Raid maintenance system

Abstract

To provide a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) maintenance system configured to start a malfunctioning industrial computer in the installation site and collect a wide variety of logs.SOLUTION: A redundant array of independent disks (RAID) maintenance system includes an information processing apparatus and a maintenance terminal. The information processing apparatus includes a RAID storage apparatus, a RAID controller board, a main board, and a power supply device. A memory on a RAID controller stores multiple pieces of same firmware for the RAID controller in a plurality of memory regions. The maintenance terminal writes, when the information processing apparatus malfunctions, a maintenance program in one memory region of the memory. The maintenance terminal starts the RAID controller using the maintenance program. The started RAID controller enables reading RAID log information and OS log information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments relate to a RAID maintenance system.

Background Art

[0002] There are industrial computers that support high reliability, long-term operation, and long-term maintenance. In recent years, even industrial computers are operating normal operating systems such as Windows (registered trademark) and Linux (registered trademark). These operating systems have a function of saving events and abnormalities during the operation of industrial computers as logs.

[0003] As an element to ensure the high reliability and high availability of industrial computers, there is RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks). RAID is a technology that makes a plurality of physical drives such as HDDs and SSDs into one logical drive. There is a RAID controller board as a dedicated board for realizing RAID.

[0004] In addition, there is a RAS (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability) function for improving the availability of devices. RAS can collect information related to failure diagnosis such as voltage information, temperature information, and device information in the device, and notify the failure diagnosis information. Industrial computers equipped with such RAS are also widespread.

[0005] Even such industrial computers have the possibility of becoming abnormal due to various failure factors such as hardware and software. In order to return such an abnormal state to normal, it is necessary to analyze the logs of the operating system, the logs of the RAID controller, and the logs of the RAS in order to identify the cause of the abnormal state of the industrial computer at the maintenance site.

[0006] Depending on the cause of the abnormality, the industrial computer itself may not be able to start up properly. In such cases, during maintenance work, it is often impossible to check the logs on-site, and the main body has to be taken back to the maintenance or development site, and it usually takes a lot of time to solve the problem, such as starting it up somehow at the place where it was taken back and checking the logs.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0007]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] An embodiment of the present invention aims to provide a RAID maintenance system that can start up an abnormal industrial computer at its installation location and collect various logs.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] According to an embodiment, a RAID maintenance system includes a RAID storage device including a plurality of storage devices, a RAID controller that controls the RAID storage device, a non-volatile memory having a plurality of storage areas that respectively store the same plurality of firmware programs for starting the RAID controller, setting and storing configuration information of the RAID storage device, and storing first log information regarding the RAID controller, a RAID controller board including the non-volatile memory, a main board connected to the RAID controller board, and a power supply device that supplies power to the RAID storage device, the RAID controller board, and the main board. The RAID maintenance system further includes a maintenance terminal that can be connected to the RAID controller board when there is a problem with the information processing device and write a maintenance program for starting the RAID controller to any one of the plurality of storage areas. After being started by the maintenance program, the RAID controller mounts the RAID storage device, mounts a logical drive on the RAID storage device, enables reading of the first log, and enables reading of second log information regarding an OS of the information processing device stored in the logical drive according to the maintenance program.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

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Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings are schematic or conceptual, and the relationships between the thicknesses and widths of the respective parts, the ratios of the sizes between the parts, etc. are not necessarily the same as those in reality. Also, even when representing the same part, the dimensions and ratios may be represented differently in the drawings. In the specification of the present application and each drawing, elements that are the same as those described above with respect to the previously presented drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof are appropriately omitted.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a RAID maintenance system according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a RAID maintenance system 100 according to an embodiment includes an information processing apparatus 10 and a maintenance terminal 60. The maintenance terminal 60 is communicably connected to the information processing apparatus 10 via an input / output port 62. The information processing apparatus 10 is, for example, an industrial computer and has a configuration described later. The maintenance terminal 60 is, for example, a portable computer or the like.

[0013] In the RAID maintenance system 100, when the information processing apparatus 10 stops due to some abnormality, the maintenance terminal 60 is connected to the RAID controller board 20. The maintenance terminal 60 is introduced with a program for writing a maintenance program into a memory 22 on the RAID controller board 20 of the information processing apparatus 10. The maintenance terminal 60 writes the maintenance program into a predetermined storage area of the memory 22, and the RAID controller 21 is started by executing a startup command issued by the maintenance terminal 60. The maintenance terminal 60 collects OS log information, RAID log information, and RAS log information via the started RAID controller 21. By analyzing the OS log information, RAID log information, and RAS log information collected by the maintenance terminal 60, it becomes possible to analyze the cause of the abnormality of the information processing apparatus 10.

[0014] The configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 will be described. The information processing apparatus 10 includes a main board 12, a RAID controller board 20, a RAID storage device 30, and a power supply device 50.

