TWI697768B - Reset bmc control method - Google Patents

Abstract

A reset baseboard management controller(BMC) control method includes: generating a first heartbeat signal and a I2C heartbeat signal that jumps between a first logic value and a second logic value by each BMC in startup and normal operation; storing a plurality of health flags corresponding to the BMCs by a control unit; generating a corresponding reset signal at least based on the logic value of each of the health flags to reset the BMC that corresponds the logic value of the health flag equal to the second logic value by the control unit.

Description

Control method for resetting substrate management controller

The present invention relates to a control method, in particular to a control method for resetting a substrate management controller.

The conventional rack device (Rack) is designed with multiple nodes (Multi-node), and the user or administrator can use the remote monitoring function supported by its baseboard management controller (BMC). Know the system status of the entire cabinet device. However, when at least one of the baseboard management controllers included in the rack device malfunctions, and the rack device does not use the chassis management controller (CMC) architecture, users or administrators cannot The remote control method is used to reset the abnormally operating baseboard management controller, and personnel must be arranged to the cabinet device to execute a reset button corresponding to the baseboard management controller reset command. Therefore, how to provide a control method that can accurately and efficiently control the reset of the baseboard management controller under the non-cabinet management controller (CMC) architecture has become a problem to be solved.

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a correct and efficient control method for resetting the baseboard management controller.

Therefore, in one aspect of the present invention, a control method for resetting a baseboard management controller is provided, which is suitable for a cabinet device that includes a plurality of baseboard management controllers and a control unit electrically connected to the baseboard management controllers, The control method includes steps (a) to (e).

In step (a), when each baseboard management controller is activated and operating normally, a first heartbeat signal and an internal integrated circuit that beat between a first logic value and a second logic value are generated ( Inter-Integrated Circuit, I2C) heartbeat signal.

In step (b), the control unit stores a plurality of health flags corresponding to the baseboard management controllers.

In step (c), when the control unit determines that the first heartbeat signal corresponding to one of the baseboard management controllers and the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal are in the first logic value and the second logic When the values jump, it is determined that the corresponding BMC is operating normally, and the corresponding logic value of the health flag is set to the first logic value.

In step (d), when the control unit determines that the first heartbeat signal or the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal corresponding to one of the baseboard management controllers is not between the first logic value and the second logic When the values jump between the values, it is determined that the corresponding BMC is operating abnormally, and the corresponding logic value of the health flag is set to the second logic value.

In step (e), the control unit generates a corresponding reset signal according to the logic value of each health flag, so as to reset the baseboard management controller whose logic value corresponding to the health flag is equal to the second logic value .

In some embodiments, in step (e), when the control unit determines that the logic value of the health flag of the baseboard management controller corresponding to the abnormal operation is equal to the second logic value for a predetermined time, the The control unit generates the reset signal corresponding to the abnormally operating baseboard management controller to reset the abnormally operating baseboard management controller.

In some other implementations, in step (a), each BMC also generates a presence signal, and when it is activated and operating normally, generates the first heartbeat signal and the internal integrated circuit ( I2C) Heartbeat signal.

In step (c), the control unit first determines that the logic value of the presence signal is equal to a preset logic value, and then determines that the first heartbeat signal and the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal are in the first logic When the value and the second logical value jump between, it is determined that the corresponding baseboard management controller operates normally.

In step (d), the control unit first determines that the logic value of the presence signal is equal to the preset logic value, and then determines that the first heartbeat signal or the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal is not in the first logic When there is a jump between the value and the second logic value, it is determined that the corresponding baseboard management controller operates abnormally.

In other embodiments, the control unit is a complex programmable logic device (CPLD) including memory.

Therefore, another aspect of the present invention provides another control method for resetting the baseboard management controller, which is suitable for a cabinet device and a computer terminal. The cabinet device includes a plurality of baseboard management controllers and an electrical connection with the baseboard management controllers. The control unit of the controller, the control method includes steps (a) to (f).

