CN112527091A

CN112527091A - Power management method, firmware update method, apparatus, device, medium, and product

Info

Publication number: CN112527091A
Application number: CN202011505749.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 史帅; 程钢; 陈方耀
Original assignee: Beijing Baidu Netcom Science and Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Baidu Netcom Science and Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-12-18
Filing date: 2020-12-18
Publication date: 2021-03-19
Anticipated expiration: 2040-12-18
Also published as: CN112527091B

Abstract

The disclosure discloses a power management method, a firmware updating device, equipment, a firmware updating medium and a firmware updating product, and relates to the field of computers, in particular to the technical field of power management and cloud service. The specific implementation scheme is as follows: responding to a command of power supply operation, and determining the current initial power supply state of the server; based on the initial power state of the server, the server is controlled to execute power operation and convert the power operation into a target power state, the target power state is a power state corresponding to the power operation, and the target power state is used for indicating a power supply normal state of the PCIe device. According to the scheme disclosed by the invention, the server can be ensured to normally supply power to the PCIe equipment in the process of executing power supply operation.

Description

Power management method, firmware update method, apparatus, device, medium, and product

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of computer technologies, and in particular, to a power management method, an apparatus, a device, a storage medium, and a computer program product.

Background

For a server carrying a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) device, the server is powered on and started, and the PCIe device on the server is also powered on. When a user does shutdown or restart operation in the using process of the server, the server is powered off, and all hardware devices (including power supplies) in the server are shut down.

At this time, the PCIe device on the server loses power supply because it cannot know in advance that the server is powered down. If the inside of the intelligent network card is read and written or other related online operations are carried out, the memory and the state cannot be stored in time when the intelligent network card is suddenly powered down, and serious online accidents are easily caused.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a power management method, firmware update method, apparatus, device, medium, and product.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a power management method applied to a baseboard management controller of a server, the server being coupled with a PCIe device, the method including: responding to a command of power supply operation, and determining the current initial power supply state of the server; based on the initial power state of the server, the server is controlled to execute power operation and convert the power operation into a target power state, the target power state is a power state corresponding to the power operation, and the target power state is used for indicating a power supply normal state of the PCIe device.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a firmware update method including: generating extended power state information of the server, wherein the extended power state information comprises a shutdown state, a working state and an extended shutdown state; and updating firmware of a baseboard management controller by using the extended power state information, wherein the baseboard management controller is used for executing the power management method of the first aspect according to the extended power state information.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a power management apparatus applied to a baseboard management controller of a server, the server being coupled with a PCIe device, the apparatus including: the state acquisition module is used for responding to a power supply operation command and determining the current initial power supply state of the server; and the operation execution module is used for controlling the server to execute power supply operation and convert the power supply operation into a target power supply state based on the initial power supply state of the server, wherein the target power supply state is a power supply state corresponding to the power supply operation, and the target power supply state is used for indicating a power supply normal state of the PCIe equipment.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a firmware updating apparatus including: a state information generating module, configured to generate extended power state information of a server, where the extended power state information includes a shutdown state, a working state, and an extended shutdown state, and is configured to update firmware of the baseboard management controller by using the extended power state information, and the baseboard management controller is configured to execute the power management method according to the extended power state information.

According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to perform any one of the methods described above.

According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions for causing a computer to perform any of the methods described above.

According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements any of the methods described above.

According to the power management method, the power management device, the electronic device, the computer-readable storage medium and the computer program product of the present disclosure, the BMC of the server may obtain the current power state of the server, and control the server to execute the corresponding power operation and convert the power state according to the current power state of the server, where the converted power state is a normal power supply state corresponding to the power operation and used for indicating the PCIe device, and the PCIe device may maintain the normal power supply state in a process of executing the power operation by the server.

According to the firmware updating method, the firmware updating device, the electronic equipment, the computer readable storage medium and the computer program product, aiming at the problem that the PCIe equipment cannot be powered down in the scene of the elastic bare metal server, any standard server can be ensured to be continuously powered up only by modifying the firmware in a server firmware upgrading mode without redesigning server hardware, development difficulty, development cost and development period are effectively reduced, and the intelligent network card is greatly convenient to use and deploy in cloud infrastructure.

It should be understood that the statements in this section do not necessarily identify key or critical features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor do they limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The drawings are included to provide a better understanding of the present solution and are not to be construed as limiting the present disclosure. Wherein:

fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a scenario according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flow diagram of a power management method according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a transition relationship of server extended power states according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an extended shutdown operation according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 5a is a schematic flowchart of extended power-on and power-on self-test operations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5b is a flowchart illustrating an extended boot operation according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an extended restart operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a firmware update method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a power management device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a firmware update apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of an example electronic device 1000 that can be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which various details of the embodiments of the disclosure are included to assist understanding, and which are to be considered as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted in the following description for clarity and conciseness.

