Hardware replacement method

Abstract

A method of replacing at least one hardware component (e.g., motherboard) of a computer server (12A, 12B) includes system management software (10) managing a computer server having a baseboard management controller (BMC) (14) and a plurality of hardware components, the system management software obtaining system vital product data (SVPD), system configuration data, and server identification data of the computer server from or through the BMC a first time, the system management software obtaining the SVPD and server identification data of the server from or through the BMC a second time, the system management software comparing the server identification data of the computer server obtained a first time with the server identification data of the computer server obtained a second time, and the system management software configuring the computer server based on the SVPD and system configuration data obtained a first time based on a result of the comparison.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a method for replacing one or more hardware components in a data processing device, such as a computer server. Background Technology

[0002] After replacing hardware components (such as the motherboard) of data processing equipment (such as computer servers), the service team must also restore system vital product data (SVPD) and system configuration data to the computer server. This process is currently performed manually.

[0003] If multiple servers in a customer's data center need hardware replacement (such as their motherboards), the SVPD and system configuration data must be restored to all computer servers one by one, resulting in significant downtime and service costs.

[0004] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a hardware replacement method and a data processing device that can overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages, or at least provide a useful alternative for the market and the public. Summary of the Invention

[0005] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a method for replacing at least one hardware component of a data processing device is provided, comprising system management software managing a data processing device having a service processor and multiple hardware components, the system management software first obtaining at least system configuration data, system important product data (SVPD), and server identification data of the data processing device from or through the service processor, the system management software second obtaining at least the SVPD and the server identification data of the data processing device from or through the service processor, the system management software comparing the server identification data of the data processing device obtained in the first acquisition with the server identification data of the data processing device obtained in the second acquisition, and configuring the data processing device based on the comparison result, at least based on the system configuration data and the SVPD obtained in the first acquisition.

[0006] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a data processing apparatus having a service processor and a plurality of hardware components is provided, wherein the data processing apparatus is adapted to be managed by system management software, providing the system important product data (SVPD), system configuration data, and server identification data of the data processing apparatus from or through the service processor to the system management software, and configuring the data processing apparatus by the system management software at least based on the SVPD and the system configuration data. Attached Figure Description

[0007] Referring to the accompanying drawings, a hardware replacement method and a data processing apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, wherein:

[0008] Figure 1 According to an embodiment of the present invention, a schematic diagram is shown of the interaction between system management software for performing hardware component replacement of a computer server and the computer server before and after the replacement of at least one hardware component in the computer server.

[0009] Figure 2 A flowchart illustrating the hardware replacement method process according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided.

[0010] Figure 3A This illustrates exemplary vital product data (VPD) of a computer server before the motherboard and central processing unit (CPU) are replaced; and

[0011] Figure 3B This is shown after replacing the motherboard and CPU. Figure 3A The computer server shown is an example of hardware VPD. Detailed Implementation

[0012] See Figure 1 System management software 10 is configured to be operationally associated with a computer server (referred to as the "server") for replacing hardware components, such as motherboards, to be replaced. More specifically, system management software 10 is configured to manage the server. For ease of discussion, the server before the motherboard replacement (also referred to as the "pre-replacement server") is designated as 12A, and the server after the original motherboard has been replaced (also referred to as the "post-replacement server") is designated as 12B.

[0013] Generally speaking, system management software is a tool used to manage information technology systems in networks or data centers, and it can provide the following functions:

[0014] -desk

[0015] - Hardware Management (List and Configuration)

[0016] - Software Management (List)

[0017] -Network monitoring

[0018] - Security

[0019] Performance Analysis

[0020] Automatic backup and restore

[0021] Exemplary system management software that can be used in this invention includes those under the trademark name Administrator provides centralized resource management solutions, and its trademarks are also available. The provided open-source management software.