In step (a), when each baseboard management controller is activated and operating normally, a first heartbeat signal and an internal integrated circuit that beat between a first logic value and a second logic value are generated ( Inter-Integrated Circuit, I2C) heartbeat signal.

In step (b), the control unit stores a plurality of health flags corresponding to the baseboard management controllers.

In step (c), when the control unit determines that the first heartbeat signal corresponding to one of the baseboard management controllers and the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal are in the first logic value and the second logic When the values jump, it is determined that the corresponding BMC is operating normally, and the corresponding logic value of the health flag is set to the first logic value.

In step (d), when the control unit determines that the first heartbeat signal or the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal corresponding to one of the baseboard management controllers is not between the first logic value and the second logic When the values jump between the values, it is determined that the corresponding BMC is operating abnormally, and the corresponding logic value of the health flag is set to the second logic value.

In step (e), a connection is established with the computer terminal by one of the normally operating baseboard management controllers to receive the abnormally operating baseboard generated by a user input through the computer terminal A reset command of the management controller.

In step (f), the control unit generates a corresponding reset signal according to the logic value of each health flag and the reset command, so as to reset the baseboard management controller corresponding to the abnormal operation.

In some embodiments, in step (f), the control unit receives the reset command via one of the baseboard management controllers that are functioning normally, and judges the baseboard management controller corresponding to the abnormal operation When the logic value of the health flag of the device is equal to the second logic value, the corresponding reset signal is generated to reset the baseboard management controller that operates abnormally.

In some other implementations, in step (a), each BMC also generates a presence signal, and when it is activated and operating normally, generates the first heartbeat signal and the internal integrated circuit ( I2C) Heartbeat signal.

In step (c), the control unit first determines that the logic value of the presence signal is equal to a preset logic value, and then determines that the first heartbeat signal and the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal are in the first logic When the value and the second logical value jump between, it is determined that the corresponding baseboard management controller is operating normally.

In step (d), the control unit first determines that the logic value of the presence signal is equal to the preset logic value, and then determines that the first heartbeat signal or the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal is not in the first logic When there is a jump between the value and the second logic value, it is determined that the corresponding baseboard management controller operates abnormally.

In other embodiments, the control unit is a complex programmable logic device (CPLD) including memory.

The effect of the present invention is that the control unit first determines whether the corresponding BMC is operating normally according to the first heartbeat signal and the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal to determine the logic of the corresponding health flag value. The control unit then further confirms the corresponding logical value of the health flag according to a reset instruction generated by another computer terminal, or only when the time indicated by the logical value of the health flag is greater than the predetermined time The reset signal corresponding to the baseboard management controller is generated to reset the corresponding baseboard management controller (that is, the abnormal operation), which can realize the remote reset or automatically determine and reset the abnormal operation of the baseboard management control. The purpose of the device is to solve the conventional prior art problems.

Before the present invention is described in detail, it should be noted that in the following description, similar elements are represented by the same numbers.

Referring to FIG. 1, the control method for resetting the baseboard management controller of the present invention is applicable to a rack device (Rack) and a computer terminal 9, such as a server rack (Server Rack). The cabinet device includes a cabinet shell 7, a plurality of fan units 51 to 54 arranged in the cabinet shell 7, a plurality of machine boards 41 to 44, a plurality of identification pins (ID Pin) 61 to 64, a plurality of The bus bars 31 to 34, a plurality of baseboard management controllers (BMC) 21 to 24, and a control unit 1, and the cabinet device does not adopt a cabinet management controller (CMC) architecture. The computer terminal 9 is, for example, a computer host.

Each board 41-44 is regarded as a node, and each fan unit 51-54 includes a plurality of fans. The identification pins 61 to 64 and the baseboard management controllers 21 to 24 are respectively arranged on the boards 41 to 44 one to one. In this embodiment, for convenience of description, FIG. 1 shows four baseboard management controllers 21-24, four bus bars 31-34, four fan units 51-54, and four board 41-44. Take an example for illustration. The bus bars 31-34 support an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) protocol. In other embodiments, the fan units 51 to 54 and the number of the fans can also be singular or other plural numbers, and the fan units 51 to 54 can be arranged on the machine boards 41 to 44, or the machines Except for boards 41~44, this limit is not applicable.

