TW201441832A - System and method of controlling ROM of baseboard management controller - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a system and a method of controlling ROM of baseboard management controller and is applied in the rack server. Receive the interrupted signal of the GPIO and make the request of the BMC join the queue. Read the untreated request from the queue. Make the serial peripherals interface of the rack server link to the BMC by the multiplex and restart the BMC. Then transmit the ROM file of the BMC to the BMC by transmitting thread. This invention can make management of the server more centralized, facilitate the development of management programs, convenient the debugging of developers, and IT managers.

Description

Substrate management controller read-only memory control system and method

The invention relates to a substrate management controller (BMC) read-only memory control system and method.

At present, with the development of the Internet Data Center (IDC), the number of IDC servers has also increased rapidly with the development of the Internet data center. In order to facilitate unified management, designers stack multiple servers into a single cabinet and design a Rack Management Controller (RMC) to allocate and manage server resources in the cabinet. Each single server in the cabinet will be designed with a basic management controller BMC system. Each BMC will have a Read-Only Memory (ROM) based on the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI). For the cabinet server, when you need to upgrade the firmware of each server in the cabinet, you need to connect to each server in the cabinet to complete the upgrade. Similarly, when it is necessary to debug the BMC system of each server in the cabinet, it is also necessary to connect to the BMC system of each server in the cabinet for debugging, which is completely unsuitable for the needs of centralized management.

In view of the above, it is necessary to provide a substrate management controller read-only memory control system and method, which can make the management of the server more centralized from centralized management, facilitate the development of management programs, and facilitate developers and IT management. Commissioning of personnel.

A substrate management controller read-only memory control system running in a rack server, the system comprising: a receiving module, configured to receive an interrupt signal generated by a general-purpose input/output GPIO expansion chip, and corresponding to the interrupt signal The request of the BMC is added to the queue, and the BMC of each server in the rack server is connected to the rack management controller through the GIPO expansion chip; the reading module is used to read the queue An unprocessed BMC request; a control module, configured to connect the serial port peripheral interface of the rack management controller to the BMC through a multiplexer, and issue a command to restart the BMC; The transfer thread is started, and the read-only memory file corresponding to the BMC in the read-only memory ROM of the rack management controller is transmitted to the BMC.

A substrate management controller read-only memory control method is applied to a rack server, the method comprising: receiving step, receiving an interrupt signal generated by a general-purpose input/output GPIO expansion chip, and the BMC corresponding to the interrupt signal Requesting to join the queue, the BMC of each server in the rack server is connected to the rack management controller through the GIPO expansion chip; the reading step reads an unprocessed BMC in the queue a requesting step of connecting a serial port peripheral interface of the rack management controller to the BMC through a multiplexer, and issuing a command to restart the BMC; transmitting a step, starting a transfer thread, and the cabinet management controller The read-only memory file of the BMC in the read-only memory ROM is transmitted to the BMC.

Compared with the prior art, the substrate management controller reads the memory control system and method, so that no firmware of any form is needed in each server in the cabinet, and the BMC of the server can work normally, and the cost is low. And easy to manage. At the same time, the management of the server is more distributed to the centralized management, which facilitates the development of the management program and facilitates the debugging of developers and IT managers. Moreover, all server BMCs do not need to use the same read-only memory file. Each BMC has its own corresponding read-only memory file, which is convenient for the management of each server's BMC system. It also facilitates the upgrade of the BMC system. It only needs to replace the corresponding BMC firmware on the RMC with the upgraded BMC firmware.

1. . . Cabinet server

2. . . Cabinet management controller

20. . . Read only memory

twenty one. . . Substrate management controller read-only memory control system

210. . . Receiving module

211. . . Read module

212. . . Control module

213. . . Transmission module

214. . . Judging module

3. . . Multiplexer

4. . . BMC

5. . . GPIO expansion chip

6. . . server

1 is a diagram showing an application environment of a BMC read-only memory control system of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram of a BMC read-only memory control system of the present invention.

3 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of the BMC read-only memory control method of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, it is an application environment diagram of the BMC read-only memory control system of the present invention. The substrate management controller read-only memory control system 21 is applied to the rack server 1 to control the read-only memory (ROM) document of the BMC 4 in the plurality of servers 6 in the cabinet. The rack server 1 further includes a Rack Management Controller (RMC) 2, a multiplexer 3, and a General Purpose Input Output (GPIO) expansion chip 5. The cabinet management controller 2 also includes a read only memory (ROM) 20. The number of the servers 6 is one or more. One of the servers 6 corresponds to one of the BMCs 4.

