TWI473086B - Computer system - Google Patents

Description

computer system

The present invention relates to a computer system, and more particularly to a computer system having a plurality of hard disks.

Manufacturers of computer systems, especially server manufacturers, often install different numbers of motherboards in their computer systems to meet the needs of different customers. Regardless of how many motherboards are installed in a computer system, these motherboards share a hard disk back plane. Also, the hard disk backplane connects multiple hard disks to distribute the hard disks used by each motherboard.

According to the prior art, when each motherboard is loaded into the operating system and starts to operate, each motherboard can communicate with the hard disk backplane and use the corresponding hard disk. Moreover, when each motherboard communicates with the hard disk backplane, each motherboard can also obtain the state of the hard disks. However, when the above-mentioned motherboard is not operating normally, the user cannot obtain the state of the hard disks through the motherboard. Moreover, in the case where the user cannot understand the state of the hard disk, the user cannot perform timely processing when the hard disk operates abnormally, so that the computer system operates abnormally and affects the performance of the computer system.

The invention provides a computer system. When the motherboard is not working normally, the baseboard management controller of the motherboard can obtain the state of each hard disk through the information management unit, so that the user can still monitor the hard state through the baseboard management controller of the motherboard. The status of the disc.

The invention provides a computer system comprising a plurality of hard disks, a hard disk backplane, an information management unit, an intermediate backplane and a plurality of motherboards. The hard disk backplane is coupled to the hard disks to manage the hard disks. The information management unit is coupled to the hard disk backplane to obtain the state of the hard disks. The middle backplane is coupled to the hard disk backplane. Each of the motherboards has a baseboard management controller, and the baseboard management controllers of the motherboards are coupled to the information management unit and the intermediate backplane. When each motherboard is loaded into an operating system and starts to operate, the baseboard management controller of each motherboard is coupled to the hard disk backplane through the intermediate backplane to obtain the state of the hard disks. When each motherboard is not working normally, the baseboard management controller of each motherboard obtains the state of the hard disks through the information management unit.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the hard disks are abnormally operated, the substrate management controllers of the respective motherboards manage the abnormally operating hard disks through the information management unit according to an operation strategy, and provide a related message to the user. When the operation of each hard disk is abnormal, the baseboard management controller of each motherboard sends a diagnostic command to the hard disk backplane through the information management unit to diagnose the state of the abnormally operating hard disk and provide a diagnostic message to the user, or The baseboard management controller of each motherboard sends a shutdown command to the hard disk backplane through the information management unit to close the abnormally operating hard disk and provide a hard disk management message to the user.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the information management unit is a fan management unit, and the computer system further includes a plurality of fans respectively corresponding to the motherboards and the hard disks. The fan management unit is based on the status of the motherboards and the hard disks. The state manages the state of these fans.

In an embodiment of the invention, the computer system further includes a plurality of fans and a fan management unit. These fans correspond to these motherboards and these hard dish. The fan management unit is coupled to the hard disk backplane and the baseboard management controllers of the motherboards to obtain the status of the hard disks and the status of the motherboards. The fan management unit manages the status of these fans based on the status of these motherboards and the status of these drives.

The invention also provides a computer system comprising a plurality of hard disks, a hard disk backplane, an intermediate backplane, a plurality of motherboards, a plurality of fans and a fan management unit. The hard disk backplane is coupled to the hard disks to manage the hard disks. The middle backplane is coupled to the hard disk backplane. Each of the plurality of motherboards has a baseboard management controller, and the baseboard management controllers of the motherboards are coupled to the intermediate backplane. A plurality of fans respectively correspond to the motherboards and the hard disks. The fan management unit is coupled to the hard disk backplane and the baseboard management controllers of the motherboards to obtain the status of the hard disks and the status of the motherboards. The fan management unit manages the status of these fans based on the status of these motherboards and the status of these drives. When the motherboards are loaded into an operating system and start to operate, the baseboard management controllers of the respective motherboards are coupled to the hard disk backplane through the intermediate backplane to obtain the state of the hard disks. When the respective motherboards are not working normally, each The board management controller of the motherboard obtains the status of the hard disks through the fan management unit.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the baseboard management controller of each motherboard establishes an event log according to the state of the hard disks to record the state changes of the hard disks.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when each hard disk operates abnormally, the substrate management controller of each motherboard sends a warning message to the user. When the operation of each hard disk is abnormal, the substrate management controller of each motherboard manages an abnormal hard disk through a fan management unit according to an operation strategy, and provides a related message to the user, or a substrate management control of each motherboard. The controller sends a diagnostic command to the hard disk backplane through the fan management unit to diagnose the status of the abnormally operating hard disk and provide a diagnostic message to the user.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the operation of each hard disk is abnormal, the baseboard management controller of each motherboard sends a shutdown command to the hard disk backplane through the fan management unit to shut down the abnormally operating hard disk and provide a hard disk. The hard disk management message is sent to the user.