Each of the baseboard management controllers 21-24 is electrically connected to the control unit 1 via the bus bars 31-34. The baseboard management controllers 21-24 are also electrically connected to the fan units 51-54, respectively, and also store a plurality of operating data to the control unit 1 via the bus bars 31-34, respectively. Each of the BMCs 21-24 also detects the electrically connected fan unit 51-54 to obtain the operation data related to the corresponding fan unit 51-54. The operation data of each fan unit 51-54 is, for example, the rotation speed and temperature of the fans of the fan unit 51-54. In addition, it should be added that: in this embodiment, the operation data is based on the relevant operation data of the fan units 51 to 54 as an example. In other embodiments, the operation data may also include other related information in the server cabinet. Information, such as node temperature, power consumption, SN information, ID, power-on status, boot status, health status of hardware devices, configuration information (such as CPU, memory, hard disk, BIOS/BMC version), and power on and off Control, etc., or the input power consumption, output power consumption, input voltage, output voltage, input current, output current, switch control, status, and operating temperature of the power supply unit are not limited to this.

The control unit 1 includes a memory 11, and the memory 11 includes a plurality of memory blocks, such as five, to receive and store the operating data from the baseboard management controllers 21-24. The control unit 1 is, for example, a complex programmable logic device (CPLD) that includes a memory 11 and is set on a local end. In other words, the control unit 1 may be arranged on a main board, a back board, or a fan board of the cabinet device, for example. Four of the five memory blocks of the memory 11 are used to store the operating data, and the remaining memory block is used to store the baseboard management controller operating in a master control mode Related information (such as 21) generated, such as the ambient temperature in the cabinet casing 7, the wattage and temperature of the power supplies, etc., can be read by the other baseboard management controllers 22-24.

In addition, it should be noted that: each of the baseboard management controllers 21~24 also receives a corresponding identification signal, and according to the corresponding identification signal, stores the generated operation data through the corresponding bus 31~34 A corresponding one of the memory blocks 112 to 115 of the memory 11 of the control unit 1. In this embodiment, when the four baseboard management controllers 21 to 24 are respectively set on the four boards 41 to 44 of the computer system, the four baseboard management controllers 21 to 24 are respectively connected according to the four groups of identification Pins 61 to 64 are used to determine the corresponding logical values of the four identification signals respectively, that is, each of the baseboard management controllers 21 to 24 according to the corresponding identification pins 61 to 64 set on the same board 41 to 44 According to the logical value of the identification signal, the four baseboard management controllers 21-24 respectively store the operating data to the addresses of the four memory blocks of the memory 11 of the control unit 1.

1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is an embodiment of the control method for resetting the baseboard management controller of the present invention, and includes steps S1 to S6.

In step S1, each of the baseboard management controllers 21~24 generates a presence signal (Present) P1~P4, and transmits the presence signal P1~P4 to the control unit 1, and when it starts and operates normally, it generates A first heartbeat signal (Heartbeat) HB1~HB4 and an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal beating between a first logic value and a second logic value.

In more detail, the presence signals P1 to P4 are when the corresponding boards 41 to 44 are inserted into the slots or connectors of the cabinet casing 7, and the logic value changes after the boot is started. For example, from logic 0 to logic 1. Each of the first heartbeat signals HB1~HB4 indicates whether the firmware of the corresponding BMC 21~24 is operating normally, and is not transmitted to the control unit 1 through the buses 31~34. Each of the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signals indicates whether the software of the corresponding BMC 21-24 is operating normally, and is transmitted to the control unit 1 through the buses 31-34. One and the other of the first logic value and the second logic value are logic 1 and logic 0, respectively. The frequency of the heartbeat signal is, for example, 0.5 or 1 Hz, but not limited thereto.

In step S2, the control unit 1 stores a plurality of health flags corresponding to the baseboard management controllers 21-24.

