Method and apparatus for server management

• US 10,496,300 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2016
• Issued: 12/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Wu, Chao, Zhai, Li, Mei, Sheng, Xia, Robert Guowu, Wang, Winson Yin, Feng, Zhi
• Primary Examiner(s): Choe, Yong J
• Application Number:
  US15/267,460
• Publication Number:
  US 20170075607A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,173 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/102 where the programme performs an interfacing function, e.g. device driver G06F13/105 takes precedence; scheduling within device drivers G06F9/52; contention policies within device drivers G06F9/4881
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4282 on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/34 involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/602 Providing cryptographic facilities or services
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/0042 Universal serial bus [USB]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2143 Clearing memory, e.g. to prevent the data from being stolen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0622 in relation to access
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0652 Erasing, e.g. deleting, data cleaning, moving of data to a wastebasket
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/28 Restricting access to network management systems or functions, e.g. using authorisation function to access network configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a server management method and a management device. The method comprises determining whether a USB device is connected to the server, the USB device including a permission of a respective user to the server. The method further comprises: in response to determining that the USB device is connected to the server, transmitting the permission to the server to enable the server to be operated based on the permission.

Claims

1. A method of managing a server using a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device, comprising:

by the USB device, determining whether the USB device is connected to the server, the USB device including a permission of a respective user to the server;

by the USB device in response to determining that the USB device is connected to the server, transmitting the permission to the server to enable the server to be operated based on the permission;

providing, via the server, a level of operation of the server based on the permission; and

by the USB device, monitoring conditions of the server while connected to the server,

wherein the permission is a permission of a user of the server to use hardware of the server, and the permission specifies a performance level of the server as one or more hardware parameters including (1) a maximum number of central processing units (CPUs) and a maximum number of CPU cores of the server that can be used by the user, (2) a maximum operating frequency of a CPU of the server that can be used by the user, and (3) a size of available memory of the server that can be used by the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the permission is stored in a read-only memory within the USB device.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising, by the USB device:

in response to a decryption operation on the USB device, performing at least one of the following;

entering a safe mode;

stopping working;

or

erasing the read-only memory.

4. The method of claim 2,

wherein the USB device comprises a battery configured to supply power to the USB device;

and further comprising, by the USB device in response to a voltage of the battery being below a threshold, erasing the read-only memory.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, by the USB device:

obtaining status information of the server via a USB interface between the USB device and the server.

6. The method of claim 5,

wherein the USB device comprises a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) interface;

and further comprising, by the USB device;

transmitting the status information of the server to an external device via the RFID interface.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein, if the server fails to receive the permission from the USB device within a predetermined time, the server either shuts down or operates on a default permission.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the default permission is one of a minimum-level permission, a permission currently in use, or a permission at another level customized based on the service provided to a user.

9. A Universal Serial Bus (USB) device for managing a server, comprising:

a processor configured to;

determine whether the USB device is connected to the server, the USB device including a permission of a respective user to the server;

in response to determining that the USB device is connected to the server, transmit the permission to the server to enable the server to be operated based on the permission, the permission specifying a level of operation of the server based on the permission; and

monitor conditions of the server while the USB device is connected to the server,

wherein the permission is a permission of a user of the server to use hardware of the server, and the permission specifies a performance level of the server as one or more hardware parameters including (1) a maximum number of central processing units (CPUs) and a maximum number of CPU cores of the server that can be used by the user, (2) a maximum operating frequency of a CPU of the server that can be used by the user, and (3) a size of available memory of the server that can be used by the user.

10. The USB device of claim 9, wherein the permission is stored in a read-only memory within the USB device.

11. The USB device of claim 10, wherein in response to a decryption operation on the USB device, the processor is configured to cause the USB device to perform at least one of the following operations:

entering a safe mode;

stopping working;

or

erasing the read-only memory.

12. The USB device of claim 10, wherein the USB device further comprises a battery configured to supply power to the USB device, and the processor is further configured to:

in response to a voltage of the battery being below a threshold, erase the read-only memory.

13. The USB device of claim 9, wherein the USB device is configured to obtain status information of the server via a USB interface between the USB device and the server.

14. The USB device of claim 13, wherein the USB device further comprises a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) interface and is further configured to transmit the status information of the server to an external device via the RFID interface.