Based on the above, in the computer system of the embodiment of the present invention, when the motherboard is in normal operation, the baseboard management controller of the motherboard can obtain the state of each hard disk through the hard disk backplane; when the motherboard is not working normally, the motherboard of the motherboard The management controller can obtain the status of each hard disk through the information management unit or the fan management unit, so that the user can monitor the status of the hard disk.

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

1 is a system diagram of a computer system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 , in the embodiment, the computer system 100 includes a plurality of hard disks (here, four hard disks 110_1 110 110_4 are taken as an example), a hard disk backplane 120, a fan management unit 130, and an intermediate backplane 140. A plurality of motherboards (here, four motherboards 150_1 to 150_4 are taken as an example) and a plurality of fans (here, eight fans 160_1 to 160_8 are taken as an example).

The hard disk backplane 120 is coupled to the hard disks 110_1 110 110_4 to manage the hard disks 110_1 110 110_4. The intermediate backplane 140 is coupled to the hard disk backplane 120. The motherboards 150_1~150_4 respectively have a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) 151_1~151_4. The substrate management controllers 151_1~151_4 are coupled to the intermediate backplane 140. Fan management unit 130 The hard disk backplane 120 is coupled to obtain the state of the hard disks 110_1~110_4 through the hard disk backplane 120, and the fan management unit 130 is coupled to the substrate management controllers 151_1~151_4 of the motherboards 150_1~150_4.

When each motherboard (such as 150_1~150_4) is loaded into a working system and starts to operate, the baseboard management controllers (such as 151_1~151_4) of each motherboard (such as 150_1~150_4) are loaded into the hard disk backplane 120 and in the middle. The driver of the backplane 140, the substrate management controller (such as 151_1~151_4) can communicate with the hard disk backplane 120 through the intermediate backplane 140, and is equivalent to the hard disk backplane 120 coupled through the intermediate backplane 140. The management controller (such as 151_1~151_4) can obtain the state of the hard disks 110_1~110_4 from the hard disk backplane 120, and obtain the read/write power of at least one of the hard disks 110_1~110_4.

On the other hand, when the computer system 100 has been supplied with AC power and each motherboard (such as 150_1~150_4) is not working properly (for example, the motherboard cannot be fully loaded into the operating system or the motherboard enters the sleep state while the motherboard is booting). The baseboard management controller (such as 151_1~151_4) of each motherboard (such as 150_1~150_4) does not load the driver of the hard disk backplane 120 and the intermediate backplane 140, so the baseboard management controller (such as 151_1~151_4) It is impossible to communicate with the intermediate backplane 140 and the hard disk backplane 120. At this time, since the substrate management controller (such as 151_1~151_4) is enabled when the AC power is supplied, the fan management unit 130 and the hard disk backplane 120 are supplied with a voltage of, for example, 12V during the booting process, The fan management unit 130 is the first component to be supplied with a voltage (generally, the voltage sequence to be supplied is, for example, 12V-5V-3V-1.5V), so that the hard disk 110_1~110_4 can be obtained through the fan management unit 130. status.

Further, the fan management unit 130 can transfer the status of the hard disks 110_1~110_4 to the substrate management controllers 151_1~151_4 after the first time the hard disks 110_1~110_4 are obtained, so as to store the states of the hard disks 110_1~110_4 in the substrate management controllers 151_1~151_4. Then, the fan management unit 130 can transfer the state of the changed hard disks 110_1~110_4 to the substrate management controllers 151_1~151_4 after the state of the hard disks 110_1~110_4 is changed, so as to be updated and stored in the substrate management controller 151_1. ~151_4 The status of the hard disk 110_1~110_4.