Embodiments of the present disclosure and features of embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a scenario in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the scenario shown in fig. 1, PCIe device 11 and server 12 are included, where server 12 is coupled to PCIe device 11.

In one embodiment, PCIe device 11 may include, but is not limited to: the system comprises an intelligent network card, a converged network adapter, an independent disk array card, a solid state hard disk card, a graphics processor card and the like.

In one embodiment, the server 12 may be a resilient bare metal server.

The elastic bare metal server is a new form in cloud services, has the characteristics of high performance and high safety of a physical server and the elasticity and flexibility of a virtual machine, and cloud manufacturers and cloud customers have wide requirements on the infrastructure of the new form. Taking the PCIe device 11 as an example of an intelligent network card, the intelligent network card is inserted into the physical server in the form of a PCIe external plug-in card, and the intelligent network card is essentially a micro server and includes a central processing unit CPU, a memory, its own IO, and the like.

In some embodiments, the coupling between the server 12 and the PCIe device 11 may be an indirect coupling or a communication connection through some interfaces, units or modules, and may be electrical or in other forms.

It should be understood that the number of devices in fig. 1 is merely illustrative. According to the actual application needs, can carry out nimble adjustment. For example, the server 12 may mount a plurality of PCIe devices 11. The configuration can be flexibly configured according to the requirements, and the content in the aspect is not limited.

In some embodiments, the target device that needs to be powered normally in the process of performing power operation by the server in the embodiments of the present disclosure may also meet the following conditions: is a PCIe device and itself contains a processor and an operating system.

In an actual application scenario, before selling an elastic bare metal server carrying an intelligent network card to a user, a cloud manufacturer needs to install the intelligent network card on the server, then the server is powered on and started, and the intelligent network card is used as PCIe equipment of the server to complete power-on after the server is powered on. Once the elastic bare metal server carrying the intelligent network card is sold to a user, the user has control authority over the server, and theoretically, the user can perform any operation on the physical server, including deployment of own application software, shutdown, restart and the like. If the user does shutdown or restart operation in the using process, the server is powered off to enter the S5 state of the power state, all hardware devices (including the power) of the server are turned off, but the intelligent network card on the server cannot know in advance that the server is powered off to enter the S5 state. If the inside of the intelligent network card is in reading and writing or other related online operations, the memory and the state cannot be saved in time when the intelligent network card is suddenly powered down, and serious online accidents can be caused.

Therefore, the problem of how to guarantee that the power supply of the PCIe device is not affected during the process of the server powering down into the S5 power state needs to be solved.

Generally, each cloud manufacturer with the capability of selling an elastic bare metal server carrying an intelligent network card has a closed solution. For example, by performing hardware customized design on the server, the situation that power is supplied to the intelligent network card in the S5 power state is considered during the design of the server hardware motherboard, so that the intelligent network card is not affected by the shutdown and power failure of the server.

However, in the solution, independent power supply of the intelligent network card is realized from the perspective of server hardware, but the intelligent network card can only run on a server capable of providing independent power supply after being designed in a customized manner, and for a general server, the intelligent network card cannot be installed to become an elastic bare metal server. If all cloud manufacturers need to perform server customized design to ensure normal power supply to the intelligent network card in the S5 state when using the intelligent network card, the research and development cost is high, and the research and development period is long.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a power management method according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

In a second aspect, referring to fig. 2, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a power Management method, which may be applied to a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) of a server, where the server is coupled to a PCIe device, and the PCIe device itself includes a processor and an operating system.

As shown in fig. 2, the power management method of the embodiment of the present disclosure may include the following steps.

And S210, responding to the command of the power supply operation, and determining the current initial power supply state of the server.

And S220, controlling the server to execute power supply operation and convert the power supply operation into a target power supply state based on the initial power supply state of the server, wherein the target power supply state is a power supply state corresponding to the power supply operation, and the target power supply state is used for indicating a normal power supply state of the PCIe device.

According to the power management method of the embodiment of the disclosure, the BMC of the server may obtain the current power state of the server, and control the server to execute the corresponding power operation and convert the power state according to the current power state of the server, where the converted power state is a normal power supply state corresponding to the power operation and used for indicating the PCIe device, and the PCIe device may maintain the normal power supply state during the server executes the power operation, that is, the BMC may control the server to normally supply power to the PCIe device during the server executes the power operation.

In some embodiments, when a cloud client performs three Basic operations related to power state change, namely shutdown, startup and restart, the power management method according to the embodiment of the disclosure can meet the power operation requirements of the three cloud clients and also considers the original standard power operation of a standard server, and achieves the purpose that a server continuously supplies power to PCIe devices mounted on the server in the process of executing power operation by defining a mode of expanding a power state, a BMC design and a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) design.

