TW201418974A - Disc allocation method and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A disc allocation method and an electronic apparatus are provided. In the present invention, a baseboard management controller (BMC) sends a disc allocation information to a micro controller unit. And the micro controller unit sends the disc allocation information to an expander such that the expander executes a disc allocation according to the disc allocation information.

Description

Disk configuration method and server rack system

The present invention relates to a disk configuration mechanism, and more particularly to a disk configuration method and a server rack system that are permeable to a substrate management controller.

In general, serial attached SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) (SAS) hard disk cabinets are modularly designed to provide in-band SCSI cabinet services ( System error and status reporting functions such as SCSI Enclosure Service (SES), each hard disk has operational status and fault display lights, and the firmware can be updated via in-band SAS or serial port.

The way the hard disk is configured can only be achieved by means of an in-band approach, ie through the operating system and associated applications and drivers. Therefore, the in-band mode must be implemented through a hard disk and associated software. Therefore, there is a burden on the hardware and the software. When the hard disk or software operates abnormally, there is no second risk countermeasure to support this function. In addition, since the board management controller is limited in hardware and firmware design, it cannot directly communicate with the SAS expander, so it cannot directly support the side-band method for hard disk configuration. The above-mentioned side-band approach also takes the form of a substrate management controller directly.

The present invention provides a disk configuration method and a server rack system, which can perform disk configuration using a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC).

The present invention provides a disk configuration method suitable for a server rack system, wherein the server rack system includes a baseboard management controller, a micro control unit, and an expansion unit. The disk configuration method includes: the substrate management controller transmits the disk configuration information to the micro control unit; the disk configuration information is transmitted by the micro control unit to the expansion unit; and the expansion unit performs the disk configuration according to the disk configuration information.

In an embodiment of the invention, before transmitting the disk configuration information to the micro control unit through the substrate management controller, the micro control unit transmits the acquisition information command to the substrate management controller, so that the substrate management controller receives the disk. When the information is configured, the disk configuration information is received from the baseboard management controller.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the disk configuration method further includes transmitting a get state command to the extension unit by the micro control unit to obtain the disk state from the extension unit. And, the micro control unit transmits the disk state to the baseboard management controller.

In an embodiment of the invention, the disk configuration method further includes transmitting, by the microprocessor controller, its own status information to the baseboard management controller.

In an embodiment of the present invention, after the expansion unit completes the configuration of the disk module according to the disk configuration information, the micro control unit receives an update result from the extension unit, and transmits the update result to the baseboard management controller.

In an embodiment of the invention, the micro control unit is configured on a fan control circuit board.

The present invention provides a server rack system including an expansion unit, a motherboard configured with a baseboard management controller, and a micro control unit. The micro control unit is coupled to the baseboard management controller through the first connection interface, and coupled to the expansion unit through the second connection interface. The micro control unit receives a disk configuration information from the substrate management controller through the first connection interface, and transmits the disk configuration information to the expansion unit through the second connection interface, so that the expansion unit performs the disk configuration according to the disk configuration information.

In an embodiment of the invention, the server rack system further includes a disk module coupled to the expansion unit. The disk module includes a plurality of storage units. The expansion unit configures the storage unit according to the disk configuration information.

In an embodiment of the invention, the server rack system further includes a fan control board configured with the above micro control unit.

In an embodiment of the invention, the server rack system further includes a mid-plane, the intermediate board is coupled between the motherboard and the expansion unit via the third connection interface, and is connected via the first connection The interface is coupled between the micro control unit and the baseboard management controller.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first connection interface is an Intelligent Platform Management Bus (IPMB) interface, and the second connection interface is a Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART). Interface, the third connection interface is Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface.

Based on the above, the present invention utilizes another micro control unit to transmit the disk configuration information of the substrate management controller to the expansion unit, thereby solving the problem that the substrate management controller cannot directly communicate with the expansion unit.

The above described features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.

