TWI668635B - Mainboard and setting updating method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A setting update method for the motherboard. The motherboard has a baseboard controller and a basic input and output module. The substrate controller is electrically connected to the basic input/output module. The basic input and output module has a first profile. The basic input/output module is configured to perform a booting process according to the first configuration file in the boot time interval. The setting update method first acquires the second profile by the substrate controller. And judge the flag unit to update the flag status or retain the flag status. And when the flag unit is in the update flag state, the first profile is selectively adjusted according to the second profile in the update time interval. When the flag unit is in the state of retaining the flag, the first profile is not selectively adjusted according to the second profile in the update time interval.

Description

Motherboard and its setting update method

The present invention relates to a motherboard and a setting update method thereof, and more particularly to a motherboard that can be deployed by a remote end and a setting update method thereof.

For data center operators with a large number of server nodes, reducing board deployment time and reducing the incidence of deployment errors is a significant consideration. The efficiency of the motherboard deployment directly affects the data center's operating costs and service online timeline. However, as far as the current situation is concerned, the use of traditional deployment techniques still requires a lot of manpower for system configuration.

Traditionally, when configuring the basic input/output system (BIOS) of the motherboard, it is necessary to send personnel to the site where the machine of the motherboard is located, and the personnel manually restart the motherboard to enter the basic input and output. Basic input and output settings are made one by one in the system's setup menu. In the past, only one machine could be set at the same time. Moreover, if an exception (Exception) or system error (System Error) is generated during the boot process, causing the system to fail to reboot, additional manpower and time must be configured to manually restore the failed basic input/output system to The correct setting value. For the increasingly large cloud data center, the deployment time is too long and can not effectively ensure the stability of the system, and various factors have actually increased many operating costs.

The present invention provides a motherboard and a setting update method thereof, which overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art that it is necessary to dispatch manpower to the site where the machine is located to re-deploy the motherboard settings.

The invention discloses a setting update method suitable for a motherboard. The motherboard has a baseboard controller and a basic input and output module. The substrate controller is electrically connected to the basic input/output module. The basic input and output module has a first profile. The basic input/output module is configured to perform a booting process according to the first configuration file in the boot time interval. The setting update method first acquires the second profile by the substrate controller. And judge the flag unit to update the flag status or retain the flag status. And when the flag unit is in the update flag state, the first profile is selectively adjusted according to the second profile in the update time interval. When the flag unit is in the state of retaining the flag, the first profile is not selectively adjusted according to the second profile in the update time interval.

The invention further discloses a motherboard having a basic input/output module and a substrate controller. The substrate controller is electrically connected to the basic input/output module. The basic input and output module has a first profile. The basic input/output module is configured to perform a booting process in the boot time interval according to the first configuration file. And the basic input/output module is configured to judge the flag unit to update the flag status or retain the flag status. The substrate controller has a storage unit. The storage unit is configured to store the second profile. Wherein, when the flag unit is in the update flag state, the first profile is selectively adjusted according to the second profile in the update time interval. When the flag unit is in the reserved flag state, the first profile is not selectively adjusted according to the second profile in the update time interval. The update time interval precedes the boot time interval.

In summary, the present invention provides a motherboard and a setting update method thereof, which selectively update a profile in a basic input/output system by a baseboard management controller (BMC). In addition, with the relevant judgment process, it is possible to further debug and re-correct the update when an exception or error event occurs. Therefore, based on the motherboard provided by the present invention and the setting update method thereof, the relevant personnel no longer need to be dispatched to the site where the machine is located to be able to deploy the basic input and output settings of the motherboard, thereby greatly reducing the manpower use, and more capable of Automatic response to exceptions or error events is quite practical.

The above description of the disclosure and the following description of the embodiments of the present invention are intended to illustrate and explain the spirit and principles of the invention, and to provide further explanation of the scope of the invention.