In one embodiment, the initial power state comprises one of a power-off state, an operating state and an extended power-off state, and the target power state comprises one of an operating state and an extended power-off state; the power-off state, the working state and the extended power-off state are extended power supply state information of firmware information which is written into the server in advance; a power-off state for indicating a user power-off state of the server and a non-powered state of the PCIe device; the working state is used for indicating the user startup state of the server and the power supply normal state of the PCIe equipment; and the expansion shutdown state is used for indicating the user shutdown state of the server and the power supply normal state of the PCIe equipment.

In this embodiment, the Extended power states of the server may be predefined, where the Extended power states may be power states defined for cloud clients, and the Extended power states of the server are defined in advance by determining that the server includes three Extended power states, i.e., a shutdown state S5, an Extended shutdown state Extended-S5, and an operating state S0, so as to provide a basis for configuration information for subsequent servers to perform power operations and power state transitions.

In some embodiments, the extended power state is defined as shown in the following table, and table 1 shows the server extended power state in embodiments of the present disclosure.

TABLE 1 Server extended Power State

Power state name	Description of the state
		Off state S5	User off state, PCIe device not powered
Extended off-state Extended-S5	The user is in the off state, and the PCIe equipment is normally powered
		Operating State S0	When the user is in the starting state, the PCIe equipment is powered normally

In table 1, predefined server extended power state names and state descriptions are shown. After the server performs the power operation, the power state is switched between the extended power states of the server.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a transition relationship between server expansion power states according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in fig. 3, according to the Power management method of the embodiment of the disclosure, when the server is currently in the Power state S5, after performing Power On Self Test (POST) operation, the Power state may be converted to the state S0, when the server is currently in the Power state S0, after performing the Extended shutdown procedure of the embodiment of the disclosure, the Power state may be converted to Extended-S5, when the server is currently in the Power state S0, after performing a shutdown command under the operating system of the server, the Power state may be converted to Extended-S5, and when the server is currently in the Power state Extended-S5, the Extended Power On procedure of the embodiment of the disclosure is performed, and the Power state may be converted to S0.

According to the server expansion power state configuration and expansion power state conversion mode, in the process of executing power operation, the converted state of the server is always one of S0 and Extended-S5, so that the server is guaranteed to keep supplying power to the PCIe device carried by the server.

In some cloud service and cloud computing application scenarios, all power operations of a cloud client on a remote server are extended power operations (shutdown, startup, and restart), and power conversion is performed between extended power states.

In the following description of the embodiments, the BMC may refer to the boot operation, the shutdown operation, and the reboot operation performed by the control server based on the extended power state information as an extended boot operation, an extended shutdown operation, and an extended reboot operation in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, in the case that the power operation is a power-off operation, after the BMC control server performs the power operation and converts the power state, the target power state is an extended power-off state.

In this embodiment, in step S220, the step of controlling the server to perform the power operation and convert the power state based on the initial power state in which the server is currently located may specifically include the following steps.

S11, controlling the server to shut down when the initial power state of the server is determined to be the working state; s12, in the shutdown process, normally supplying power to the PCIe equipment; and converting the current initial power state of the server into an extended power-off state.

Through the steps S11-S12, when the BMC controls the server to execute the shutdown operation, the BMC needs to control the server to shutdown when it is ensured that the current initial power state of the server is the working state, normally supplies power to the PCIe device during the shutdown process, and converts the power state into the extended shutdown state after shutdown, so as to implement the extended shutdown operation procedure based on the extended power state information according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, and normally supplies power to the PCIe device mounted on the server after shutdown.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, the BMC has the capability of acquiring the power state of the server, and during the shutdown process, before the power state of the server is converted, the BIOS of the server may determine, according to the current power state of the server provided by the BMC, whether the server enters the power state S5 or the power state Extended-S5 after the shutdown is completed. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the power state of the server has been defined in advance. Therefore, the BIOS of the server may control the server to execute the Extended shutdown operation according to the current power state of the server provided by the BMC, and convert the power state from S0 to Extended-S5 after executing the Extended shutdown operation.

Fig. 4 shows a flowchart of an extended shutdown operation of an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 4, the extended shutdown operation flow may include the following steps.

S401, a user shutdown request is received.

S402, the BMC senses and judges the current power state of the server.

S403, judging whether the current power state of the server is S0, if not, executing S404; if yes, go to S405.

S404, determining that the user operation is wrong, recording related logs, and ending the process.

S405, the user completes the shutdown.

In this step, the normal shutdown process of the user may include, for example, various device shutdowns, such as Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) display black screen, Virtual Network Computer (VNC) display black screen, server Operating System (OS) shutdown, and the like.

S406, the server enters a power state Extended-S5.