[0022] by For example, Administrator operates as a virtual device, automatically recovering, inventorying, tracking, monitoring, and provisioning server, network, and storage hardware in a secure environment. More specifically, this system management software provides a central interface enabling all managed devices to perform the following functions:

[0023] -Hardware Management

[0024] -Hardware monitoring

[0025] Configuration Management

[0026] -Firmware compliance and updates

[0027] - Operating system deployment

[0028] User Management

[0029] Device Certification

[0030] - Security

[0031] -Service and Support

[0032] - Task automation using scripts

[0033] Integration with other managed software

[0034] -Document preparation

[0035] The pre-replacement server 12A includes a service processor, such as a baseboard management controller (BMC) 14, which connects to a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) 16. Through UEFI 16, the BMC 14 can obtain system configuration data for the server 12A. The BMC 14 can also obtain System Important Product Data (SVPD) 18 from the server 12A. Herein, "SVPD" includes system-level important product data such as system serial number, system machine type, etc. The BMC 14 also stores Hardware Important Product Data (VPD) for various hardware components of the server 12A, such as the motherboard, hard disk drive (HDD), backplane, central processing unit (CPU), dual in-line memory module (DIMM) (also known as "RAM stick"), peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) adapter, PCIe expansion card, and power supply unit (PSU)). The VPD (also referred to herein as "hardware VPD") of a hardware component may include details such as product type / model, part number, serial number / part ID, universally unique identifier (UUID), product release level, maintenance level, and other information specific to the corresponding hardware component. The combination of hardware VPDs serves as the server identification data for the pre-replacement server 12A. The BMC 14 of server 12A therefore contains the server 12A's VPD, system configuration details 20, and server identification data. For ease of discussion, the server identification data before motherboard replacement (also referred to herein as "pre-replacement server identification data") is designated as 22A, and the server identification data after the original motherboard is replaced (also referred to herein as "post-replacement server identification data") is designated as 22B.

[0036] System management software 10 obtains and stores the SVPD of the server 12A to be replaced, system configuration details 20, and identification data 22A of the server to be replaced as a backup from or via the BMC 14 of server 12A.

[0037] When server 12A has a hardware problem, such as a faulty motherboard, the service personnel will replace the faulty motherboard with a replacement motherboard (and possibly one or more replacement hardware components), and then replace server 12B to reconnect it to the network.

[0038] System management software 10 will detect the replacement server 12B with replaced hardware (e.g., motherboard), and then retrieve the SVPD, system configuration details 20, and replacement server identification data 22B of server 12B via the BMC 14 of server 12B. This data will then be compared with the SVPD, system configuration details 20, and pre-replacement server identification data 22A of the pre-replacement server 12A stored in system management software 10. If system management software 10 finds that the replacement server identification data 22B is identical to the pre-replacement server identification data 22A by more than a preset percentage (e.g., 50%), and the SVPD before hardware component replacement (also referred to as the "pre-replacement SVPD") differs from the SVPD after hardware component replacement (also referred to as the "replacement SVPD"), system management software 10 will prompt the user to restore the pre-replacement SVPD and system configuration data to server 12B, and upon receiving confirmation input from the user, will configure the replacement server 12B based on the pre-replacement SVPD and pre-replacement system configuration data.

[0039] Turning Figure 2 , Figure 2 A flowchart illustrating the hardware replacement method process according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided. System management software 10 operates at S100, and the BMC 14 of the pre-replacement server 12A operates at S102. BMC 14 provides the pre-replacement SVPD and system configuration data 20 of the pre-replacement server 12A to system management software 10 at S104. System management software 10 stores the pre-replacement SVPD and system configuration data 20 of the pre-replacement server 12A as a backup at S106. BMC 14 also provides the pre-replacement server identification data 22A of server 12A to system management software 10 at S108. System management software 10 stores the pre-replacement server identification data 22A of the pre-replacement server 12A as a server identifier at S110.

[0040] Suppose that a hardware component (e.g., the motherboard) of server 12A encounters a problem (S112), the service personnel replace the original motherboard with a replacement motherboard (S114). Afterwards, the service personnel put the replaced server 12B back into the management network (S116). On the system management software 10 side, when server 12A encounters a hardware problem (such as a motherboard-related problem), the service personnel replace the original motherboard with a replacement motherboard, and then connect the replaced server 12B back to the network (S118).