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are set forth in the Detailed Description of the Detailed Description of the <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; </ RTI> </ RTI> </ RTI> <RTIgt; The objects and advantages associated with the present invention can be readily understood by those skilled in the art. The following examples are intended to describe the present invention in further detail, but are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

1 and FIG. 2, FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a motherboard according to an embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a server system according to an embodiment of the invention. . As shown in FIG. 1, the motherboard 12 has a basic input/output module 124 and a substrate controller 122. The substrate controller 122 is electrically connected to the basic input/output module 124. In one embodiment, motherboard 12 is applied, for example, to a server system having multiple server nodes. Figure 2 shows an embodiment of a server system. The server system 1 has, for example, a central control module 18 and a plurality of motherboards as described above. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the motherboards 12, 14, 16 are illustrated as an example. The motherboards 12, 14, 16 are each acted as a plurality of server nodes, and the central control module 18 communicates with the motherboards 12, 14, 16 via, for example, busbars or associated components. The architecture of the server system 1 is only briefly shown here, and the relevant details of the server system 1 should be known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and will not be described herein. The server system 1 is only an application field of the motherboard provided by the present invention, and is not limited thereto. The subsequent description will be made by taking the motherboard 12 as an example.

In more detail, the basic input output module 124 has a first profile. The basic input/output module 124 is configured to perform a booting process in the boot time interval according to the first configuration file. The basic input/output module 124 is configured to determine that the flag unit is in an update flag state or a reserved flag state. The first configuration file is used, for example, to indicate various parameter configurations in the basic input/output module 124. The flag unit has, for example, a plurality of states to indicate the basic input output module 124 or to instruct the substrate controller 122 to perform the corresponding action. In this embodiment, the flag unit may be, for example, an update flag state or a reserved flag state. For details, please refer to the description.

The substrate controller 122 has a storage unit 1222. The storage unit 1222 is configured to store the second profile. The second profile is used, for example, to indicate various parameter configurations in the basic input and output module 124. In an embodiment, the second profile is, for example, a binary format. In an embodiment, the flag unit is, for example, a header sub-file in the second profile, or the flag unit may be a segment of the second profile, and the flag is not limited herein. The relative position of the unit relative to the second profile. The first profile and the second profile are respectively two different profiles, and the parameter configuration indicated by the second profile may be the same or different from the parameter configuration indicated by the first profile. When the foregoing flag unit is in the update flag state, in the update time interval, the first setting file is selectively adjusted according to the second configuration file. When the flag unit is in the reserved flag state, the first profile in the update time interval is not selectively adjusted according to the second profile. The update time interval precedes the boot time interval.

Please refer to FIG. 3 to illustrate the operation mode of the motherboard. FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of the setting update method according to an embodiment of the invention. In step S101, the second profile is acquired by the substrate controller. In step S103, it is determined that the flag unit is an update flag state or a reserved flag state. In step S105, when the flag unit is in the update flag state, the first profile is selectively adjusted according to the second profile in the update time interval. In step S107, when the flag unit is in the reserved flag state, the first profile is not selectively adjusted according to the second profile in the update time interval.

Please refer to FIG. 4 to explain the operation mode of the motherboard. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the server system according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the motherboards 12, 14, 16 in the server system 1 are respectively connected to the external control module 20 in a wired or wireless manner. In one embodiment, the external control module 20 is, for example, an electronic device at a remote location, and the external control module 20 communicates with the motherboards 12, 14, 16 via a network. In another embodiment, the external control module 20 is, for example, a user-defined tool. The above is merely an example and is not limited thereto. The user can update the first profile or the second profile of the plurality of motherboards by operating the external control module 20. In addition to this, the external control module 20 can also perform batch transmissions, for example, in accordance with a scheduling plan, to automate data transfer.

In a specific scenario, the motherboard 12, for example, obtains a second profile from the external control module 20. When the motherboard 12 obtains or updates the second profile, the flag unit corresponding to the motherboard 12 is further set to the update flag state. When the motherboard 12 is restarted or said to be rebooted, the working time of the motherboard 12 first enters the update time interval, and then enters the boot time interval. In the update time interval, when the flag unit is in the update flag state, the first profile is updated according to the second profile. The act of this update may be performed by the substrate control port 122 or the basic input output module 124. In the update time interval, when the flag unit is in the reserved flag state, the first profile is not updated according to the second profile. Then, in the boot time interval, the basic input/output module 124 performs a corresponding boot process according to the first profile. Therefore, by setting the state of the second profile and the flag unit, the basic input/output module 124 can be updated accordingly. As described above, the substrate controller 122 obtains the second profile, for example, via a network or a user-defined tool.

