Improved lifecycle management success rate

Abstract

The present invention relates to an improved lifecycle management success rate. An information processing system may include: at least one processor; and a non-transitory memory, the non-transitory memory coupled to the at least one processor. The information processing system may be configured to: receive health information of multiple node information processing systems; determine a score of each of the multiple node information processing systems based on the received health information; determine an upgrade ranking of the multiple node information processing systems based on the corresponding scores of the multiple node information processing systems; and cause the node information processing systems to execute an upgrade program according to the upgrade ranking.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems and, more particularly, to improving the success rate of lifecycle management events in a cluster environment, such as a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) cluster. Background Art

[0002] As the value and use of information continue to grow, individuals and businesses seek other ways to process and store information. One option available to users is an information processing system. An information processing system typically processes, compiles, stores and / or communicates information or data for commercial, personal or other purposes, allowing users to take advantage of the value of this information. Because technology and information processing needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information processing systems may also vary in terms of what information to process, how to process information, how much information to process, store or communicate, and how to quickly and effectively process, store or communicate information. Changes in information processing systems allow information processing systems to be general or configured for specific users or specific purposes (such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage or global communications). In addition, an information processing system may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store and communicate information, and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems and networking systems.

[0003] As used herein, the term lifecycle management (LCM) refers to a method for upgrading components within an information processing system cluster (e.g., a system comprising a certain number (2 to N) of individual nodes). In some embodiments, such a cluster may include a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) cluster. In these and other embodiments, the individual nodes may be geographically distributed elements of a networked architecture.

[0004] During an LCM event, each node of the cluster can typically be upgraded in turn with upgrade components (such as firmware, drivers, application software, etc.) until the entire cluster reaches the same system version. In some embodiments, a single bundle package can be used to upgrade the entire cluster device as a whole.

[0005] Due to differences between nodes in a cluster (e.g., each node's health, workload, hardware durability, etc.), there may be complex consequences for LCM program performance. For example, some nodes may be successfully updated without problems, while some nodes may not be updated until after some technical support intervention. Such intervention requires additional time and money, so it is important to improve the success rate of LCM programs.

[0006] In some clusters, the Fault Tolerance setting can be used to determine how many nodes can fail before the cluster enters a degraded state. Typically, many users specify FT=1, which causes the cluster to enter a degraded state if even one host fails. This setting will cause LCM events to stop after the first host fails.

[0007] Currently, there is no fixed or predefined sequence for determining the order in which nodes are upgraded. In addition, in the case of FT=1, the LCM event can be stopped by the first node in the queue that cannot be upgraded. The success rate of the LCM event can be calculated by the ratio of upgraded nodes / total number of nodes. For example, if the LCM event fails and stops at the first node, the failure rate is 100%, while if the LCM event fails only at the last node, the success rate may be close to (or exceed) 99%. Therefore, the success rate can be improved by optimizing the order in which nodes are upgraded.

[0008] It should be noted that the discussion of the technology in the background section of the present disclosure does not constitute an admission of the prior art state. Unless clearly and unambiguously determined as such, no such admission is made herein. Summary of the invention

[0009] According to the teachings of the present disclosure, disadvantages and problems associated with lifecycle management may be reduced or eliminated.

[0010] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an information processing system may include: at least one processor; and a non-transitory memory, the non-transitory memory being coupled to the at least one processor. The information processing system may be configured to: receive health information of a plurality of node information processing systems; determine a score of each of the plurality of node information processing systems based on the received health information; determine an upgrade ranking of the plurality of node information processing systems based on the corresponding scores of the plurality of node information processing systems; and cause the node information processing systems to execute an upgrade program according to the upgrade ranking.

[0011] According to these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, a method may include: an information processing system receives health information of multiple node information processing systems; the information processing system determines a score for each of the multiple node information processing systems based on the received health information; the information processing system determines an upgrade ranking of the multiple node information processing systems based on the corresponding scores of the multiple node information processing systems; and the information processing system causes the node information processing systems to execute an upgrade procedure according to the upgrade ranking.

[0012] According to these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, an article may include: a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable code thereon, the computer-readable code being executable by a processor of an information processing system for: receiving health information of a plurality of node information processing systems; determining a score for each of the plurality of node information processing systems based on the received health information; determining an upgrade ranking of the plurality of node information processing systems based on their respective scores; and causing the node information processing systems to execute an upgrade program according to the upgrade ranking.