First embodiment

1 is a schematic diagram of a servo rack system in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 , the server rack system 100 includes a motherboard 110 , a micro control unit 120 , and an expansion unit 130 . In addition, the motherboard 110 further includes a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) 111.

The expansion unit 130 is used to manage the configuration of the disk. For example, the expansion unit 130 is a serial connection small computer system interface expander (SAS expander). The SAS expander facilitates communication between numerous SAS devices. For example, a SAS expander contains two or more external extensions, and each expander internally contains at least one SAS management protocol device for management. In the case of a storage system, it has several SAS expanders, and each SAS expander has a serial port that can be connected externally and an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) opcode that supports the SSP protocol and can recognize the diagnostic command. A firmware that can execute diagnostic instructions.

The micro control unit 120 is, for example, an additionally configured control unit, or This is accomplished using a control unit on an existing Fan Control Board (FCB) in the server rack system 100. The micro control unit 120 is coupled to the BMC 111 through the first connection interface 140 and to the expansion unit 130 through the second connection interface 150.

The first connection interface 140 is used as a communication interface between the micro control unit 120 and the substrate management controller 111. For example, the first interface interface 140 is implemented by an intelligent platform management bus (IPMB) interface, and an IPMB communication protocol between the micro control unit 120 and the substrate management controller 111 is defined. In addition, an inter-integrated circuit (I ² C) bus bar may be used as the first connection interface 140.

In addition, the second connection interface 150 is used as a communication interface between the extension unit 130 and the micro control unit 120. For example, the second connection interface 150 is implemented by a Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) interface, and a UART communication protocol between the extension unit 130 and the micro control unit 120 is defined.

Through the above coupling manner, the user at the local end or the remote end can use the function of the substrate management controller 111 and update the disk configuration through the firmware update mode of the micro control unit 120, thereby solving the substrate management controller. 120 cannot directly transmit a packet such as the IPMB format to the extension unit 130.

The steps of the disk configuration method will be described below in conjunction with the server rack system 100 described above.

2 is a flow chart of a disk configuration method according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 simultaneously, in step S205, the disk configuration information is transmitted to the micro control unit 120 through the substrate management controller 110. The following is an example to illustrate what is included in the disk configuration information.

3 is a schematic diagram of disk configuration information in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the disk configuration information 300 is, for example, a configuration image, including a header area 310 and a disk configuration area 320. The header area 310 records the image type, the version of the disk configuration information 300, the checksum, and the like. The disk configuration area 320 records the version of the image file, mapping information, and the like. The check code recorded by the header area 310 is used to provide a receiving end (for example, the micro control unit 120) to determine whether the received disk configuration information 300 is correct.

Returning to FIG. 2, in step S210, the disk configuration information is transmitted by the micro control unit 120 to the extension unit 130. That is, the micro control unit 120 transmits the disk configuration information to the extension unit 130 through the second connection interface 150.

Thereafter, in step S215, the expansion unit 130 performs the disk configuration in accordance with the disk configuration information. For example, if the number of storage units that the motherboard 110 should use is recorded in the disk configuration information, the expansion unit 130 will treat the two storage units as the same storage device with a larger storage capacity and configure the host. The board 110 is used. According to this, the local or remote user can use the interface provided by the baseboard management controller 111 to input the disk configuration information, and transmit the disk configuration information to the expansion unit 130 of the storage device through the micro control unit 120, and finally The expansion unit 130 completes its task of changing the disk configuration.

Let's take another example to illustrate the use of different storage devices (such as hard drives) by changing the disk configuration.

4A and 4B are schematic views of a disk configuration in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is based on the architecture of FIG. 1, assuming that the server rack system 100 includes a motherboard 110_1, a motherboard 110_2, a motherboard 110_3, and a motherboard 110_4. Also, it is assumed that eight physical hard disks, that is, hard disk HD1 to hard disk HD8 are included.

