CLOUD-BASED FIRMWARE DISTRIBUTION SERVICE

• US 20140123124A1
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Published: 05/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Aruba Networks Incorporated (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Gray, Gordon Paul, Burke, Anthony, Munro, David, Liu, Yan, Crovo, Derek
• Granted Patent: US 9,015,694 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/170
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/654 using techniques specially adapted for alterable solid state memories, e.g. for EEPROM or flash memories

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the invention, a method for altering stored firmware within a network device comprises receiving, by a first network device, information to download firmware. This information is provided from the first network device to at least a second network device, which is communicatively coupled to the first network device. The information enables the second network device to access a second version of firmware different than a first version of firmware installed on the second network device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a first network device, information to download firmware;

providing the information from the first network device to at least a second network device communicatively coupled to the first network device, the information enabling the second network device to access a second version of firmware different than a first version of firmware installed on the second network device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises one or more uniform resource locators (URLs) providing access to one or more firmware images including a firmware image of the second version of the firmware, each URL corresponds to a firmware image associated with a different type of network device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the information comprises a first URL of the one or more URLS providing access to a firmware image associated with a different platform than a platform supported by the first network device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises one or more uniform resource locators (URLs) providing access to one or more firmware images including a firmware image of the second version of the firmware, each URL corresponds to a firmware image associated with a different platform type.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second version of the firmware is an earlier version than the first version of the firmware installed on the second network device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second version of the firmware is a more recent version than the first version of the firmware installed on the second network device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to receiving the information to download the firmware, the method further comprising:

transmitting keying material identifying the second version of the firmware installed on the second network device to one or more servers providing a cloud-based service.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to receiving the information to download the firmware, the method further comprising:

detecting, by the first network device, the second network device recently joining a cluster of network devices controlled by the first network device, each network device of the cluster supporting the second version of the firmware and the second network device installed with the first version of the firmware;

transmitting, by the first network device, keying material identifying the second version of the firmware to one or more servers providing a cloud-based service;

receiving, by the first network device, the information to download the second version of the firmware.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first network device further transmitting to the one or more servers providing the cloud-based service one or more of (i) a serial number for the first network device, (ii) a media access control (MAC) address for the first network device, and (iii) a part number.

10. A network device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including firmware update logic that, when executed by the processor, causes the network device to perform one or more operations that comprise;

receiving information to download firmware, and

providing the information to at least a second network device communicatively coupled to the network device, the information enabling the second network device to access a second version of firmware different than a first version of firmware installed on the second network device.

11. The network device of claim 10, wherein the received information comprises one or more uniform resource locators (URLs) providing access to one or more firmware images including a firmware image of the second version of the firmware, each URL corresponds to a firmware image associated with a different type of network device.

12. The network device of claim 11, wherein the received information comprises a first URL of the one or more URLS providing access to a firmware image associated with a different platform than a platform supported by the network device.

13. The network device of claim 10, wherein the received information comprises one or more uniform resource locators (URLs) providing access to one or more firmware images including a firmware image of the second version of the firmware, each URL corresponds to a firmware image associated with a different platform type.

14. The network device of claim 10, wherein the second version of the firmware is an earlier version than the first version of the firmware installed on the second network device.

15. The network device of claim 10, wherein the second version of the firmware is a more recent version than the first version of the firmware installed on the second network device.

16. The network device of claim 10, wherein the firmware update logic, when executed by the processor, causes the network device to perform one or more operations further comprising:

prior to receiving the information to download the firmware, transmitting keying material identifying the second version of the firmware installed on the second network device to one or more servers providing a cloud-based service.

17. The network device of claim 10, wherein the firmware update logic, when executed by the processor, causes the network device to perform one or more operations further comprising:

prior to receiving the information to download the firmware, detecting the second network device recently joining a cluster of network devices controlled by the network device, each network device of the cluster supporting the second version of the firmware and the second network device installed with the first version of the firmware;

transmitting keying material identifying the second version of the firmware to one or more servers providing a cloud-based service;

receiving the information to download the second version of the firmware.

18. The network device of claim 17, wherein the firmware update logic, when executed by the processor, causes the network device to perform one or more operations further comprising:

transmitting to the one or more servers providing the cloud-based service one or more of (i) a serial number for the first network device, (ii) a media access control (MAC) address for the first network device, and (iii) a part number.

19. A system comprising:

one or more servers adapted to provide a cloud-based firmware distribution service by receiving a request for firmware and providing information to enable retrieval of a particular version of firmware for either multiple types of network devices or multiple types of platforms; and

a first network device communicatively coupled to the one or more servers, the first network device adapted to (i) receive information to download the particular version of firmware associated with either multiple types of network devices or multiple types of platforms, and (ii) provide the information to at least a second network device communicatively coupled to the first network device, the information enabling the second network device to access the particular version of the firmware different than a version of firmware currently installed on the second network device.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the information received by the first network device comprises one or more uniform resource locators (URLs) providing access to one or more firmware images, each URL corresponds to a firmware image associated with either a different type of network device or a different type of platform.