[0015] The main board 12 has a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, various interfaces, etc. for the information processing apparatus 10 to perform normal operations. In normal operation, the CPU performs desired processing and the like by executing a program expanded in the memory.

[0016] The main board 12 is provided with a RAS board 40 that realizes the RAS function. The RAS board 40 stores information related to RAS as a log. The log information of RAS is stored in a memory provided on the RAS board 40.

[0017] The RAID controller board 20 has a RAID controller 21 and a memory 22. The RAID controller board 20 has a host interface 23, a RAID interface 24, and an input / output port 25.

[0018] The RAID controller 21 can be communicably connected to the main board 12 via the host interface 23. The RAID controller 21 can be communicably connected to the RAS board 40 on the main board 12 via the host interface 23. The log information of RAS stored in the RAS board 40 is collected via the RAID controller 21.

[0019] The RAID controller 21 is connected to the RAID storage device 30 via the RAID interface 24 to construct and manage a RAID.

[0020] The RAID controller 21 can be communicably connected to the maintenance terminal 60 via the input / output port 25. The input / output port 25 can be a general-purpose interface such as USB.

[0021] The memory 22 is a rewritable non-volatile memory. The memory 22 stores RAID configuration information, RAID log information, and firmware. The firmware has a function of constructing and managing RAID by operating on an arithmetic unit on the RAID controller 21. Also, the firmware has a function of writing host data to the RAID storage device 30. Further, the firmware has a function of saving, as a log, events that occurred during the operation of the RAID controller 21. The log information of the RAID controller 21 is stored in a preset area of the memory 22.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for exemplifying a storage area of a non-volatile memory on a RAID controller board that is a part of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment. In the left diagram of FIG. 2, an example of the storage area of the memory 22 when the information processing apparatus 10 is operating normally is shown. In the right diagram of FIG. 2, an example of the storage area of the memory 22 when a maintenance program is written by the maintenance terminal 60 after the information processing apparatus 10 has become abnormal is shown.

[0023] As shown in the left diagram of FIG. 2, in the normal operation state of the information processing apparatus 10, the memory 22 includes a storage area 22a that stores RAID configuration information, cache, RAID log information, firmware pool information, and the like. Also, the memory 22 includes storage areas 22b and 22c that store a plurality of firmware programs. Further, the memory 22 includes a storage area 22d that stores a pre-boot program.

[0024] The same two firmware programs are stored in the two storage areas 22b and 22c, respectively. The pre-boot program stored in the storage area 22d determines which of the two firmware programs stored in the storage areas 22b and 22c is to be started preferentially. In normal operation, the priority order of the pre-boot program is preset.

[0025] As shown in the figure on the right side of FIG. 2, when the information processing apparatus 10 enters an abnormal state, the maintenance terminal 60 overwrites the maintenance program in either of the storage areas 22b and 22c where the firmware program is stored. Which storage area to overwrite is, for example, set in advance in the maintenance terminal 60. In the abnormal state of the information processing apparatus 10, the pre-boot program preferentially selects the overwritten maintenance program, and the RAID controller 21 is started by the maintenance program.

[0026] Returning to FIG. 1, the description will be continued. The RAID storage device 30 includes a plurality of storage devices constructed and managed by the RAID controller board 20. Each of the plurality of storage devices is, for example, an HDD or an SSD. All of the plurality of storage devices may be HDDs, all may be SSDs, or they may be mixed.

[0027] The configured RAID configuration information is stored in the memory 22. In the normal operation of the information processing apparatus 10, the RAID storage device 30 follows the RAID configuration information.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a RAID storage device that is a part of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, in the RAID storage device 30a, the RAID1 configuration is shown and it consists of two physical drives. In the RAID storage device 30b, the RAID5 configuration is shown and it consists of five physical drives. In the RAID storage device 30c, the RAID10 configuration is shown and it consists of four physical drives. In the RAID storage device 30d, the RAID6 configuration is shown and it consists of five physical drives. In the normal operation of the information processing apparatus 10, all the physical drives constituting the RAID operate. The power supply device 50 supplies power to all the physical drives.

[0029] In the abnormal state of the information processing apparatus 10, in order to reduce the power supply from the power supply apparatus 50, the maintenance program is preset to operate the minimum number of physical drives based on the RAID configuration information stored in the memory 22. The power supply to the physical drives based on the RAID configuration information is set, for example, by the maintenance program.

[0030] For example, in FIG. 3, for each RAID level set by the maintenance program in the event of an abnormality, the physical drives to be operated are shown in white, and the physical drives to be stopped are shown with hatching. For example, in the RAID storage device 30a of RAID1, out of 2 units, 1 unit is operated. For example, in the RAID storage device 30b of RAID5, out of 3 units, 2 units are operated. For example, in the RAID storage device 30c of RAID10, out of 4 units, 2 units are operated. For example, in the RAID storage device 30d of RAID6, out of 5 units, 3 units are operated.

