Patent ID: 7024695

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving a request for hardware component information at a service processor disposed in a hardware component as an open session request from a requesting client application; transmitting from the service processor a challenge string to the requesting client application, the challenge string including a session identification assigned by the service processor, wherein the session identification is unique to each session; receiving at the service processor a challenge response from the requesting client application, the challenge response including the session identification and a first hash number that comprises a function of at least one of the challenge string, the session identification, a sequence number, and a password; comparing the challenge response to an expected response to the challenge string, wherein the comparing includes verifying the session identification received in the challenge response against the session identification transmitted in the challenge string; transmitting the hardware component information to the requesting client application; and receiving at the service processor a direct platform control (DPC) message from the client application, the DPC message including a second hash number to verify the integrity of the DPC message, wherein the DPC message is to perform one or more of connecting to Basic Input Output System (BIOS), rebooting, resetting, and shutting down of the service processor.