In step S3, when the control unit 1 determines that the logic value of the presence signals P1~P4 is equal to a preset logic value, it then determines the first heartbeat signal corresponding to one of the baseboard management controllers 21~24 When the heartbeat signals of HB1~HB4 and the internal integrated circuit (I2C) are beating between the first logic value and the second logic value, it is determined that the corresponding BMC 21~24 is operating normally, and the corresponding The logical value of the health flag is set to the first logical value.

In step S4, when the control unit 1 determines that the logic value of the presence signals P1~P4 is equal to the preset logic value, it then determines the first heartbeat signal corresponding to one of the baseboard management controllers 21~24 When the heartbeat signal of HB1~HB4 or the internal integrated circuit (I2C) does not jump between the first logic value and the second logic value, it is determined that the corresponding BMC 21-24 is operating abnormally, and the corresponding health The logic value of the flag is set to the second logic value.

For example, when the baseboard management controller 21~24 is before booting up, or after booting up but the software it runs abnormally, the logic of the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal generated The value will remain at the first logic value or the second logic value, such as logic 0, or the first heartbeat generated when the firmware operation executed by the baseboard management controller 21-24 is abnormal The logic values of the signals HB1 to HB4 will remain at the first logic value or the second logic value, such as logic 0.

It can be seen from steps S2 to S4 that the control unit 1 receives the presence signals P1 to P4, the first heartbeat signals HB1 to HB4, and the internal integrated circuits (I2C) from the baseboard management controllers 21 to 24 Heartbeat signals, and store a plurality of health flags corresponding to the BMCs 21-24, and according to the presence signals P1~P4 and the first heartbeat signal HB1~ of each BMC 21-24 HB4, and the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal, when judging that the corresponding baseboard management controller 21~24 is operating normally, the logical value of the health flag is equal to the first logical value, and when judging the corresponding baseboard management When the controllers 21-24 operate abnormally, the logical value of the health flag is equal to the second logical value. In addition, it should be noted that in other embodiments, the control unit 1 may not be based on the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal, but based on the presence signal P1~P4 and the first heartbeat signal HB1~HB4. , To determine whether the corresponding baseboard management controller 21-24 is operating normally.

In step S5, one of the normally operating baseboard management controllers 21-24 establishes a connection with the computer terminal 9 to receive the abnormal operation generated by a user input through the computer terminal 9 A reset command of the baseboard management controller 21-24. More specifically, a user or an administrator can establish a connection with one of the baseboard management controllers 21-24 of the cabinet device through the computer terminal 9 and a normal operation, that is, a remote connection. The user can also learn the abnormal operation of the baseboard management controllers 21-24 of the cabinet device through the computer host, for example, read the logic values of the health flags stored in the control unit 1, and then The computer host generates the reset command corresponding to the abnormal operation of the baseboard management controller 21-24, that is, the user manually confirms the abnormality of the baseboard management controller 21-24 through the computer terminal 9 for the first time When the reset command is generated.

In step S6, the control unit 1 receives the reset command through one of the normal operating BMCs 21-24, and determines the health flag corresponding to the abnormal operating BMC 21-24 When the target logic value is equal to the second logic value, a corresponding reset signal R1~R4 is generated to reset the BMC 21 whose logic value corresponding to the health flag is equal to the second logic value (that is, abnormal operation) ~24. In other words, the baseboard management controller 21-24 receiving the reset instruction makes a second confirmation according to the corresponding health flag to generate the reset signals R1 to R4.

Therefore, it can be seen from steps S5 and S6 that, in this embodiment, when some of the baseboard management controllers 21-24 are malfunctioning, the user can connect remotely through the network. The first confirmation of the person’s work, and the second confirmation by the baseboard management controller 21~24 that is operating normally, to reset the abnormally operating baseboard management controller 21~24, which can avoid the conventional The user needs to go directly to the computer room to handle the restart process. In other embodiments, the step S5 may be omitted, and the step S6 is changed to the control unit 1 when the control unit 1 determines that the logic value of the health flag of the BMC 21-24 corresponding to the abnormal operation is equal to the second logic When the value reaches a predetermined time, such as several tens of milliseconds, the control unit 1 generates the reset signals R1~R4 corresponding to the abnormally operating baseboard management controller 21-24 to reset the abnormally operating baseboard management controller 21~24.