[0013] The technical advantages of the present disclosure may be apparent to those skilled in the art from the drawings, descriptions and claims included herein. The objects and advantages of the embodiments will be realized and obtained at least by the elements, features and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.

[0014] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the claims set forth in the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and their advantages may be obtained by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate like features, and in which:

[0016] Figure 1 A block diagram illustrating an exemplary information processing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0018] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating a modification lifecycle management sequence according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] The preferred embodiments and their advantages are described by reference Figures 1 to 3 For best understanding, like reference numerals are used throughout the several drawings to designate like and corresponding parts.

[0020] For the purposes of this disclosure, the term "information handling system" may include any instrument or collection of instruments that is operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, convert, store, display, indicate, detect, record, reproduce, process or utilize any form of information, intelligence or data for commercial, scientific, control, entertainment or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a consumer electronic device, a network storage device, or any other suitable device, and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality and price. An information handling system may include memory, one or more processing resources (such as a central processing unit ("CPU") or hardware or software control logic). Additional components of an information handling system may include one or more storage devices, one or more communication ports for communicating with external devices, and various input / output ("I / O") devices (such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display). An information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between various hardware components.

[0021] For purposes of this disclosure, when two or more elements are referred to as being “coupled” to each other, such terminology means that such two or more elements are in electronic or mechanical communication, as applicable, whether directly or indirectly connected, with or without intervening elements.

[0022] When two or more elements are referred to as being "coupleable" to each other, such term means that they are capable of being coupled together.

[0023] For purposes of this disclosure, the term "computer-readable medium" (e.g., transient or non-transitory computer-readable medium) may include any instrument or collection of instruments that can retain data and / or instructions for a period of time. Computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: storage media such as direct access storage devices (e.g., hard disk drives or floppy disks), sequential access storage devices (e.g., magnetic tape disk drives), optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, random access memories (RAM), read-only memories (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROM), and / or flash memories; communication media such as wires, optical fibers, microwaves, radio waves, and other electromagnetic and / or optical carrier waves; and / or any combination of the foregoing.

[0024] For purposes of this disclosure, the term "information processing resource" may broadly refer to any component system, device, or equipment of an information processing system, including but not limited to: a processor, a service processor, a basic input and output system, a bus, a memory, an I / O device and / or interface, a storage resource, a network interface, a motherboard, and / or any other component and / or element of an information processing system.

[0025] For purposes of this disclosure, the term "management controller" may broadly refer to an information handling system that provides management functions (typically out-of-band management functions) to one or more other information handling systems. In some embodiments, the management controller may be (or may be an integral part of) a service processor, a baseboard management controller (BMC), a chassis management controller (CMC), or a remote access controller (e.g., Dell Remote Access Controller (DRAC) or Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC)).

[0026] Figure 1 A block diagram of an exemplary information handling system 102 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In some embodiments, the information handling system 102 may include a server chassis configured to accommodate multiple servers or "blades." In other embodiments, the information handling system 102 may include a personal computer (e.g., a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a mobile computer, and / or a notebook computer). In still other embodiments, the information handling system 102 may include a storage housing configured to accommodate multiple physical disk drives and / or other computer-readable media (which may generally be referred to as "physical storage resources") for storing data. Figure 1 As shown, the information processing system 102 may include a processor 103, a memory 104 communicatively coupled to the processor 103, a BIOS 105 (e.g., UEFI BIOS) communicatively coupled to the processor 103, a network interface 108 communicatively coupled to the processor 103, and a management controller 112 communicatively coupled to the processor 103.

[0027] In operation, processor 103, memory 104, BIOS 105, and network interface 108 may comprise at least a portion of host system 98 of information handling system 102. Information handling system 102 may include one or more other information handling resources in addition to the elements specifically shown and described.

[0028] The processor 103 may include any system, device or apparatus configured to interpret and / or execute program instructions and / or process data, and may include, but is not limited to: a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other digital or analog circuit configured to interpret and / or execute program instructions and / or process data. In some embodiments, the processor 103 may interpret and / or execute program instructions and / or process data stored in the memory 104 and / or another component of the information processing system 102.

