMT already grabbing these messages at the source of the Ethernet controller as well?

Thanks!

[idata]

So you could send SOAP/HTTP request thru the local OS (e.g. browser) and it would excute the ME comands in FW. For example excuting on local browser WebUI.

[Brett_M_Intel · Accepted solution]

I believe that if you attempt to communicate via the loopback address (127.0.0.1 or 'localhost'), then the packets are handled at the software driver level and do not actually progress to the hardware devices -- e.g., the NIC or, as in this scenario, the Intel(R) Management Engine (Intel(R) ME). Therefore, the LMS is utilized to forward your local Intel(R) AMT / Intel(R) ME communication to the HECI driver which then forwards the requests to the Intel(R) ME for processing.

If you are reviewing the latest http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/download-the-latest-intel-amt-software-development-kit-sdk/ Intel(R) AMT SDK documentation, there is a page titled "Local Access" that details how local communication works for Intel(R) AMT. [\DOCS\Implementation and Reference Guide\default.htm --> About Intel AMT > Local Access].

[idata]

Thanks guys, that clears that up. So LMS is not used on a full-time basis, only for loop back scenarios.