[0041] BMC 14 then collects all subsequent server identification data 22B and subsequent replacement SVPD, making them available for inspection by system management software 10 (S120). When system management software 10 detects a subsequent server 12B, it obtains the subsequent server identification data 22B and subsequent replacement SVPD and compares them with previously stored pre-replacement server identification data 22A and pre-replacement SVPD (S122). System management software 10 then compares and checks whether the pre-replacement server identification data 22A and subsequent server identification data 22B are identical to each other by more than a predetermined percentage, such as 50%, and checks whether the pre-replacement SVPD of server 12A is different from the subsequent replacement SVPD of subsequent server 12B (S124). If both comparison results are yes, system management software 10 identifies subsequent server 12B as a pre-replacement server 12A that has only replaced one or more hardware components (e.g., motherboard). The system management software 10 then prompts the user (e.g., a service personnel) to restore the pre-replacement SVPD and pre-replacement system configuration data to the replacement server 12B (by outputting a confirmation request). Upon receiving confirmation from the user (e.g., a service personnel), the system management software 10 then restores the pre-replacement SVPD and pre-replacement system configuration data to the replacement computer server 12B via BMC 14 (S128). After this, the system management software 10 continues to run (S100), and BMC 14 continues to run (S102).

[0042] On the other hand, if at least one of the two comparison results is negative (S124), the system management software 10 will identify the replacement server 12B as a different computer server from the pre-replacement server 12A and will continue to run (S100).

[0043] Turning Figure 3A It shows an exemplary pre-replacement server identification data 22A for a pre-replacement server 12A, including VPDs for various hardware components, such as the system board (also known as the “motherboard”), CPU 1, and backplane. Figure 3B This illustrates exemplary post-replacement server identification data 22B for a post-replacement server 12B after the system board and CPU 1 have been replaced. It can be seen that the post-replacement server identification data 22B differs from the pre-replacement server identification data 22A only in the serial numbers / part IDs of the system board and CPU 1. Therefore, the pre-replacement server identification data 22A and the post-replacement server identification data 22B are more than 50% identical to each other, satisfying the requirement... Figure 2 One of the requirements of comparison step S124 in the flowchart shown.

[0044] Although the invention is described in the context of replacing the motherboard of a server (which has one or more other hardware components), it is clear that the invention can be used to replace other hardware components of a server.

[0045] It should be understood that the above are merely examples of how the invention can be implemented, and modifications and / or changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0046] It should also be understood that, for simplicity, the various features of the invention are described in the context of a single implementation, and these features may also be provided individually or suitably in any suitable sub-combination.

Claims

1. A method for replacing at least one hardware component of a data processing device, comprising: System management software manages data processing devices that have service processors and multiple hardware components. The system management software first obtains, from the service processor or through the service processor, at least the system configuration data, System Important Product Data (SVPD), and server identification data of the data processing device. The server identification data includes the VPDs of various hardware components. The system management software obtains, for the second time, at least the SVPD and the server identification data of the data processing device from or through the service processor. The system management software compares the server identification data of the data processing device obtained the first time with the server identification data of the data processing device obtained the second time, and... The system management software configures the data processing device based on the system configuration data obtained in the first acquisition only if the difference between the server identification data obtained in the first acquisition and the server identification data obtained in the second acquisition is found to exceed a preset percentage during the comparison step.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising replacing hardware components of the data processing device between the first and second statements.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The hardware component is a motherboard.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The service processor is a baseboard management controller (BMC).

5. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, further comprising the system management software storing the system configuration data and server identification data of the data processing device acquired for the first time.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The preset percentage is 50%.

7. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3 further includes the system management software configuring the data processing device based on the system configuration data acquired for the first time through the service processor.

8. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3 further includes the system management software outputting a confirmation request before configuring the data processing device based on the first acquired system configuration data.

9. The method according to claim 8 further includes, after receiving a confirmation input in response to the request, the system management software configuring the data processing device based on the first acquired system configuration data.

10. A data processing device having a service processor and multiple hardware components, The data processing device described herein is suitable for: Managed by system management software The system management software first obtains, from the service processor or through the service processor, at least the system configuration data, System Important Product Data (SVPD), and server identification data of the data processing device. The server identification data includes the VPDs of various hardware components. The system management software obtains, for the second time, at least the SVPD and the server identification data of the data processing device from or through the service processor. The system management software compares the server identification data of the data processing device obtained the first time with the server identification data of the data processing device obtained the second time, and... The system management software configures the data processing device based on the system configuration data obtained in the first acquisition only if the difference between the server identification data obtained in the first acquisition and the server identification data obtained in the second acquisition is found to exceed a preset percentage during the comparison step.

11. The data processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein, The service processor is a baseboard management controller (BMC).

12. The data processing apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein, The data processing device is adapted to be configured by the system management software via the service processor.

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