Through the steps S401 to S406, the Extended power-off operation based on the Extended power state information according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is implemented, in the Extended power-off operation process, only when the current server Extended power state is S0, the power-off request is valid, after the user normally powers off, the server enters the Extended-S5 state, and during the power-off process and after the user powers off, the PCIe device is normally powered on.

In some embodiments, when the power operation is a power-on operation, after the BMC controls the server to perform the power operation and convert the power state, the target power state is a working state.

And S21, executing a preset expansion startup operation and converting the initial power state of the server into a working state under the condition that the initial power state of the server is determined to be the expansion shutdown state.

And S22, executing preset extended startup and power-on self-test operation under the condition that the initial power state of the server is determined to be the shutdown state, and converting the initial power state of the server into the working state.

Through the steps S21-S22, when the BMC controls the server to execute the boot operation, the BMC may acquire the current initial power state of the server, and control the server to execute the corresponding boot operation and power state conversion according to the current initial power state of the server, where the converted state is the working state, so as to implement the boot processing based on the extended power state information of the embodiment of the present disclosure, and normally supply power to the PCIe device mounted on the server.

In some embodiments, the step of performing the predetermined extended power-on and power-on self-test operations at least includes: and after the server is powered on, powering on the scanned PCIe equipment.

In this embodiment, the power state of the server is changed from the power-off state S5 to the operating state S0 by performing the steps of the predetermined extended power-on and power-on self-test operations.

In some embodiments, the step of performing the predetermined extended boot operation may include: in the power-on self-test process of the server, a preset scanning waiting time length is waited before PCIe equipment is scanned, and the scanning waiting time length is longer than the power-on completion time length of the PCIe equipment; and performing power-up on the scanned PCIe device.

In this embodiment, the power state of the server is converted from the Extended power-off state Extended-S5 to the working state S0 by the step of performing a predetermined Extended power-on operation.

In some embodiments, the PCIe device itself contains a processor and an operating system.

In this embodiment, in the case that the PCIe device itself includes a processor and an operating system, when a user turns off or restarts the server coupled to the PCIe device during use, the PCIe device may maintain a normal power supply state during the server performs a power operation.

In the extended boot operation process designed in the embodiment of the present disclosure, a predetermined duration is waited before scanning the PCIe device, the predetermined duration may be set according to a duration of power-on completion of the PCIe device, and the wait predetermined duration may be greater than the power-on completion time of the PCIe device, so as to ensure that the server can identify the PCIe device, thereby ensuring that normal communication between the server and the PCIe device is ensured after the extended boot operation process.

Fig. 5a shows a schematic flowchart of extended power-on and power-on self-test operations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 5b is a flowchart illustrating an extended boot operation according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

As shown in fig. 5a, the operation flow of the extended power-on and power-on self test may include the following steps.

And S501, the BMC acquires that the power state of the current server is S5.

S502, the BMC controls the server to start and carry out power-on self-test.

S503, the BMC waits for a first time period t 1.

And S504, the BMC acquires that the power state of the current server is S0.

In the step S503, in the extended boot-POST process, t1 seconds are waited before PCIe scanning is performed, t1 is set according to the time length of completion of power-on of the intelligent network card, and t1 is greater than the time length of completion of power-on of the intelligent network card, so that the server can identify the PCIe device, which is the intelligent network card.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, in the process of expanding the boot-POST, t1 seconds are waited before PCIe is scanned, t1 is set according to the time length of completion of power-on of the intelligent network card, and t1 is greater than the time length of completion of power-on of the intelligent network card, so that the server can identify the PCIe device, which is the intelligent network card.

As shown in fig. 5b, the extended boot process may include the following steps.

S511, obtaining the user starting request.

S512, the BMC senses and judges the current power state of the server.

S513, judging whether the current power state of the server is Extended-S5, if so, executing S514; if not, go to S516.

And S514, finishing the startup of the user.

S515, the server enters the power state S0, and the flow ends.

S516, judging whether the current power state of the server is S5, if so, executing S517; if not, go to S518.

And S517, after the BMC controls the server to execute the operations of expanding the startup and the power-on self-test, the process is ended.

And S518, determining that the user operation is wrong, recording related logs, and ending the process.

In the server boot process designed in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the power state of the server may be converted into the working state S0, and the boot operation is valid only when the current power state of the server is S5 or Extended-S5. If the power state of the current server is Extended-S5, the BMC controls the server to perform the process of switching from Extended-S5 to S0, and the intelligent network card is normally powered.

In some embodiments, in the case that the power operation is a restart operation, after the BMC control server performs the power operation and converts the power state, the target power state is an operating state.

And S31, controlling the server to shut down under the condition that the initial power state of the server is determined to be the working state, and controlling the PCIe equipment to be normally powered in the shutdown process.

