Abstract: Presented herein are methodologies for scaling device management over a sideband management bus (SMBUS). A method includes receiving, at a first expander card, from baseboard management controller (BMC), a management message, addressed to a second expander card that is in communication with the first expander card, forwarding the management message to the second expander card, and sending, by the second expander card, the management message, via the sideband management bus, to a device in communication with the second expander card. The device may be, e.g., a Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) drive. Expander cards can be deployed in a daisy chain, providing scalability. Each expander card can also send commands to connected devices in parallel.

Abstract: A computing device includes a bus controller and an endpoint device that are in communication over an internal bus. The bus controller initiates a discovery message to the endpoint device requesting a computational value based on the discovery message, wherein the computational value is generated by the endpoint device using a predefined algorithm and the discovery message includes a preconfigured identification code associated with the bus controller. The bus controller receives a response from the endpoint device, which includes the computational value, when the endpoint device authenticates the controller based on the preconfigured identification code. If the bus controller successfully authenticates the endpoint device based on the computational value, the controller sends an acknowledgment message to the endpoint device and registers it as being owned by the bus controller. Otherwise, the bus controller sends a failure message to the endpoint device and logs it as being unmanageable by the controller.