[0029] Memory 104 may be communicatively coupled to processor 103 and may include any system, device, or apparatus (e.g., a computer-readable medium) configured to retain program instructions and / or data for a period of time. Memory 104 may include RAM, EEPROM, PCMCIA cards, flash memory, magnetic storage devices, optical-magnetic storage devices, or any suitable selection and / or array of volatile or non-volatile memory that retains data after power to information handling system 102 is removed.

[0030] like Figure 1 As shown, the memory 104 may store thereon an operating system 106. The operating system 106 may include any program (or collection of programs of executable instructions) of executable instructions that are configured to manage and / or control the allocation and use of hardware resources (such as memory, processor time, disk space, and input and output devices), and to provide an interface between such hardware resources and application programs hosted by the operating system 106. In addition, the operating system 106 may include all or a portion of a network stack for network communications through a network interface (e.g., a network interface 108 for communicating over a data network). Although the operating system 106 is Figure 1 104, but in some embodiments, the operating system 106 may be stored in a storage medium accessible to the processor 103, and the active portions of the operating system 106 may be transferred from such storage medium to the memory 104 for execution by the processor 103.

[0031] The network interface 108 may include one or more suitable systems, devices, or apparatuses operable to serve as an interface between the information handling system 102 and one or more other information handling systems via an in-band network. The network interface 108 may enable the information handling system 102 to communicate using any suitable transmission protocol and / or standard. In these and other embodiments, the network interface 108 may include a network interface card or "NIC". In these and other embodiments, the network interface 108 may be capable of acting as a local area network (LAN) on motherboard (LOM) card.

[0032] Management controller 112 may be configured to provide management functions for managing information handling system 102. Such management may be performed by management controller 112 even when information handling system 102 and / or host system 98 are powered off or powered on to a standby state. Management controller 112 may include processor 113, memory, and network interface 118 that is separate and physically isolated from network interface 108.

[0033] like Figure 1As shown, the processor 113 of the management controller 112 may be communicatively coupled to the processor 103. Such coupling may be via a universal serial bus (USB), a system management bus (SMBus), and / or one or more other communication channels.

[0034] The network interface 118 may be coupled to a management network that may be separate and physically isolated from the data network, as shown. The network interface 118 of the management controller 112 may include any suitable system, device, or apparatus operable to serve as an interface between the management controller 112 and one or more other information processing systems via an out-of-band management network. The network interface 118 may enable the management controller 112 to communicate using any suitable transmission protocol and / or standard. In these and other embodiments, the network interface 118 may include a network interface card or "NIC". The network interface 118 may be the same type of apparatus as the network interface 108, or may be a different type of apparatus in other embodiments.

[0035] As discussed above, optimizing the order in which nodes of a cluster are upgraded during an LCM event can provide significant benefits. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure can take into account various factors that may affect the likelihood of success, such that nodes that are most likely to succeed are processed first and nodes that are most likely to fail are processed later. For example, an algorithm can be used to predict the likelihood of success of various hosts being upgraded and to sort the hosts into an upgrade order, which improves the overall success rate of a single upgrade attempt.

[0036] In some embodiments, nodes may be ranked based on a node score, which may be calculated based on factors that fall into different tiers, which may be assigned different weights to reflect their relative importance in determining the likelihood of a node's success.

[0037] For example, in one embodiment, the first layer may indicate whether the node has an error reported in the event monitoring system. The second layer may indicate hardware components (e.g., CPU, memory, hard drive usage percentage, etc.). The third layer may indicate network bandwidth. The fourth layer may indicate the age of the node. The fifth layer may indicate input from a third-party tool. The sixth layer may indicate the manufacturer, system type, etc. Table 1 below provides an example of an embodiment of different layers and their relative weights. In this example, a high score indicates a high probability of success. Those of ordinary skill in the art who benefit from the present disclosure will appreciate that different scoring techniques (e.g., wherein a low score indicates a high probability of success, etc.) may be used in some embodiments.

[0038]

[0039]

[0040] Table 1.

[0041] The individual scores from each layer can then be combined according to the weight of each layer. For example, a formula such as the following can be used to determine the overall score of a node:

[0042]

[0043] where i represents each layer (so that in the example of Table 1, n=6), S i is the score of the layer, and W i is the weight factor of the layer.