In general, some of the components (such as the hard disk backplane 120, the fan management unit 130, and the intermediate backplane 140) are not directly related to the user's operation, and thus the components can receive an external power source (such as a commercial power) in the computer system 100. In other words, some components (such as hard disk 110_1~110_4 and motherboard 150_1~150_4) are directly related to the user's operation, so the above components start to operate after receiving the user's operational requirements. According to the above, when the hard disks 110_1~110_4 are not in operation, the hard disk backplane 120 cannot receive signals from the hard disks 110_1~110_4, and can determine that the hard disks 110_1~110_4 are not operating. In addition, when one of the motherboards 150_1~150_4 is loaded into the operating system according to the operation requirements of the user and starts to operate, the computer system 100 starts the operation of the hard disks 110_1~110_4. At this time, the hard disk backplane 120 receives signals from the hard disks 110_1 110 110_4, and determines the state of the hard disks 110_1 110 110_4 accordingly.

After obtaining the state of the hard disk 110_1~110_4, the baseboard management controllers (such as 151_1~151_4) of each motherboard (such as 150_1~150_4) can establish an event log according to the state of the hard disks 110_1~110_4, The status changes of the hard disks 110_1 to 110_4 are recorded. And when each hard drive (For example, 110_1~110_4) When the operation is abnormal, the baseboard management controllers (such as 151_1~151_4) of each motherboard (such as 150_1~150_4) can communicate with the computer system 100 (such as I2C interface, SMS interface, IOL). The interface or RMCPP interface sends a warning message AIF to the user.

In addition, when the operation of each hard disk (such as 110_1~110_4) is abnormal, the substrate management (such as 151_1~151_4) of each motherboard (such as 150_1~150_4) can manage the abnormal operation hard according to an operation strategy and through the fan management unit 130. A disc (such as 110_1~110_4) and provide a related message to the user through the above communication interface. Further, when the hard disks (such as 110_1~110_4) operate abnormally, the baseboard management controllers (such as 151_1~151_4) of each motherboard (such as 150_1~150_4) can send a diagnostic command DCD to the fan management unit 130 to The hard disk backplane 120 is configured to diagnose the abnormal operation of the hard disk (such as 110_1~110_4) or all the hard disks 110_1~110_4, and provide a diagnostic message DIF to the user; or, when each hard disk (such as 110_1~110_4) When the operation is abnormal, the baseboard management controllers (such as 151_1~151_4) of each motherboard (such as 150_1~150_4) can send a shutdown command PCD to the hard disk backplane 120 through the fan management unit 130 to shut down the abnormally operating hard disk. (such as 110_1~110_4), and provide a hard disk management message HIF to the user.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when the message (such as the warning message AIF, the diagnostic message DIF, or the hard disk management message HIF) is provided to the user through the IOL interface, the enabler can remotely monitor the hard disk (eg, 110_1~110_4). )status.

In addition, when the fan management unit 130 is coupled to the motherboard 150_1~150_4 When the substrate management controllers 151_1 to 151_4 are used, the fan management unit 130 can acquire the states of the motherboards 150_1 to 150_4 through the substrate management controllers 151_1 to 151_4. Moreover, the fan management unit 130 is coupled to the fans 160_1 160 160_8.

After the fan management unit 130 receives the state of the motherboards 150_1~150_4 and the state of the hard disks 110_1~110_4, the fan management unit 130 can manage the fans 160_1~160_8 according to the states of the motherboards 150_1~150_4 and the states of the hard disks 110_1~110_4. status. In other words, in this embodiment, the correspondence between the fans 160_1~160_8 and the hard disks 110_1~110_4 and the motherboards 150_1~150_4 is one-to-one, that is, the fan 160_1 corresponds to the hard disk 110_1, and the fan 160_2 corresponds to the hard disk 110_2, and the rest can be Understand the picture. Therefore, the fan management unit 130 can manage the state of the fan 160_1 according to the state of the hard disk 110_1, and the fan management unit 130 can manage the state of the fan 160_2 according to the state of the hard disk 110_2, and the like.