In another type of embodiment, when the basic input/output module 124 receives the local control command in the update time interval, the basic input output module 124 adjusts the first profile according to the local control command. And the basic input output module 124 adjusts the flag unit to retain the flag state. The local control command is, for example, a command manually input by the user at the site where the motherboard 12 machine is located. In this embodiment, when the basic input/output module 124 receives the local control command, the motherboard 12 adjusts the flag unit to the reserved flag state. Therefore, when the motherboard 12 performs the booting process in the boot time interval, even if the first profile is different from the second profile, since the flag cell has been set to the reserved flag state, the motherboard 12 is no longer in accordance with the first The second profile updates the first profile, and the motherboard 12 directly performs the boot process according to the first profile. From another point of view, in this embodiment, the user manually entered settings have a higher priority to occur in response to special conditions while maintaining the flexibility of individual operations. In addition, in practice, after the basic input/output module 124 adjusts the first configuration file according to the local control command, the second configuration file may be further adjusted according to the first configuration file, so that the second configuration file is synchronized with the first configuration file. files. The act of adjusting the second profile according to the first profile may be performed by the substrate control port 122 or the basic input output module 124.

Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a setting update method according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, in step S201, a checksum value is generated in accordance with an external profile received by the substrate controller. In step S203, it is determined whether the received external profile is correct based on the checksum value. In step S205, when it is determined that the received external profile is correct, the second profile is selectively adjusted according to the external profile, and the flag unit is adjusted to update the flag state. The external profile is, for example, a profile written in Extensible Markup Language (XML).

When the substrate control port 122 receives the external profile, the substrate control port 122 calculates a corresponding checksum value based on the external profile. When the checksum value is not a preset expectation value, the substrate control unit 122 determines that the external profile is corrupted and does not perform subsequent operations according to the external profile. The substrate control port 122 can then request another external profile from the source of the external profile. When the checksum value is in accordance with expectations, the substrate control unit 122 adjusts the second profile according to the external profile. In one embodiment, the substrate control unit 122 converts the external profile written in the extensible markup language into a binary format and directly uses the converted external profile as the second profile. In another embodiment, the substrate control unit 122 obtains at least one portion to be updated from the external profile, and adjusts the content in the second profile according to the portion to be updated.

Please refer to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart diagram of a setting update method according to a further embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, in step S301, it is detected whether an error event or an exception event occurs in the booting procedure. In step S303, when an error event or an exception event is detected in the booting process, the basic input/output module stops the booting process. In step S305, the first profile is adjusted according to the second profile. In step S307, the basic input/output module is caused to restart the booting process according to the adjusted first profile.

In detail, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the motherboard 12 is further configured to detect whether an error event or an exception event occurs when the boot process is performed. When an error event or an exception event occurs during the boot process, the motherboard 12 is re-opened, for example, by a watch dog timer, and the second profile is loaded by the base controller 122. The input and output module 124 is configured to enable the basic input/output module 124 to be powered on normally. In another embodiment, an initial profile is further stored in the substrate control port 122. The initial profile is used to indicate various parameter configurations in the basic input/output module 124, and the initial profile is not updated in synchronization with the first profile or the second profile. In this embodiment, when an error event or an exception event occurs during the boot process, the motherboard 12 is re-opened, for example, by the watchdog timer, and the initial profile is loaded by the base controller 122. The input and output module 124 is configured to enable the basic input/output module 124 to be powered on normally.

In summary, the present invention provides a motherboard and a setting update method thereof for selectively updating a profile in a basic input/output system by a base controller. In addition, with the relevant judgment process, it is possible to further debug and re-correct the update when an exception or error event occurs. Therefore, based on the motherboard and the setting update method provided by the present invention, the relevant personnel no longer need to be dispatched to the site where the machine is located to be able to deploy the basic input and output settings of the motherboard, but can be deployed via the remote end. Significantly reduced manpower and time costs. In addition, there is no need to set the basic input/output system one by one for each machine as in the past, but at the same time, a large number of machines in the data center can be simultaneously executed via a client software tool or a web user interface (Web UI). Make settings to significantly reduce labor and time costs. Through remote batch setting, it can also avoid the mistakes manually set by manpower, greatly reducing the probability of deployment error. Moreover, it is more automatic to respond to exception events or error events, without having to manually eliminate error conditions, which improves the stability of system execution. Not only does it improve efficiency, it also increases usability and reduces the error rate during deployment.

