Patent ID: 7653727

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an embedded firmware agent coupled within a host system having memory to store instructions that, when executed, cause the embedded firmware agent to selectively operate in a management mode during which a host operating system relinquishes control of host system in which the embedded firmware agent resides; an embedded hardware controller agent coupled within the host system having memory to store instructions that cause the embedded hardware controller agent to operate independently of the host operating system and selectively invokes the management mode, the embedded hardware controller agent having a network interface to allow the embedded hardware controller agent to communicate over a network independently of the host operating system; a physical bi-directional agent bus coupled between the embedded firmware agent and the embedded hardware controller agent to transmit messages between the embedded firmware agent and the embedded hardware controller agent; and a trusted module coupled with the embedded hardware controller agent and the embedded firmware agent to provide mutual authentication with a server prior to the embedded firmware agent transferring control to the host operating system.