S32, after the server completes the shutdown and waits for the preset state transition waiting time, when the server enters the Extended shutdown state Extended-S5, the server executes the preset Extended startup operation, and the current initial power state of the server is converted into the working state.

Through steps S31-S32, in the process of controlling the server to perform Extended restart, if the power state of the server successfully enters the Extended power-off state Extended-S5, a predetermined Extended power-on operation is executed, and the power state is converted into a working state, and the PCIe device does not power down in the whole process.

In some embodiments, the power management method of the embodiments of the present disclosure may further include the following steps. And S34, after the server completes shutdown and waits for the preset state conversion waiting time, executing preset expansion startup and power-on self-test operation under the condition that the server does not enter the expansion shutdown state, and converting the current initial power state of the server into a working state.

By way of example, the predetermined state transition waiting time is, for example, at most t2 seconds, for example, 10 seconds, before waiting for the Extended power state to change to Extended-S5, if the Extended power state does not change to Extended-S5 after timeout, the server abandons entry into Extended-S5 and initiates operations of Extended power-on and power-on self-test, and the server performs the power state S0, that is, performs power-on self-test again.

In this embodiment, when it is determined that the initial power state of the server is the working state, the server is controlled to perform extended shutdown, and after it is determined that extended shutdown is performed, and the power state of the server enters the shutdown state S5, a predetermined extended startup operation is performed, and the power state is converted into the working state, so that the PCIe device is not powered down in the whole process.

In this embodiment, in the process of controlling the server to perform the extended reboot, if the power state of the server does not successfully enter the extended power-off state but enters the power-off state S5, predetermined extended power-on and power-on self-test operations are performed, and the power state is converted into a working state, so that the PCIe device does not power down in the entire process.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an extended restart operation of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 6, the extended restart operation flow may include the following steps.

S601, receiving a user restart request.

S602, the BMC senses and judges the current power state of the server.

S603, judging whether the current power state of the server is S0, if not, executing S604; if yes, go to S605.

S604, determining that the user operation is wrong, recording related logs, and ending the process.

And S605, finishing shutdown by the user.

S607, the BMC waits for a second duration t 2.

S608, judging whether the current power state of the server is Extended-S5, if yes, executing S609; if not, go to S610.

And S609, executing a preset expansion starting operation.

S610, executing preset expansion starting and power-on self-test operation.

Through the steps S601-S610, when performing the Extended restart operation, the server may enter the Extended power state Extended-S5 first, and then enter the Extended power state S0; only when the current expansion power state is S0, the restart operation command is valid, and the PCIe device does not power down in the whole process.

As can be seen from the above description of the embodiments, the power management method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure designs power management based on firmware information of a standard server. The firmware design comprises two parts, namely BIOS design and BMC design.

Through the BMC design, the BMC has the capability of acquiring the power state of a machine, namely, the BMC can inquire whether the current Extended power state of the server is one of S5, Extended-S5 and S0 through a command, and can control the operation of the Extended power of the server through the command;

through the BIOS design, specific operations may be added during the power-on and power-off processes of the server BIOS, for example, during the power-on process of the server BIOS, a predetermined scan waiting duration is waited before scanning the PCIe device, and during the power-off process of the BIOS, when the current power state of the server is determined to be S0, the power-off request is allowed to be executed. The firmware design ensures that the intelligent network card is not powered off after being on line, so that the intelligent network card is not bound with a customized server for use any more, and the intelligent network card can be deployed on any standard server for on-line.

According to the power management method disclosed by the embodiment of the disclosure, a firmware which is adaptive to power-on and power-off of the intelligent network card is designed for the cloud scene problem of providing the elastic bare metal service by carrying the intelligent network card from the universal server firmware, so that the PCIe equipment is ensured to be always in a normal power supply state after being deployed on line. The design allows all general servers in the market to be provided with the intelligent network card to provide cloud services, so that the defects of high threshold, high cost and long period of server hardware customization are overcome, the development difficulty, the development cost and the development period are effectively reduced, and the use and the deployment of PCIe devices such as the intelligent network card and the like in cloud infrastructure are greatly facilitated.

Fig. 7 shows a flowchart of a firmware update method of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In a second aspect, referring to fig. 7, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a firmware updating method applied to a baseboard management controller of a server, where the method may include the following steps.

S710, generating extended power state information of the server, wherein the extended power state information comprises a shutdown state, a working state and an extended shutdown state; and S720, updating firmware of the baseboard management controller by using the extended power state information, wherein the baseboard management controller is used for executing any one of the power management methods according to the extended power state information.