[0031] The power supply apparatus 50 supplies power to the main board 12, the RAID controller board 20, and the RAID storage device 30 to operate the information processing apparatus 10. Even when some abnormality occurs in the information processing apparatus 10 and it stops, power necessary for the RAS board 40, the RAID controller board 20, and the RAID storage device 30 on the main board 12 to operate is supplied. The power supplied to the RAS board 40, the RAID controller board 20, and the RAID storage device 30 in the event of a malfunction of the information processing apparatus 10 is hereinafter referred to as standby power.

[0032] The operation of the RAID maintenance system 100 according to the embodiment will be described. In the normal operation of the information processing apparatus 10, the RAID controller 21 receives a startup command issued by a driver operating on the main board 12 and starts up. Thereafter, the RAID controller 21 executes a firmware program stored in any one of the storage areas selected according to the priority set by the pre-startup program. The RAID controller 21 transmits a start command to a plurality of storage devices according to the firmware program to operate all the storage devices. Note that the log information of the RAID controller 21 and the RAID configuration information are stored in all the connected storage devices. That is, the log information of the RAID controller 21 and the RAID configuration information are stored in the memory 22 and also in the logical drive. In addition to the information about the RAID controller 21, the log information of the OS of the information processing apparatus 10 is also stored in the logical drive.

[0033] Next, the operation of the RAID maintenance system 100 when some malfunction occurs in the information processing apparatus 10 and it stops will be described. FIGS. 4 and 5 are examples of flowcharts for explaining the operation of the RAID maintenance system according to the embodiment. In the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5, a scene is shown where some abnormality occurs in the information processing apparatus 10, the operation stops, and a worker with the maintenance terminal 60 performs maintenance work at the site where the information processing apparatus 10 is installed. The power supply device 50 supplies standby power to the RAID controller board 20, the RAID storage device 30, and the RAS board 40 so that they can operate.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 4, in step S1, the maintenance terminal 60 is connected to the input / output port 25 of the RAID controller board 20 by a worker. For example, the maintenance terminal 60 transmits permission to connect to the RAID controller 21. In step S2, the maintenance terminal 60 recognizes the RAID controller board 20, and the connection between the maintenance terminal 60 and the RAID controller 21 is established.

[0035] In step S3, the maintenance terminal 60 writes a maintenance program to a predetermined storage area 22b of the memory 22 by a pre-set writing program. In step S4, the maintenance program is written by overwriting the firmware program stored in the storage area 22b.

[0036] In step S5, the maintenance terminal 60 operated by the operator issues a startup command and sends it to the RAID controller board 20.

[0037] In step S6, the RAID controller 21 is started by the startup command and starts operating according to the maintenance program.

[0038] In step S7, the RAID controller 21 implements RAID, implements a logical drive, and implements an external device function according to the processing steps of the maintenance program. By implementing RAID and the logical drive, the RAID controller 21 can make the logical drive of the RAID storage device 30 public. Also, by implementing the external device function, the RAID controller 21 can connect to the RAS board 40 via the host interface 23 with the main board 12 and make the RAS log information public.

[0039] Figure 5 shows the procedure for the operator to operate the maintenance terminal 60 to obtain various information based on this information because the logical drive can be made public by executing the maintenance program by the RAID controller 21.

[0040] As shown in Figure 5, in step S8, the operator operates the maintenance terminal 60 and sends a connection request to the RAID controller 21 to obtain public information such as the logical drive. In step S9, the RAID controller 21 permits the access.

[0041] In step S10, the operator operates the maintenance terminal 60 to send a request for the log information of the RAID controller 21 and the log information of the OS to the RAID controller 21 to the RAID controller 21.

[0042] In step S11, the RAID controller 21 collects the log information of the RAID controller 21 and the log information of the OS, and sends the collected log information to the maintenance terminal 60. The RAID controller 21 can read the log information of the RAID controller 21 from the storage area 22a of the memory 22 on the RAID controller board 20. Also, the RAID controller 21 can read the log information of the OS from the logical drive of the RAID storage device 30.

[0043] In step S12, the operator operates the maintenance terminal 60 to send a request for the log information of the RAS to the RAID controller 21.

[0044] In step S13, the RAID controller 21 that has received the log information of the RAS sends a request for the log information of the RAS to the RAS board 40.

[0045] In step S14, the RAS board 40 that has received the request for the log information of the RAS acquires the log information from the memory on the RAS board 40 and sends the read log information to the RAID controller 21.

[0046] In step S15, the RAID controller 21 sends the log information of the RAS received from the RAS board 40 to the maintenance terminal.

