What Is Redfish?
Redfish is the modern standard API for managing server hardware out-of-band. Defined by the DMTF, it exposes everything a BMC knows — sensors, inventory, event logs, power control — as clean JSON over HTTPS, bringing hardware management into the same tooling world as the rest of modern infrastructure.
What Redfish Fixes
HTTPS, not binary
Standard web protocols instead of IPMI's custom binary transport.
JSON schema
Discoverable, self-describing data any language can consume.
Real security
TLS, session auth, and role-based access built in.
Broader scope
Firmware updates, virtual media, events, and composability.
One Standard, Many Implementations
Every major vendor ships Redfish in its BMC — Dell iDRAC, HPE iLO, Lenovo XCC, Huawei iBMC, Supermicro — but support depth varies by model and firmware. One server exposes per-DIMM health; another only a summary. That variance is why fleet-scale hardware monitoring isn't "call the API": platforms like Sensaka normalize Redfish, IPMI, and vendor-specific interfaces into one consistent model, so a fan failure looks identical whether the box is a new Redfish-native Dell or a ten-year-old IPMI-only Supermicro.
For teams building automation, Redfish is also the door to infrastructure-as-code for hardware: firmware baselines, BIOS settings, and boot configuration become API calls that can be versioned and audited.
Common Questions About Redfish
What is the Redfish API?
Redfish is a DMTF standard REST API for managing server hardware through the BMC. It exposes sensors, inventory, logs, and power control as JSON over HTTPS, replacing the older binary IPMI protocol.
What is the difference between Redfish and IPMI?
Redfish uses modern HTTPS/JSON with proper authentication and a discoverable schema; IPMI uses a 1990s binary protocol with known security weaknesses. Redfish is the successor, but both coexist across real fleets.
Which vendors support Redfish?
All major server vendors: Dell (iDRAC), HPE (iLO), Lenovo (XCC), Huawei (iBMC), Supermicro, Cisco, and more. Support depth varies by model and firmware generation, which is why multi-vendor platforms normalize across implementations.
What can you do with Redfish?
Read component health and sensors, pull full hardware inventory with serial numbers, control power, mount virtual media, update firmware, and subscribe to hardware events — all over standard HTTPS.