In FIG. 4A, the hard disk HD1 and the hard disk HD2 are configured as a hard disk combination 410_1 through the expansion unit 130, the hard disk HD3 and the hard disk HD4 are configured as a hard disk combination 410_2, and the hard disk HD5 and the hard disk HD6 are configured as hard. The disc combination 410_3, and the hard disc HD7 and the hard disc HD8 are configured as a hard disc combination 410_4. Here, the hard disk combination 410_1~hard disk combination 410_4 corresponds to the motherboards 110_1~110_4, respectively.

Here, it is assumed that the motherboard 110_1 is required to configure three physical hard disks in the disk configuration information. If the expansion unit 130 receives the disk configuration information from the baseboard management controller 110 through the micro control unit 120, as shown in FIG. 4B, the hard disk HD1 to hard disk HD3 are configured as a hard disk combination 410_1, so the hard disk combination 410_2 only the hard disk HD4 is left.

That is to say, by changing the configuration information of the disk, the underlying situation can be achieved, that is, the hard disk used by the different motherboards 110_1~110_4 can be further adjusted. As in the case of FIG. 4A, the motherboard 110_1 uses a hard disk HD1 and a hard disk HD2, for a total of two hard disks. After the change, as shown in FIG. 4B, the motherboard 110_1 uses a hard disk HD1~hard disk HD3, for a total of three hard disks.

Second embodiment

In this embodiment, the micro control unit of the existing fan control board inside the server rack system serves as a communication bridge between the baseboard management controller and the expansion unit.

Figure 5 is a block diagram of a servo rack system in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5 , the server rack system 500 includes a motherboard module 50 , a fan control panel module 52 , a mid-plane module 54 , and a disk module 56 . Here, the motherboard module 50 includes a motherboard 510_1~a motherboard 510_4, the fan control panel module 52 includes a fan control panel 520, the intermediate panel module 54 includes an intermediate board 540 and an intermediate board 541, and the disk module 56 includes an extension. Unit 560 is combined with hard disk 561_1~hard disk combination 561_4. However, the number of the above-described respective members is not limited herein, and the numbers listed in the present embodiment are merely for convenience of explanation.

The intermediate board module 54 is coupled to the fan control board 520 and the substrate management controller 511_1~the baseboard management controller 511_4 through the first connection interface (shown by the solid line), and the intermediate board module 54 is transmitted through the third connection interface (in the dotted line) The representation is coupled to the expansion unit 560 and the motherboard 510_1~ 510_4. The motherboard 510_1 and the motherboard 510_2 and the substrate management controller 511_1 and the substrate management controller 511_2 are coupled to the intermediate board 540, and the motherboard 510_3 and the motherboard 510_4 and the substrate management controller 511_3 and the substrate management controller 511_4 are It is coupled to the intermediate plate 541.

However, in this embodiment, only one motherboard and a corresponding substrate management controller may be coupled to one intermediate board, or two or more motherboards and corresponding substrate management controllers may be coupled. Coupled to one Intermediate boards are not limited here.

In addition, the fan control board 520 is coupled to the expansion unit 560 through a third connection interface (indicated by a chain line). In the disk module 56, the expansion unit 560 is also coupled to the hard disk combination 561_1~561 combination 561_4 through the third connection interface. The hard disk combination 561_1~hard disk combination 561_4 is composed of one or more physical hard disks respectively, which respectively correspond to the motherboard 510_1~the motherboard 510_4.

Here, the number of the second connection interfaces coupled between the intermediate board module 54 and the fan control board 520 is determined according to the number of the motherboards. For example, in the server rack system 500, the four motherboards 510_1~ 510_4 are connected to the fan control board 520 by four sets of IPMB interfaces. In addition, the expansion unit 560 is connected to the fan control board 520 by a set of UART interfaces. As a result, the fan control board 520 is supported to support the substrate management controller 511_1 to the substrate management controller 511_4 to communicate with the extension unit 560, thereby completing the disk arrangement.

6A and 6B are schematic views showing a flow of a disk configuration according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is explained based on the architecture of FIG. Here, the representative substrate management controller 511_1 to the substrate management controller 511_4 are summarized by the substrate management controller 511.