[0047] In this way, the operator can collect the log information of the RAID controller 21, the log information of the OS, and the log information of the RAS by means of the maintenance terminal 60. Note that since the log information of the RAID controller 21 is stored not only in the memory 22 but also in the logical drive, it may be acquired from the logical drive as well. The log information on the memory 22 and the log information on the logical drive may have different timestamps, and comparing them may be useful for investigating the cause of an abnormality.

[0048] The effects of the RAID maintenance system 100 according to the embodiment will be described. In the RAID maintenance system 100 according to the embodiment, the memory 22 on the RAID controller board 20 included in the information processing apparatus 10 has a plurality of storage areas 22b, 22c that respectively store a plurality of firmware programs. The same firmware program is stored in the plurality of storage areas 22b, 22c. When the information processing apparatus 10 operates normally, the priority order of the storage areas for starting up the RAID controller 21 is set in advance by a pre-boot program stored in another storage area 22d. In the information processing apparatus 10, a plurality of the same firmware programs are respectively stored in the plurality of storage areas 22b, 22c for starting up and operating the RAID controller 21, and the DRAID controller 21 can be started up in the same manner regardless of which one is selected. Therefore, even if a problem occurs in any one of the plurality of storage areas 22b, 22c and the firmware program cannot be executed, the RAID controller 21 can be started up using the same firmware program in another storage area.

[0049] Even when the RAID controller 21 cannot be started up due to other factors, the maintenance terminal 60 can be connected, and a maintenance program can be written into any one of the plurality of storage areas 22b, 22c by the maintenance terminal 60, and the RAID controller 21 can be started up by the maintenance program.

[0050] After the RAID controller 21 is activated, the RAID controller 21 can implement RAID and implement a logical drive by executing a maintenance program. Therefore, after the RAID controller 21 is activated, it becomes possible to disclose the information in the logical drive. In addition to acquiring the log information in the memory 22 via the RAID controller 21, the maintenance terminal 60 can acquire the log information of the OS, which is the information in the logical drive.

[0051] The RAID controller 21 can also implement an external device function by executing a maintenance program. By implementing the external device function, the RAID controller 21 can be connected to the main board 12 via the host interface 23, and can acquire the log information related to RAS from the memory of the RAS board that is receiving standby power supply on the main board 12.

[0052] In this way, the maintenance terminal 60 operated by the operator can collect the log information of the RAID controller 21, the log information of the OS, and the log information of RAS. For example, the operator may analyze these on the maintenance terminal 60 and determine the cause of the malfunction of the information processing apparatus 10 on the spot. Even if these log information cannot be analyzed on site, detailed analysis can be performed by taking back the log information and other information without taking back the information processing apparatus 10, so that the maintenance work can be made more efficient.

[0053] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and its equivalent scope.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0054] 10… Information processing device, 12… Main board, 20… RAID controller board, 21… RAID controller, 22… Memory, 22a~22d… Storage areas, 23… Host interface, 24… RAID interface, 25… Input / output port, 30… RAID storage device, 40… RAS board, 60… Maintenance terminal, 100… RAID maintenance system

Claims

1. A RAID storage device including a plurality of storage devices, a RAID controller for controlling the RAID storage device, and a non-volatile memory having a plurality of storage areas for respectively storing the same plurality of firmware programs that start the RAID controller, set and store configuration information of the RAID storage device, and store first log information regarding the RAID controller, and a RAID controller board including the non-volatile memory, a main board connected to the RAID controller board, a power supply device for supplying power to the RAID storage device, the RAID controller board, and the main board, and an information processing device having the above components, a maintenance terminal that can be connected to the RAID controller board when the information processing device malfunctions and write a maintenance program for starting the RAID controller to any one of the plurality of storage areas, wherein the RAID controller, after being started by the maintenance program, implements the RAID storage device according to the maintenance program, implements a logical drive on the RAID storage device, enables reading of the first log, and enables reading of second log information regarding the OS of the information processing device stored in the logical drive, and a RAID maintenance system.

2. The RAID maintenance system according to claim 1, further comprising a RAS board having third log information regarding the RAS of the information processing device, wherein the RAID controller, after being started by the maintenance program, implements a connection function with the RAS board according to the maintenance program and enables reading of the third log information regarding the RAS of the information processing device stored in the RAS board.

3. The RAID maintenance system according to claim 2, wherein the RAID controller transmits the first log information, the second log information, and the third log information to the maintenance terminal in response to a request from the maintenance terminal.

4. The RAID maintenance system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein when the information processing device malfunctions, the power supply device supplies standby power for the operations of the RAID storage device, the RAID controller board, and the RAS board.

5. ​ The RAID maintenance system according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance program enables a preset number of storage devices among a plurality of storage devices to operate based on the configuration information when a malfunction occurs in the information processing apparatus.

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