[0044] In some embodiments, the data that becomes the node score can be collected and / or calculated by a central controller that is communicatively coupled to all nodes of the cluster. Such a central controller can itself be one of the nodes of the cluster, or can be a separate system. In various embodiments, the data can be reported by a management controller of the node, by a software agent, etc.

[0045] After calculating the node score for each node, the nodes may be ordered so that nodes with higher scores are processed earlier in the LCM upgrade process. (In the case of layers between two or more nodes, the order of the nodes may be selected randomly or in any other suitable manner.) The nodes may then go through the LCM upgrade process in sequence, and the overall success rate may be increased by processing nodes with a high likelihood of success first, and the upgrade process may be forced to stop after the first failure. (In other embodiments, a larger fault tolerance setting may take effect so that the process continues until two failures have been encountered, or three failures have been encountered, etc.)

[0046] Now turn to Figure 2 , a flow chart of an exemplary method 200 for improving LCM success rate is shown. At step 202, data can be collected to determine all hosts in the cluster. This data can be stored in a list or any other suitable data structure.

[0047] At step 204, a formula may be used to calculate the score of each host of the cluster. For example, in some embodiments, a formula such as the above formula may be used. In other embodiments, different formulas and / or different layers of scoring factors may be used.

[0048] At step 206, the hosts may be sorted into descending order based on the scores and placed into an upgrade queue. Thus, the hosts with the highest likelihood of successful upgrade may be placed at the beginning of the upgrade queue.

[0049] At step 208, the cluster upgrade process may continue, upgrading hosts in the queue order established at step 206. The upgrade process may continue until completion or until too many failure events have occurred.

[0050] Those skilled in the art who have the benefit of this disclosure will appreciate that Figure 2 The preferred initialization point of the method shown and the order of the steps comprising the method may depend on the implementation selected. In these and other embodiments, the method may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, applications, functions, libraries, or other instructions. In addition, although Figure 2 A specific number of steps to be taken with respect to the disclosed methods is disclosed, but the methods may be performed with more or fewer steps than depicted. The methods may use any of the various components disclosed herein (such as Figure 1 components) and / or any other system operable to implement the method.

[0051] Now turn to Figure 3 , shows an example of a cluster 300 in which an LCM upgrade process will be performed. In an original sequence 304, the nodes will be upgraded in numerical order. In general, the original sequence 304 is not based on any specific information about the likelihood of success, but can be considered to be essentially random.

[0052] In modified sequence 306, the nodes of the cluster have been evaluated for likelihood of success and reordered based on their scores. Thus, in modified sequence 306, node 3, which has the highest score, has sequence number 1. Node 2, which has the second highest score, has sequence number 2, and so on.

[0053] Consider a situation where node 1 will fail to upgrade successfully. In the original sequence 304, this will cause the entire process to fail with a success rate of 0% (because the process will stop at the first failure encountered). In the modified sequence 306, the process will achieve a success rate of 60% because nodes 3, 2, and 5 have been upgraded before encountering the failure in node 1.

[0054] Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure can improve the success rate of a single upgrade attempt. In existing systems, nodes are selected essentially at random, which means that the process may fail at the first node, resulting in a 0% success rate. With embodiments of the present disclosure, the highest-scoring node can be in excellent condition for the LCM upgrade process because it is the most "healthy" node in the cluster. Therefore, the success rate can be significantly improved (for example, if only the last of 100 nodes in a cluster configuration will fail, a 99% success rate may be achieved).

[0055] Although various possible advantages have been described with respect to the embodiments of the present disclosure, those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the present disclosure will appreciate that not all such advantages may apply in any particular embodiment. In any particular embodiment, some, all, or even none of the listed advantages may apply.

[0056] The present disclosure covers all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations and modifications to the exemplary embodiments herein that would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art. Similarly, where appropriate, the appended claims cover all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations and modifications to the exemplary embodiments herein that would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art. In addition, references in the appended claims to a device or system or component of a device or system that is adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable or operable to perform a specific function covers the device, system or component, whether or not it or the specific function is activated, turned on or unlocked, as long as the device, system or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable or operable.

[0057] Additionally, the recitation of structures "configured to" or "operable to" perform one or more tasks in the appended claims expressly does not intend to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) with respect to such claim elements. Therefore, no claim in this application as filed is intended to be construed as having means-plus-function elements. If the applicant wishes to invoke § 112(f) during prosecution, the applicant will use the structure "means for [performing the function]" to recite the claim elements.

