Wikipedia
In systems management, out-of-band management involves the use of management interfaces (or serial ports) for managing and networking equipment Out--band management allows the network operator to establish trust boundaries in accessing the management function to apply it to network resources It also can be used to ensure management connectivity (including the ability to determine the status of any network component) independent of the status of other in-band network components In computing, one form of out-of-band management is sometimes called lights-out management (LOM) and involves the use of a dedicated management channel for device maintenance It allows a system administrator to monitor and manage servers and other network-attached equipment by remote control regardless of whether the machine is powered on, or whether an operating system is installed or functional
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