Apparatus and methods for redundant management of computer systems

An interconnect system connects two drawer management cards (DMCs) of a drawer. The drawer contains a plurality of independent nodes. The nodes are managed by at least two DMCs. Thus, if one of the DMCs fails, the other DMC can take over and manage the drawer. In one embodiment of the invention, the nodes within the drawer are managed through an Intelligent Platform Management Bus (IPMB). The other field replaceble units (FRUs) or hardware components in the drawer, such as fans, power supplies, etc., may be managed using an Inter Integrated Circuit bus (I2C). The first and second DMCs are interconnected with each other within a chassis of the drawer. The two DMCs are also interconnected with the management channels (e.g., buses) of the drawer. During power up, the first DMC and the second DMC on the drawer may determine, whether the DMC's are interconnected (or not). The DMCs then decide each of their roles (i.e., determining which DMC should be in an active state and which DMC should be in a standby state). Thus, by interconnecting (e.g., the IPMBs and I2Cs of) the two DMC's, both of the DMC's are able to manage nodes on a drawer and the drawer is allowed to operate uninterrupted in the event of a failure or inoperativeness of one of the DMCs.