[0058] All examples and conditional language described herein are intended to help readers understand the present invention and the teaching purpose of promoting the concepts of this field provided by the inventor, and should be interpreted as not being limited to such specific examples and conditions. Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An information processing system, comprising: at least one processor; as well as a non-transitory memory coupled to the at least one processor; The information processing system is configured to: receiving health information of a plurality of node information processing systems; determining a score for each of the plurality of node information processing systems based on the received health information; determining an upgrade ranking of the plurality of node information processing systems based on respective scores of the plurality of node information processing systems, wherein the upgrade ranking ranks each of the plurality of node information processing systems in a determined order; and The node information processing system is caused to execute an upgrade procedure according to the upgrade sequence, wherein the upgrade procedure includes upgrading at least one firmware and / or software component in the node information processing system to a new version thereof.

2. The information processing system of claim 1, wherein the upgrade ranking is configured to rank the node information processing systems in order from highest upgrade success possibility to lowest upgrade success possibility.

3. The information processing system of claim 1, wherein the health information includes information in multiple layers.

4. The information processing system of claim 3, wherein the plurality of layers have corresponding weight factors, so that the score of each node information processing system is a weighted sum based on the information in the plurality of layers weighted according to the weight factors.

5. The information handling system of claim 1, wherein the health information of a particular node information handling system includes a determination of whether the particular node information handling system has an error reported in an event monitoring system.

6. The information handling system of claim 1, wherein the health information of a particular node information handling system includes a determination of hardware information handling resources of the particular node information handling system.

7. The information handling system of claim 1, wherein the health information of a particular node information handling system includes a determination of a network bandwidth of the particular node information handling system.

8. An information processing method, comprising: The information processing system receives health information of a plurality of node information processing systems; The information processing system determines a score for each of the plurality of node information processing systems based on the received health information; The information processing system determines an upgrade ranking of the plurality of node information processing systems based on the respective scores of the plurality of node information processing systems, wherein the upgrade ranking ranks each of the plurality of node information processing systems in a determined order; as well as The information processing system causes the node information processing system to execute an upgrade procedure according to the upgrade sequence, wherein the upgrade procedure includes upgrading at least one firmware and / or software component in the node information processing system to a new version thereof.

9. The information processing method according to claim 8, wherein the information processing system is one of the plurality of node information processing systems.

10. The information processing method of claim 8, wherein the upgrade ranking is configured to rank the node information processing systems in order from highest upgrade success possibility to lowest upgrade success possibility.

11. The information processing method of claim 8, wherein the score is determined as a weighted sum of a plurality of corresponding scores in different layers.

12. The information processing method of claim 11, wherein each layer indicates a specific type of reliability indicator for the node information processing system.

13. The information processing method of claim 12, wherein the layers include at least one layer selected from the group consisting of: presence of error reports in an event logging system, hardware resources, network bandwidth, node age, third party input, and manufacturer identity.

14. An information processing article comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable code thereon, the computer readable code being executable by a processor of an information processing system for: receiving health information of a plurality of node information processing systems; determining a score for each of the plurality of node information processing systems based on the received health information; determining an upgrade ranking of the plurality of node information processing systems based on respective scores of the plurality of node information processing systems, wherein the upgrade ranking ranks each of the plurality of node information processing systems in a determined order; as well as The node information processing system is caused to execute an upgrade procedure according to the upgrade sequence, wherein the upgrade procedure includes upgrading at least one firmware and / or software component in the node information processing system to a new version thereof.

15. The information processing article of claim 14, wherein the upgrade ranking is configured to rank the node information processing systems in order from highest upgrade success likelihood to lowest upgrade success likelihood.

16. The information processing article of claim 14, wherein the health information includes information in a plurality of layers.

17. The information processing article of claim 16, wherein the plurality of layers have corresponding weight factors such that the score of each node information processing system is a weighted sum based on the information in the plurality of layers weighted according to the weight factors.

18. The information processing article of claim 14, wherein the health information of a particular node information processing system includes a determination of an age of the particular node information processing system.

19. The information processing article of claim 14, wherein the health information of a particular node information processing system includes a third party inputted determination of the health of the particular node information processing system.

20. The information handling article of claim 14, wherein the health information of a particular node information handling system includes a determination of a manufacturer and model of the particular node information handling system.

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