In summary, the control unit first makes a judgment according to the logic value of the presence signal, and then judges the corresponding substrate according to the first heartbeat signal or the first heartbeat signal and the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal Whether the management controller is operating normally to determine the corresponding logic value of the health flag. This allows the user to use another computer terminal to manually confirm that the baseboard management controller is abnormal for the first time to generate a reset command, and then the control unit receives the reset command according to the corresponding health flag Make a second confirmation to generate the reset signal. Alternatively, the control unit automatically generates the reset signal when the abnormal time indicated by the logic value of the health flag is greater than the predetermined time, so the objective of the invention can indeed be achieved.

However, the foregoing are only examples of the present invention. When the scope of implementation of the present invention cannot be limited by this, all simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention and the content of the patent specification still belong to Within the scope of the patent of the present invention.

1: control unit 11: Memory 21~24: baseboard management controller 31~34: bus 41~44: Machine board 51~54: Fan unit 61~64: Identify the pins 7: Cabinet shell 9: Computer terminal R1~R4: reset signal P1~P4: There is a signal HB1~HB4: first heartbeat signal S1~S6: steps

Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a cabinet device to which the control method for resetting the baseboard management controller of the present invention is applicable; and 2 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of the control method for resetting the baseboard management controller of the present invention.

S1~S6: steps

Claims (3)

A control method for resetting a baseboard management controller is applicable to a cabinet device that includes a plurality of baseboard management controllers and a control unit electrically connected to the baseboard management controllers. The control method includes the following steps: (a ) When each of the baseboard management controllers is activated and operating normally, it generates a first heartbeat signal that beats between a first logic value and a second logic value and an internal integrated circuit (Inter-Integrated Circuit, I2C) Heartbeat signal. Each first heartbeat signal indicates whether the corresponding BMC firmware is operating normally, and each internal integrated circuit heartbeat signal indicates whether the corresponding BMC software is operating normally. (B) The control unit stores a plurality of health flags corresponding to the baseboard management controllers; (c) when the control unit determines the first heartbeat signal corresponding to one of the baseboard management controllers And when the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal is beating between the first logic value and the second logic value, it is determined that the corresponding BMC is operating normally, and the corresponding logic value of the health flag is set to The first logic value; (d) when the control unit determines that the first heartbeat signal or the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal corresponding to one of the baseboard management controllers is not in the first logic value and the When the second logic value jumps, it is determined that the corresponding BMC is operating abnormally, and the logic value of the corresponding health flag is set to the second logic value; and (e) by the control unit according to each of the The logical value of the health flag, A corresponding reset signal is generated to reset the baseboard management controller whose logical value corresponding to the health flag is equal to the second logical value, and the control unit determines that the health flag corresponding to the abnormally operating baseboard management controller is When the logic value is equal to the second logic value for a predetermined time, the control unit generates the reset signal corresponding to the abnormal operation of the baseboard management controller to reset the abnormal operation of the baseboard management controller. The control method for resetting a baseboard management controller according to claim 1, wherein, in step (a), each baseboard management controller also generates a presence signal, and when it is started and normally operates, generates the first A heartbeat signal and the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal. In step (c), the control unit first determines that the logic value of the presence signal is equal to a preset logic value, and then determines the first heartbeat signal and the When the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal is beating between the first logic value and the second logic value, it is determined that the corresponding BMC is operating normally. In step (d), the control unit first determines the When the logic value of the presence signal is equal to the preset logic value, it is determined that the first heartbeat signal or the internal integrated circuit (I2C) heartbeat signal does not beat between the first logic value and the second logic value. The corresponding baseboard management controller operates abnormally. The control method for resetting the substrate management controller according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is a complex programmable logic device (CPLD) including a memory.

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