According to the firmware updating method disclosed by the embodiment of the invention, aiming at the problem that PCIe equipment cannot be powered down in the scene of the elastic bare metal server, any standard server can be ensured to be continuously powered up only by modifying the firmware in a server firmware upgrading mode without redesigning server hardware, so that the development difficulty, the development cost and the development period are effectively reduced, and the intelligent network card is greatly convenient to use and deploy in cloud infrastructure.

In one embodiment, a power off state to indicate a user power off state of a server and a unpowered state of a PCIe device coupled to the server; the working state is used for indicating the user startup state of the server and the power supply normal state of the PCIe equipment; and the expansion shutdown state is used for indicating the user shutdown state of the server and the power supply normal state of the PCIe equipment.

In this embodiment, the Extended power state may be a power state defined for a cloud client, and the Extended power state of the server is defined in an Extended manner in advance, that is, it is determined that the server includes three Extended power states, i.e., a power-off state S5, an Extended power-off state Extended-S5, and a working state S0, so as to provide a configuration information basis on which the BMC control server performs Extended power operations and power state transitions according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the firmware updating method of the embodiment of the disclosure, a firmware updating method adaptive to power-on and power-off of the intelligent network card is designed for the difficult problem of a cloud scene of providing an elastic bare metal service by carrying the intelligent network card from a general server firmware, so as to ensure that the intelligent network card is always in a normal power supply state after online deployment. The design allows all general servers in the market to install the intelligent network card to provide cloud services, avoids high threshold, high cost and long period of server hardware customization, thereby effectively reducing development difficulty, development cost and development period and ensuring the use and deployment of the intelligent network card in cloud infrastructure.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a power management device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

In a third aspect, referring to fig. 8, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a power management apparatus 800 applied to a baseboard management controller of a server, where the server is coupled to a PCIe device, and the PCIe device itself includes a processor and an operating system, and the apparatus may include the following modules.

A state obtaining module 810, configured to determine, in response to a command of power operation, an initial power state where the server is currently located; the operation executing module 810 is configured to, based on the initial power state of the server, control the server to execute a power operation and convert the power operation into a target power state, where the target power state is a power state corresponding to the power operation, and the target power state is used to indicate a power supply normal state of the PCIe device.

In some embodiments, the initial power state comprises one of a power-off state, an operating state, and an extended power-off state, and the target power state comprises one of an operating state and an extended power-off state; the power-off state, the working state and the extended power-off state are extended power supply state information of firmware information which is written into the server in advance; a power-off state for indicating a user power-off state of the server and a non-powered state of the PCIe device; the working state is used for indicating the user startup state of the server and the power supply normal state of the PCIe equipment; and the expansion shutdown state is used for indicating the user shutdown state of the server and the power supply normal state of the PCIe equipment.

In some embodiments, the power operation is a shutdown operation and the target power state is an extended shutdown state; the operation execution module comprises a shutdown execution unit and a power-off execution unit, wherein the shutdown execution unit is used for controlling the server to be shut down under the condition that the initial power state of the server is determined to be the working state; in the shutdown process, normally supplying power to PCIe equipment; and converting the current initial power state of the server into an extended power-off state.

In some embodiments, the power operation is a power-on operation, and the target power state is an operating state; the operation execution module comprises a starting-up execution unit and a power supply management unit, wherein the starting-up execution unit is used for executing the preset extended starting-up operation under the condition that the initial power supply state of the server is determined to be the extended power-off state, and converting the initial power supply state of the server into a working state; and executing preset extended starting and power-on self-test operations under the condition that the initial power state of the server is determined to be a shutdown state, and converting the initial power state of the server into a working state.

In some embodiments, the power operation is a restart operation, the target power state is an operating state; the operation execution module comprises a restarting execution unit and a control unit, wherein the restarting execution unit is used for controlling the server to be shut down under the condition that the current initial power state of the server is determined to be the working state, and controlling the PCIe equipment to be normally powered in the shutdown process; after the server finishes shutdown and waits for a preset state conversion waiting time, under the condition that the server enters an extended shutdown state, executing a preset extended startup operation, and converting the current initial power state of the server into a working state.

In some embodiments, the restart execution unit is further configured to, after the server completes shutdown and waits for the predetermined state transition waiting duration, execute a predetermined extended startup and power-on self-test operation when the server does not enter the extended shutdown state, and convert the current initial power state of the server into a working state.

In some embodiments, the boot execution unit or the reboot execution unit, when configured to execute the predetermined extended boot operation, is specifically configured to: in the power-on self-test process of the server, a preset scanning waiting time length is waited before PCIe equipment is scanned, and the scanning waiting time length is longer than the power-on completion time length of the PCIe equipment; a power up is performed on the scanned PCIe device.

In some embodiments, the power-on execution unit or the reboot execution unit, when configured to perform the predetermined extended power-on and power-on self-test operations, may be configured to: and after the server is powered on, powering on the scanned PCIe equipment.