In FIG. 6A, in step S601, the micro control unit 521 can transmit an acquisition status command to the extension unit 560 at any time through the UART interface. After receiving the acquisition status command, the expansion unit 560 transmits the disk status to the micro control unit 521 through the UART interface as shown in step S603. For example, the state of the disk includes information such as the available capacity of the disk, the used capacity, and whether the disk is functioning properly.

In addition, in step S605, the micro control unit 521 can also transmit its own status information to the baseboard management controller 511 through the IPMB interface at any time. After receiving the status information of the micro control unit 521, the substrate management controller 511 returns a response packet to the micro control unit 521 as shown in step S607.

In addition, in the embodiment, the micro control unit 521 is configured to continuously transmit an information request to the baseboard management controller 511 through the IPMB interface, as in step S611. In the case of the four substrate management controllers 511_1 to 511_4, the micro control unit 521 transmits an acquisition information command to the substrate management controller 511_1 to the substrate management controller 511_4 through the corresponding IPMB interface. When the user inputs the disk configuration information by using the substrate management controller 511 at the local end or through the remote end, the substrate management controller 511 receives the disk configuration information as shown in step S609. At this time, when the substrate management controller 511 receives the information acquisition command, the substrate management controller 511 transmits the disk configuration information to the micro control unit 521 through the IPMB interface as shown in step S613.

After the micro control unit 521 receives the disk configuration information, in step S615, the micro control unit 521 transmits the disk configuration information to the extension unit 560 through the UART interface. After receiving the disk configuration information, the expansion unit 560 starts to update the disk configuration. After completing the disk configuration, the expansion unit 560 responds to an update result to the micro control unit 521 through the UART interface as shown in step S617.

Then, as shown in step S619, the micro control unit 521 transmits the update result to the baseboard management controller 511 through the IPMB interface. Substrate management After receiving the update result, the controller 511 returns a response packet to the micro control unit 521 through the IPMB interface.

At this time, after the disk configuration is re-executed, the system is restarted as shown in FIG. 6B. In FIG. 6B, after the disk configuration is re-executed, in step S623, the micro control unit 521 can transmit a get configuration command to the extension unit 560, and then, in step S625, the extension unit 560 responds to the updated magnetic The disc is configured to the micro control unit 521. For example, the disk configuration records which physical hard disk is included in each disk hard disk combination, which corresponds to which motherboard.

In addition, after restarting, the micro control unit 521 can still transmit a get status command to the extension unit 560 through the UART interface, as shown in step S627. After receiving the acquisition status command, the expansion unit 560 transmits the disk status to the micro control unit 521 through the UART interface as shown in step S629.

In step S631, the micro control unit 521 can transmit the disk configuration to the baseboard management controller 511 at any time after obtaining the disk configuration. After receiving the disk configuration, the substrate management controller returns a response packet to the micro control unit 521 as shown in step S633, thereby notifying the micro control unit 521 that the disk configuration has been received.

In addition, in step S635, the micro control unit 521 can also transmit its own status information to the baseboard management controller 511 at any time through the IPMB interface. After receiving the status information of the micro control unit 521, the substrate management controller 511 returns a response packet to the micro control unit 521 as shown in step S637.

In summary, in the above embodiment, another micro control unit is used to transmit the disk configuration information of the substrate management controller to the extension unit, thereby achieving a side-band manner of the substrate management controller. . For example, a controller such as a fan controller is used as a bridge between the expander and the baseboard management controller. The baseboard management controller transmits the disk configuration update information to the fan controller through the IPMB interface, and the fan controller transmits the disk configuration update information to the expansion unit by using the UART interface. Therefore, even if the design of the substrate management controller is limited, another micro-control class can be used to indirectly support the substrate management controller, so that the user can still achieve the hard disk configuration by the function of the substrate management controller. purpose. In addition, by using the side-band method, the user can directly pass through the firmware update interface of the baseboard management controller without completing the hard disk and operating system of the system, and complete the remote hard disk configuration, which is easy to operate and stable in operation. .