The read-only memory (ROM) 20 is configured to store a read-only memory file corresponding to each BMC 4, and each BMC 4 corresponds to a respective read-only memory file, and each of the read-only memory files is There is a corresponding BMC firmware, and the BMC firmware includes a BMC operating system. In this embodiment, when there are N BMCs, that is, only N read-only memory files in the memory are read.

The rack management controller 2 is connected to the multiplexer 3 through a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), and the multiplexer (MUX) 3 is respectively connected to each servo through an SPI protocol signal. The serial port of the device 6 is the peripheral interface. The SPI protocol is used to transmit data of the cabinet management controller 2 and the multiplexer 3 and the multiplexer 3 and the respective servers 6.

The rack management controller 2 is connected to the GPIO expansion chip 5 through an I2C bus signal. The BMC 4 is connected to the GPIO expansion wafer 5. When the BMC 4 is turned on, a chip select signal is generated. The GPIO expansion chip 5 generates an interrupt signal after receiving the chip select signal, and the cabinet management controller 2 controls the GPIO expansion chip through the I2C bus signal to query which BMC is caused. Interrupt signal.

The chip select signal is a signal generated when the BMC is turned on, and generally the chip select signal is active low.

The rack management controller 2 is connected to the multiplexer 3 through an I2C bus bar signal to control the multiplexer 3 to switch the connection between the rack management controller 2 and the serial port peripheral interface of each server 6, so that the The server 6 can perform data transmission with the rack management controller 2.

The execution of the substrate management controller read-only memory control system 21 includes a main thread and a transfer thread. The main thread and the transfer thread will be detailed later.

As shown in Figure 2, it is a module diagram of the BMC read-only memory control system. In this embodiment, the substrate management controller read-only memory control system 21 includes a receiving module 210, a reading module 211, a control module 212, a transmission module 213, and a determining module 214. The term "module" as used in the present invention refers to a series of computer programs that can be executed by a processor and that can perform fixed functions, which are stored in a memory. In the present embodiment, the functions of the respective modules will be specifically described in the flowchart of FIG.

3 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of the BMC read-only memory control method of the present invention. The order of the steps in the flowchart may be changed according to different requirements, and some steps may be omitted.

In step S10, the substrate management controller reads up the main thread random cabinet management controller 2 of the read-only memory control system 21, and initializes the multiplexer 3, the GPIO expansion chip 5, and the queue in the main thread.

The main thread runs in the system of the rack management controller 2 in the form of a daemon process. The thread is a main thread executed by the substrate management controller read-only memory control system 21, and includes a receiving module 210 and a reading module. 211. The execution of the control module 212 and the determination module 214. The daemon process is a plurality of services that are started when the system boots in a Linux or unix operating system.

The queue is a queuing of the requests in a sequential order according to the order in which the BMC 4 sends the request. The request means that the BMC 4 requests the rack management controller 2 to obtain the desired read-only memory file.

In step S11, the receiving module 210 receives the interrupt signal generated by the GPIO expansion chip 5 after receiving the chip select signal when the BMC 4 is powered on, and adds the request of the BMC corresponding to the interrupt signal to the queue.

The GPIO expansion chip 5 has a plurality of vias, and one BMC 4 corresponds to a respective one of the vias. Each of the BMCs generates the chip select signal when the boot is started, and each BMC communicates with the connected path thereof, and the GPIO extended chip 5 immediately generates the interrupt of the path after receiving the chip select signal. Signaling, and transmitting an interrupt signal corresponding to the path to the rack management controller 2, after receiving the interrupt signal, the rack management controller 2 can use the interrupt signal to determine which path is interrupted Therefore, it can be determined which BMC of the server of the specific location issues the request, and the request of the BMC corresponding to the interrupt signal is added to the queue.

In step S12, the reading module 211 reads a request of an unprocessed BMC in the queue.

In step S13, the control module 212 connects the serial port peripheral interface of the rack management controller 2 to the BMC through the multiplexer 3, and issues a command to restart the BMC to restart the BMC.

In step S14, the transmission module 213 starts the transmission thread, and transmits the read-only memory file corresponding to the BMC in the read-only memory 20 of the cabinet management controller 2 to the BMC to complete the startup of the BMC.