According to the power management device disclosed by the embodiment of the disclosure, the BMC of the server can acquire the current initial power state of the server, and control the server to execute the corresponding power operation and convert the power state according to the current initial power state of the server, and the converted power state is one of the working state and the extended power-off state corresponding to the power operation, so that it can be ensured that the PCIe device is not powered off, that is, the PCIe device is normally powered on, in the process of executing the power operation of the server.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a firmware updating apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

In a fourth aspect, referring to fig. 9, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a firmware updating apparatus 900, which may include the following modules.

The state information generating module 910 is configured to generate extended power state information of the server, where the extended power state information includes a power-off state, a working state, and an extended power-off state.

The status information updating module 920 is configured to update firmware of a baseboard management controller using the extended power status information, where the baseboard management controller is configured to execute any one of the power management methods according to the extended power status information.

The firmware updating device disclosed by the embodiment of the disclosure can be started from a general server firmware, and is designed for solving the cloud scene problem of providing elastic bare metal service for carrying the intelligent network card, so that the firmware which is adaptive to power-on and power-off of the intelligent network card is designed, and the intelligent network card is ensured to be always in a normal power supply state after being deployed on line. The design allows all general servers in the market to install the intelligent network card to provide cloud services, avoids high threshold, high cost and long period of server hardware customization, thereby effectively reducing development difficulty, development cost and development period and ensuring the use and deployment of the intelligent network card in cloud infrastructure.

It is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the particular configurations and processes described in the above embodiments and shown in the drawings. For convenience and brevity of description, detailed description of a known method is omitted here, and for the specific working processes of the system, the module and the unit described above, reference may be made to corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

The present disclosure also provides an electronic device and a readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an example electronic device 1000 that can be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure. Electronic devices are intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers. The electronic device may also represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital processing, cellular phones, smart phones, wearable devices, and other similar computing devices. The components shown herein, their connections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to be examples only, and are not meant to limit implementations of the disclosure described and/or claimed herein.

As shown in fig. 10, the apparatus 1000 includes a computing unit 1001 that can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to a computer program stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM)1002 or a computer program in a Random Access Memory (RAM)1003 from a storage unit 1008. In the RAM1003, various programs and data necessary for the operation of the device 1000 can also be stored. The calculation unit 1001, the ROM1002, and the RAM1003 are connected to each other by a bus 1004. An input/output (I/O) interface 1005 is also connected to bus 1004. A number of components in device 1000 are connected to I/O interface 1005, including: an input unit 1006 such as a keyboard, a mouse, and the like; an output unit 1007 such as various types of displays, speakers, and the like; a storage unit 1008 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or the like; and a communication unit 1009 such as a network card, a modem, a wireless communication transceiver, or the like. The communication unit 1009 allows the device 1000 to exchange information/data with other devices through a computer network such as the internet and/or various telecommunication networks.

Computing unit 1001 may be a variety of general and/or special purpose processing components with processing and computing capabilities. Some examples of the computing unit 1001 include, but are not limited to, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), various dedicated Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing chips, various computing units running machine learning model algorithms, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), and any suitable processor, controller, microcontroller, and so forth. The calculation unit 1001 executes the respective methods and processes described above, such as the power management method or the firmware update method. For example, in some embodiments, the power management method or firmware update method may be implemented as a computer software program tangibly embodied in a machine-readable medium, such as the storage unit 1008. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program may be loaded and/or installed onto device 1000 via ROM1002 and/or communications unit 1009. When the computer program is loaded into the RAM1003 and executed by the computing unit 1001, one or more steps of the power management method or the firmware update method described above may be performed. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the computing unit 1001 may be configured to perform the power management method or the firmware update method by any other suitable means (e.g., by means of firmware).

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here above may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Application Specific Standard Products (ASSPs), system on a chip (SOCs), load programmable logic devices (CPLDs), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These various embodiments may include: implemented in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, receiving data and instructions from, and transmitting data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

Program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of this disclosure, a machine-readable medium may be a tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a machine-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection based on one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here can be implemented on a computer having: a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to a user; and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which a user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices may also be used to provide for interaction with a user; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user may be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front-end component (e.g., a user computer having a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include: local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), and the Internet.

The computer system may include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is also provided a computer program product including a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements any one of the above-described power management method or firmware update method.

The computer system may include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The servers can be distributed servers or servers that incorporate blockchains, with the relationship of client and server arising from computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

Artificial intelligence is the subject of research that causes computers to simulate certain mental processes and intelligent behaviors of humans (e.g., learning, reasoning, planning, etc.), both at the hardware level and at the software level. The artificial intelligence hardware technology generally comprises the technologies of a sensor, a special artificial intelligence chip, cloud computing, distributed storage, big data processing and the like; the artificial intelligence software technology comprises a computer vision technology, a voice recognition technology, a natural language processing technology, machine learning/deep learning, a big data processing technology, a knowledge map technology and the like.