In this embodiment, the correspondence between the fans 160_1~160_8 and the hard disks 110_1~110_4 or the motherboards 150_1~150_4 is one-to-one, but in other embodiments, the fans (such as 160_1~160_8) and the hard disk (such as 110_1) The correspondence between the ~110_4) or the motherboard (such as 150_1~150_4) may be many-to-one or one-to-many, which may be determined according to the actual configuration and circuit design of the computer system 100, and the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. Moreover, the fan management unit (eg, 130) manages the states of the respective fans (eg, 160_1~160_8) according to the states of the components (such as the hard disks 110_1~110_4 and the motherboards 150_1~150_4) of the respective fans (eg, 160_1~160_8).

In an embodiment of the invention, the hard disk backplane 120 and the fan management sheet The coupling interface of the element 130 may be a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART), and the coupling interface between the fan management unit 130 and the substrate management controllers 151_1~151_4 of the motherboards 150_1~150_4 may be a smart The platform is an Intelligent Platform Management Bus (IPMB), but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto.

2 is a system diagram of a computer system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the difference is in the information management unit 210 and the fan management unit 220, and the same or similar elements are given the same or similar reference numerals.

In this embodiment, the information management unit 210 is coupled to the hard disk backplane 120 to obtain the state of the hard disks 110_1 110 110_4 through the hard disk backplane 120, and the information management unit 130 is coupled to the substrate management control of the motherboards 150_1 150 150_4. 151_1~151_4. When the motherboards (such as 150_1~150_4) are not working normally, the baseboard management controllers (such as 151_1~151_4) of the motherboards (such as 150_1~150_4) can obtain the state of the hard disks 110_1~110_4 through the information management unit 210.

Further, the information management unit 210 can transmit the status of the hard disks 110_1~110_4 to the substrate management controllers 151_1~151_4 after the first time the hard disks 110_1~110_4 are obtained, so as to store the states of the hard disks 110_1~110_4 in the substrate management controllers 151_1~151_4. Then, the information management unit 210 can transfer the state of the changed hard disks 110_1~110_4 to the substrate management controllers 151_1~151_4 after the state of the hard disks 110_1~110_4 is changed, so as to be updated and stored in the substrate management controller 151_1. ~151_4 The status of the hard disk 110_1~110_4.

In addition, when each hard disk (such as 110_1~110_4) operates abnormally, the substrate management (such as 151_1~151_4) of each motherboard (such as 150_1~150_4) can be commanded according to an operation strategy and transmitted through the information management unit 210 (such as diagnosis). Directing the CDD to the hard disk backplane 120 to manage the operating hard disk (such as 110_1~110_4), and providing a related message (such as diagnostic message DIF or hard disk management message HIF) through the communication interface. By.

The fan management unit 220 is coupled to the hard disk backplane 120 to obtain the state of the hard disks 110_1~110_4 through the hard disk backplane 120, and the fan management unit 220 is coupled to the substrate management controllers 151_1~151_4 of the motherboards 150_1~150_4 to The states of the motherboards 150_1 to 150_4 are obtained by the substrate management controllers 151_1 to 151_4. Moreover, the fan management unit 220 is coupled to the fans 160_1 160 160_8. After the fan management unit 220 receives the state of the motherboards 150_1~150_4 and the state of the hard disks 110_1~110_4, the fan management unit 220 can manage the fans 160_1~160_8 according to the states of the motherboards 150_1~150_4 and the states of the hard disks 110_1~110_4. status.

In summary, in the computer system of the embodiment of the present invention, when the motherboard is in normal operation, the baseboard management controller of the motherboard can obtain the state of each hard disk through the hard disk backplane; when the motherboard is not working normally, the motherboard The substrate management controller can obtain the status of each hard disk through the information management unit or the fan management unit, so that the user can monitor the status of the hard disk. Moreover, when the substrate management controller of the motherboard obtains the state of each hard disk through the fan management unit, the circuit design of the computer system can be simplified.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art does not deviate. In the spirit and scope of the present invention, the scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100, 200‧‧‧ computer system

110_1~110_4‧‧‧ Hard disk

120‧‧‧hard disk backplane

130, 220‧‧‧Fan Management Unit

140‧‧‧Intermediate backplane

150_1~150_4‧‧‧ motherboard

151_1~151_4‧‧‧Base management controller

160_1~160_8‧‧‧fan

210‧‧‧Information Management Unit

AIF‧‧‧Warning message

DCD‧‧‧Diagnostic Instructions

DIF‧‧‧Diagnostic message

HIF‧‧‧ Hard Disk Management Message

PCD‧‧‧Close Order

1 is a system diagram of a computer system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a system diagram of a computer system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