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100‧‧‧Server Rack System

110, 110_1~110_4, 510_1~510_4‧‧‧ motherboard

111‧‧‧Baseboard Management Controller

120‧‧‧Micro Control Unit

130, 560‧‧‧ expansion unit

140‧‧‧First connection interface

150‧‧‧Second connection interface

300‧‧‧Disk configuration information

310‧‧‧head area

320‧‧‧Disk configuration area

410_1~410_4‧‧‧ Hard disk combination

500‧‧‧Server Rack System

50‧‧‧ motherboard module

52‧‧‧Fan control panel module

54‧‧‧Intermediate board module

56‧‧‧Disk Module

520‧‧‧Fan control panel

561_1540, 541‧‧‧ middle board

561_1~561_4‧‧‧ Hard disk combination

511_1~511_4‧‧‧Base management controller

S205~S215‧‧‧ steps of the disk configuration method of the first embodiment

S601~S637‧‧‧ steps of the disk configuration flow of the second embodiment

1 is a schematic diagram of a servo rack system in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flow chart of a disk configuration method in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of disk configuration information in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure.

4A and 4B are schematic views of a disk configuration in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a block diagram of a servo rack system in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

6A and 6B are schematic views showing a flow of a disk configuration according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

100‧‧‧Server Rack System

110‧‧‧ motherboard

111‧‧‧Baseboard Management Controller

120‧‧‧Micro Control Unit

130‧‧‧Extension unit

140‧‧‧First connection interface

150‧‧‧Second connection interface

Claims (10)

A disk configuration method, applicable to a server rack system, wherein the server rack system includes a substrate management controller, a micro control unit, and an expansion unit, the disk configuration method includes: the substrate management controller Transmitting a disk configuration information to the micro control unit; transmitting, by the micro control unit, the disk configuration information to the expansion unit; and the expansion unit performing a disk configuration according to the disk configuration information. The disk configuration method of claim 1, wherein before the step of transmitting the disk configuration information to the micro control unit through the substrate management controller, the method further comprises: the micro control unit transmitting a get information command And the substrate management controller is configured to receive the disk configuration information from the substrate management controller when the substrate management controller receives the disk configuration information. The disk configuration method of claim 1, further comprising: the micro control unit transmitting a get status command to the extension unit to obtain a disk state from the extension unit; and the micro control unit transmitting the Disk status to the baseboard management controller. The disk configuration method of claim 1, further comprising: the microprocessor controller transmitting a status message of its own to the baseboard management controller. The method of configuring a disk according to claim 1, wherein after the step of completing the configuration of the disk module according to the disk configuration information, the method further comprises: the micro control unit from the expansion unit An update result is received and the update result is transmitted to the baseboard management controller. A server rack system includes: an expansion unit; a motherboard configured with a baseboard management controller; and a micro control unit coupled to the baseboard management controller through a first connection interface, and through a second The connection interface is coupled to the expansion unit, and the micro control unit receives a disk configuration information from the substrate management controller through the first connection interface, and transmits the disk configuration information to the expansion unit through the second connection interface, The expansion unit is caused to perform a disk configuration according to the disk configuration information. The server rack system of claim 6, further comprising: a disk module coupled to the expansion unit, the disk module comprising a plurality of storage units; wherein the expansion unit is Disk configuration information to configure the storage units. The server rack system of claim 6, further comprising: a fan control board including the micro control unit. For example, the server rack system described in claim 6 of the patent scope is further The intermediate board is coupled between the motherboard and the expansion unit via a third connection interface, and is coupled between the micro control unit and the baseboard management controller via the first connection interface. The server rack system of claim 9, wherein the first connection interface is a smart platform management bus interface, and the second connection interface is a universal asynchronous transceiver interface, the third connection interface is Serial small computer system interface.