It should be understood that various forms of the flows shown above may be used, with steps reordered, added, or deleted. For example, the steps described in the present disclosure may be executed in parallel, sequentially, or in different orders, as long as the desired results of the technical solutions disclosed in the present disclosure can be achieved, and the present disclosure is not limited herein.

The above detailed description should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and substitutions may be made in accordance with design requirements and other factors. Any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure should be included in the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A power management method for a baseboard management controller of a server coupled to a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) device, the method comprising:

responding to a command of power supply operation, and determining an initial power supply state in which the server is currently positioned;

and controlling the server to execute the power supply operation and convert the power supply operation into a target power supply state based on the initial power supply state of the server, wherein the target power supply state is a power supply state corresponding to the power supply operation, and the target power supply state is used for indicating a normal power supply state of the PCIe equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein,

the initial power state comprises one of a shutdown state, a working state and an extended shutdown state, and the target power state comprises one of the working state and the extended shutdown state; and wherein the one or more of the one,

the shutdown state, the working state and the extended shutdown state are extended power supply state information which is written in the firmware information of the server in advance;

the power-off state is used for indicating a power-off state of a user of the server and a power-off state of the PCIe device;

the working state is used for indicating a user startup state of the server and a power supply normal state of the PCIe equipment;

and the expansion shutdown state is used for indicating the user shutdown state of the server and the power supply normal state of the PCIe equipment.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the power operation is a shutdown operation, the target power state is an extended shutdown state;

the controlling the server to perform the power operation and convert into a target power state based on the initial power state of the server includes:

under the condition that the initial power state of the server is determined to be the working state, controlling the server to be powered off;

in the shutdown process, the PCIe equipment is normally powered;

and converting the initial power state of the server into an extended power-off state.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the power operation is a power-on operation, the target power state is an operational state;

executing a preset expansion starting-up operation under the condition that the initial power state of the server is determined to be an expansion shutdown state, and converting the initial power state of the server into a working state;

and executing preset extended starting and power-on self-test operations under the condition that the initial power state of the server is determined to be a shutdown state, and converting the initial power state of the server into a working state.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the power operation is a reboot operation, the target power state is an operational state;

under the condition that the initial power state of the server is determined to be a working state, the server is controlled to be powered off, and the PCIe equipment is controlled to be normally powered on in the power-off process;

and after the server finishes shutdown and waits for a preset state conversion waiting time, executing a preset extended startup operation under the condition that the server enters an extended shutdown state, and converting the initial power state of the server into a working state.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

after the server finishes shutdown and waits for a preset state conversion waiting time, under the condition that the server does not enter an extended shutdown state, executing preset extended startup and power-on self-test operation, and converting the initial power state of the server into a working state.

7. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein the performing the predetermined extended boot operation comprises:

in the power-on self-test process of the server, waiting for a preset scanning waiting time before scanning the PCIe equipment, wherein the scanning waiting time is longer than the power-on completion time of the PCIe equipment;

and powering on the scanned PCIe device.

8. The method according to claim 4 or 6, wherein the performing the predetermined extended power-on and power-on self-test operations comprises at least: and after the server is powered on, powering on the scanned PCIe equipment.

9. The method of any one of claims 1-6,

the PCIe device itself contains a processor and an operating system.

10. A firmware information updating method is applied to a baseboard management controller of a server, and comprises the following steps:

generating extended power state information of a server, wherein the extended power state information comprises a shutdown state, a working state and an extended shutdown state;

updating firmware of the baseboard management controller by using the extended power state information, wherein the baseboard management controller is used for executing the power management method according to any one of claims 1-9 according to the extended power state information.

11. A power management apparatus for a baseboard management controller of a server coupled to a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) device, comprising:

the state acquisition module is used for responding to a power supply operation command and determining the current initial power supply state of the server;

and the operation execution module is used for controlling the server to execute the power supply operation and convert the power supply operation into a target power supply state based on the initial power supply state of the server, wherein the target power supply state is a power supply state corresponding to the power supply operation, and the target power supply state is used for indicating a normal power supply state of the PCIe equipment.

12. A firmware update apparatus comprising:

the system comprises a state information generating module, a state information generating module and a state information generating module, wherein the state information generating module is used for generating extended power state information of a server, and the extended power state information comprises a shutdown state, a working state and an extended shutdown state;

a status information updating module, configured to update firmware of the baseboard management controller using the extended power status information, where the baseboard management controller is configured to execute the power management method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 according to the extended power status information.

13. An electronic device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9, or claim 10.

14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9 or claim 10.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any of claims 1-9, or claim 10.