After the transmission module 213 starts the transmission thread, the content of the read-only memory file corresponding to the BMC in the cabinet management controller 2 is transferred to the transmission thread, and then the SPI protocol analysis rule is used in the transmission thread to The contents of the read memory file are gradually sent to the BMC through the serial port peripheral interface bus, thereby completing the BMC startup. When the read-only memory file is in the transfer thread, the main thread is still waiting.

In step S15, the determining module 214 determines whether there is a request for the unprocessed BMC in the queue. When there is a request for the unprocessed BMC in the queue, the process returns to step S12; when there is no request for the unprocessed BMC in the queue, the process ends.

Through the substrate management controller read-only memory control system and method of the present invention, any form of firmware memory is not required in each server in the cabinet, and the BMC of each server can also work normally, and the cost is low and the management is convenient. At the same time, the management of each server is more distributed to the centralized management, which facilitates the development of the management program and facilitates the debugging of developers and IT managers. Moreover, all server BMCs do not need to use the same read-only memory file. Each BMC has its own corresponding read-only memory file, which is convenient for the management of each server's BMC system.

It should be noted that the above embodiments are only for explaining the technical solutions of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting, and the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments. Modifications or equivalents are made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

twenty one. . . Substrate management controller read-only memory control system

210. . . Receiving module

211. . . Read module

212. . . Control module

213. . . Transmission module

214. . . Judging module

Claims (10)

A substrate management controller read-only memory control system running in a rack server, the system comprising:
a receiving module, configured to receive an interrupt signal generated by the general-purpose input/output GPIO expansion chip, and add a request of the BMC corresponding to the interrupt signal to the queue, where the BMC of each server in the rack server transmits The GIPO expansion chip is connected to the cabinet management controller;
a reading module, configured to read a request of an unprocessed BMC in the queue;
a control module, configured to connect the serial port peripheral interface of the rack management controller to the BMC through a multiplexer, and issue a command to restart the BMC;
The transmission module is configured to start the transmission thread, and transmit the read-only memory file corresponding to the BMC in the read-only memory ROM of the cabinet management controller to the BMC. According to the substrate management controller read-only memory control system of claim 1, the system further includes a judging module that determines whether there is an unprocessed BMC request in the queue. According to the substrate management controller read-only memory control system of claim 1, the BMC of each server corresponds to a respective read-only memory file. According to the substrate management controller read-only memory control system of claim 1, the transmission module gradually passes the content of the read-only memory file through the serialization by the parsing rule of the serial port peripheral interface SPI protocol The peripheral interface bus is sent to the BMC. According to the substrate management controller read-only memory control system of claim 1, the GPIO expansion chip has a plurality of paths, and one BMC corresponds to a respective path; the GPIO expansion chip receives the communication with the path through the path. The chip select signal generated by the BMC at power-on startup, thereby generating an interrupt signal for the path. A substrate management controller read-only memory control method is applied to a rack server, and the method comprises:
Receiving, receiving an interrupt signal generated by the general-purpose input/output GPIO expansion chip, and adding a request of the BMC corresponding to the interrupt signal to the queue, wherein the BMC of each server in the rack server transmits the GIPO The extension die is connected to the rack management controller;
a reading step of reading a request of an unprocessed BMC in the queue;
a control step of connecting the serial port peripheral interface of the rack management controller to the BMC through a multiplexer, and issuing a command to restart the BMC;
The transmitting step starts the transmission thread and transmits the read-only memory file of the BMC in the read-only memory ROM of the cabinet management controller to the BMC. According to the substrate management controller read-only memory control method of claim 6, the method further includes a determining step of determining whether there is an unprocessed BMC request in the queue; When there is a request from the unprocessed BMC, the reading step is returned. According to the substrate management controller read-only memory control method of claim 6, the BMC of each server corresponds to a respective read-only memory file. According to the substrate management controller read-only memory control method of claim 6, in the transmitting step, the content of the read-only memory file is gradually transmitted through the serial port according to the parsing rule of the serial port peripheral interface SPI protocol. The peripheral interface bus is sent to the BMC. According to the substrate management controller read-only memory control method of claim 6 of the patent application scope, the GPIO expansion chip has a plurality of paths, and one BMC corresponds to a respective path;
In the receiving step, the GPIO expansion chip receives the chip select signal generated by the BMC communicating with the path when the power is turned on through the path, thereby generating an interrupt signal of the path.