Boot Drive Partitioning for Multi-Processor Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
In compute devices with hybrid architectures, managing multiple operating systems (OSes) across different processor circuits is complex, especially when a proxied boot drive is used, which requires a leader processor to manage all partitions and interactions with the boot drive.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a partition manager circuitry that allows each processor circuit to independently manage its own OS installation and lifecycle from a single shared boot drive, eliminating the need for a leader processor and reducing software complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a proxied boot drive is used with a leader processor to manage all partitions and interactions, then centralized control is achieved, but device complexity and software complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the centralized leader processor role from the system by allowing each processor circuit to independently access and manage its own partitions on the boot drive. This eliminates the need for a proxied boot drive and leader processor, directly reducing software complexity while maintaining reliable partition management through direct processor-access-controller interactions
Solution Approach 2:
Each processor circuit is enabled to self-manage its own OS installation and lifecycle directly from the boot drive without requiring a leader processor. The partition manager circuitry allows processors to independently create, access, and manage partitions, implementing self-service that reduces overall system complexity while maintaining control reliability
2Reliability
If a proxied boot drive with leader processor is used, then centralized management is achieved, but parallelism is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The boot drive is segmented into multiple partitions that can be independently accessed by different processor circuits. Each processor circuit has its own partition(s) that it can manage independently, enabling parallel operations across multiple processors without requiring centralized coordination, thus increasing system parallelism while maintaining management reliability through the partition manager circuitry
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple boot drives are used for different processor circuits, then independent OS management is achieved, but device complexity and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
A single boot drive is designed to serve multiple processor circuits by implementing a partition management system where different partitions store OSes for different processors. The partition manager circuitry enables this single boot drive to perform the function of multiple dedicated boot drives, reducing hardware complexity and costs while maintaining independent OS management capability for each processor circuit
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, apparatus, articles of manufacture, and methods are disclosed to partition a boot drive for two or more processor circuits. An example apparatus includes at least one first processor circuit to determine at least one first parameter for a first namespace and at least one second parameter for a second namespace to be configured for a non-volatile memory (NVM) boot drive, cause a first controller of the NVM boot drive to create the first namespace based on the at least one first parameter, and cause the first controller to create the second namespace based on the at least one second parameter. Also, the example at least one first processor circuit is to attach the first namespace to the first controller of the NVM boot drive, attach the second namespace to a second controller of the NVM boot drive, and attach the second controller to a bootloader of a second processor circuit.