Although the present invention has been disclosed above in the foregoing embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention. It is within the scope of the invention to be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Please refer to the attached patent application for the scope of protection defined by the present invention.

1‧‧‧Server system

12, 14, 16‧‧‧ motherboard

122, 142, 162‧‧‧ substrate control

124, 144, 164‧‧‧ basic input and output modules

1222, 1422, 1622‧‧‧ storage unit

18‧‧‧Central Control Module

20‧‧‧External control module

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a motherboard according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a server system according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a setting update method according to an embodiment of the invention. 4 is a functional block diagram of a server system according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart diagram of a setting update method according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a setting update method according to a further embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (10)

A setting update method is applicable to a motherboard, the motherboard includes a substrate controller and a basic input/output module, the substrate controller is electrically connected to the basic input/output module, and the basic input/output module has a first a setting file, the basic input/output module is configured to perform a booting process according to the first setting file in a booting time interval, the setting updating method includes: obtaining a second setting file from the substrate controller; determining a flag The flag unit is an update flag state or a reserved flag state; when the flag cell is in the update flag state, the first profile is selectively adjusted according to the second profile in an update time interval; When the flag unit is in the reserved flag state, the first profile is not selectively adjusted according to the second profile in the update time interval; and the external profile is updated according to an external profile received by the substrate controller a second profile; and adjusting the flag unit to the update flag state. The setting update method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a check sum according to the external profile received by the substrate controller; determining the received external setting according to the checksum value Whether the file is correct; and when it is determined that the received external profile is correct, the second profile is selectively adjusted according to the external profile, and the flag cell is adjusted to be the update flag state. The setting update method of claim 1, further comprising: when the basic input/output module receives a local control instruction in the update time interval, adjusting the first configuration file according to the local control instruction, and adjusting the flag The target unit is the reserved flag state; wherein the second profile is further adjusted according to the first profile. The method for updating the setting as described in claim 3, further comprising: detecting whether an error event or an exception event occurs in the booting program; and detecting an error event or an exception event in the booting program, causing the basic input and output The module stops the booting process; adjusts the first profile according to the second profile; and causes the basic input/output module to restart the booting process according to the adjusted first profile. The setting update method of claim 1, wherein the flag unit is a header sub-file in the second configuration file. A motherboard includes: a basic input/output module having a first configuration file, wherein the basic input/output module is configured to perform a booting process in a boot time interval according to the first configuration file, and the basic input and output The module is configured to determine that a flag unit is an update flag state or a reserved flag state; and a base controller is electrically connected to the basic input output module, the base controller has a storage unit, and the storage unit is used by the storage unit And storing a second profile; wherein, when the flag cell is in the update flag state, the first profile is selectively adjusted according to the second profile in an update time interval, when the flag component When the flag state is reserved, the first profile is not selectively adjusted according to the second profile in the update time interval, and the update time interval precedes the boot time interval; wherein the base controller is used to Receiving an external profile, when the substrate controller receives the external profile, the substrate controller adjusts the second profile according to the external profile, and the base Controller means for adjusting the flag state update flag. The motherboard of claim 6, the substrate controller generates a check sum according to the received external profile, and the substrate controller determines whether the external profile is correct according to the checksum value. When the substrate controller determines that the external profile is correct, the substrate controller adjusts the second profile according to the external profile, and the substrate controller adjusts the flag cell to the update flag state. The motherboard of claim 6, when the basic input/output module receives a local control command in the update time interval, the basic input/output module adjusts the first profile according to the local control command, and The flag unit is adjusted to the reserved flag state; wherein the substrate controller adjusts the second profile according to the adjusted first profile. The motherboard of claim 8, wherein when the booting program has an error event or an exception event, the substrate controller adjusts the first profile according to the second profile, and the substrate controller makes the basic input The output module re-executes the booting process according to the adjusted first configuration file, and the flag unit is adjusted to the update flag state. The motherboard of claim 6, wherein the flag unit is a header sub-file of the second profile.