Platform management for computing systems without baseboard management controllers

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

exposing, by a server computer, a first web services interface to one or more management client computers for

providing management data for one or more managed client computers to the one or more management client computers, and

receiving management commands from the one or more management client computers for performance at the one or more managed client computers;

exposing, by the server computer, a second web services interface for

receiving second management data from a firmware executing on the one or more managed client computers at a boot time of the one or more managed client computers, and

providing the management commands to the firmware executing on the one or more managed client computers at the boot time of the one or more managed client computers;

responsive to receiving a first management command from a first management client computer of the one or more management client computers, queueing the first management command for provision to a first managed client computer during a next boot time of the first managed client computer; and

transmitting the first management command to the first managed client computer during the next boot time; wherein the one or more managed client computers are not equipped with a baseboard management controller (BMC).

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first web services interface comprises a representational state transfer (RESTful) interface over secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) that utilizes a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format that is based on Open Data Protocol (OData).

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the second web services interface comprises a representational state transfer (RESTful) interface over secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) that utilizes a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format that is based on Open Data Protocol (OData).

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the management commands comprises obtaining the second management data from the one or more managed client computers, the management data being indicative of at least one of a configuration parameter of a first managed client computer of the one or more managed client computers or an operational parameter of the first managed client computer.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the management commands comprises initiating an update of the firmware executing on the one or more managed client computers.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the management commands comprises initiating a logical storage volume recovery for at least one of the one or more managed client computers.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the management commands comprises modifying a configuration of at least one of the one or more managed client computers.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the management commands comprises initiating diagnostics on at least one of the one or more managed client computers.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a computer not equipped with a baseboard management controller (BMC), cause the computer to:

execute a management module in a firmware of the computer, the management module configured to

obtain management data for the computer during a time period after the firmware begins executing and before an operating system for the computer begins to load in a memory device of the computer, the management data being indicative of at least one of configuration parameters of the computer or operational parameters of the computer,

provide the management data to a web services interface exposed by a management server computer during the time period, wherein the web services interface provides access to a representational state transfer (RESTful) service, the management data provided by means of program code to send and receive resources from the RESTful service,

receive one or more management commands from the management server computer during the time period, wherein the management server computer queued the one or more management commands prior to the time period, and

cause the one or more management commands to be performed by the firmware of the computer; wherein the managed client computer is not equipped with a baseboard management controller (BMC).

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the web services interface comprises a RESTful interface over secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) that utilizes a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format that is based on Open Data Protocol (OData).

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the one or more management commands comprises initiating an update of the firmware.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the one or more management commands comprises initiating a logical storage volume recovery for the computer.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the one or more management commands comprises modifying a configuration of the firmware.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the one or more management commands comprises initiating diagnostics on the computer.

15. A system, comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:

receive, via a first web services interface exposed by a server computer, management data from a firmware executing on a managed client computer at a boot time of the managed client computer;

provide, via a second web services interface exposed by the server computer, at least a portion of the management data to a management client computer;

receive, via the second web services interface, one or more management commands from a management client computer;

queue the one or more management commands for provision to the managed client computer during a next boot time of the managed client computer; and

provide, via the first web services interface, the one or more management commands to the firmware executing on the managed client computer during the next boot time; wherein the managed client computer is not equipped with a baseboard management controller (BMC).

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first web services interface comprises a representational state transfer (RESTful) interface over secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) that utilizes a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format that is based on Open Data Protocol (OData).

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the second web services interface comprises a representational state transfer (RESTful) interface over secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) that utilizes a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format that is based on Open Data Protocol (OData).

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more management commands comprise one or more of a command to initiate an update of the firmware, a command to initiate a logical storage volume recovery for the managed client computer, a command to modify a configuration of the firmware, or a command to initiate diagnostics on the managed client computer.