Pretty sure the IPMI software is crap no matter the brand. I know the SuperMicro one requires a very old Java version fat client to interact with it, and is very flaky.

The newer versions finally support a HTML5 console instead of the old java webstart horror they used to ship with.

Also, if you need to interact with a Supermicro BMC that doesn't support the HTML5 console (for example, because it's running older firmware), I reverse-engineered the proprietary "iKVM" protocol (along with a lot of other parts of the BMC) and implemented support for it on a branch of noVNC, which you can find here: https://github.com/kelleyk/noVNC

Waaaat! Praise be. Now I can justify the last 45min reading HN...

Thank you for your contribution!

Keeping that "Just buy a shitload of cheap-o eBay 2U/4U hand-me-downs" workflow viable for years to come :D

Indeed. We have used this in production for some time now!

Yes, but that stuff isn't actually IPMI. You normally only need it if need a graphical console (or haven't re-directed to the IPMI serial link), or need to mount a boot image, which is typically painfully slow. (FreeIPMI and associated tools like conman are good for IPMI management, with a set of workarounds for defective implementations.)