100‧‧‧ computer system

110_1~110_4‧‧‧ Hard disk

120‧‧‧hard disk backplane

130‧‧‧Fan Management Unit

140‧‧‧Intermediate backplane

150_1~150_4‧‧‧ motherboard

151_1~151_4‧‧‧Base management controller

160_1~160_8‧‧‧fan

AIF‧‧‧Warning message

DCD‧‧‧Diagnostic Instructions

DIF‧‧‧Diagnostic message

HIF‧‧‧ Hard Disk Management Message

PCD‧‧‧Close Order

Claims (10)

A computer system comprising: a plurality of hard disks; a hard disk backplane coupled to the hard disks to manage the hard disks; and an information management unit coupled to the hard disk backplane to obtain the hard disks a middle backplane coupled to the hard disk backplane; and a plurality of motherboards each having a baseboard management controller, the baseboard management controllers of the motherboards coupled to the information management unit and the intermediate backplane When the motherboards are loaded into an operating system and are in operation, the substrate management controllers of the motherboards are coupled to the hard disk backplane through the intermediate backplane to obtain the states of the hard disks. When the motherboards are not operating normally, the baseboard management controllers of the motherboards obtain the states of the hard disks through the information management unit. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the substrate management controllers of each of the motherboards establish an event log according to the states of the hard disks to record the state changes of the hard disks. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the substrate management controllers of the motherboards issue a warning message to the user when the hard disks operate abnormally. The computer system of claim 1, wherein when the hard disks are abnormally operated, the substrate management controllers of the motherboards manage an abnormal hard disk according to an operation strategy and through the information management unit. And provide a related message to the user, wherein each of the hard disks operates When an abnormality occurs, the substrate management controllers of the motherboards send a diagnostic command to the hard disk backplane through the information management unit to diagnose the state of the abnormally operating hard disk and provide a diagnostic message to the user, or each The substrate management controllers of the motherboards send a shutdown command to the hard disk backplane through the information management unit to shut down the operating hard disk and provide a hard disk management message to the user. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the information management unit is a fan management unit, and the computer system further comprises a plurality of fans respectively corresponding to the motherboard and the hard disk, the fan management unit The states of the fans are managed according to the states of the motherboards and the states of the hard disks. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of fans respectively corresponding to the motherboards and the hard disks; and a fan management unit coupled to the hard disk backplane and the motherboards The baseboard management controller obtains the state of the hard disks and the states of the motherboards, and the fan management unit manages the states of the fans according to the states of the motherboards and the states of the hard disks. A computer system comprising: a plurality of hard disks; a hard disk backplane coupled to the hard disks to manage the hard disks; an intermediate backplane coupled to the hard disk backplane; and a plurality of motherboards, respectively a baseboard management controller, the baseboard management controller of the motherboard is coupled to the middle backplane; a plurality of fans respectively corresponding to the motherboard and the hard disks; and a fan management unit coupled to the hard disk Backplane and base of the motherboards The board management controller is configured to obtain the states of the hard disks and the states of the motherboards, and the fan management unit manages the states of the fans according to the states of the motherboards and the states of the hard disks; When the motherboards are loaded into an operating system and are in operation, the baseboard management controllers of the motherboards are coupled to the hard disk backplane through the intermediate backplane to obtain the states of the hard disks. When the board is not working normally, the baseboard management controllers of the motherboards obtain the states of the hard disks through the fan management unit. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the substrate management controllers of the motherboards establish an event log according to the states of the hard disks to record the state changes of the hard disks. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the substrate management controllers of the motherboards issue a warning message to the user when the hard disks operate abnormally. The computer system of claim 7, wherein when the hard disks are abnormally operated, the substrate management controllers of the motherboards manage an abnormal hard disk according to an operation strategy and through the fan management unit. And providing a related message to the user, wherein when the hard disks are abnormally operated, the substrate management controllers of the motherboards send a diagnostic command to the hard disk backplane through the fan management unit to diagnose the operation. The status of the abnormal hard disk is provided, and a diagnostic message is provided to the user, or the baseboard management controller of each of the motherboards sends a shutdown command to the hard disk backplane through the fan management unit to shut down the abnormally operating hard disk. And provide a hard disk management message to the user.