SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SMART DIAGNOSIS USING HOSTED RESOURCES WITH INTELLIGENT ALTERING OF BOOT ORDER

• US 20160350166A1
• Filed: 05/28/2015
• Published: 12/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Andrews, Carlton A., Lo, Yuan-Chang, Seibert, Philip M., Swierk, Todd Erick
• Granted Patent: US 9,798,606 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0787 Storage of error reports, e.g. persistent data storage, storage using memory protection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/22 Detection or location of defective computer hardware by testing during standby operation or during idle time, e.g. start-up testing

Abstract

Systems and methods smart diagnosis using hosted resources with intelligent altering of boot order. In some embodiments, an Information Handling System (IHS) may include a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by the processor, cause the IHS to: execute a first diagnostic module; identify a software or hardware malfunction as a result of the execution of the first diagnostic module; communicate the malfunction to a backend server; receive, from the backend server, an indication of a second diagnostic module to be subsequently executed by the IHS; and execute the second diagnostic module.

Claims

1. An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by the processor, cause the IHS to;

execute a first diagnostic module;

identify a software or hardware malfunction as a result of the execution of the first diagnostic module;

communicate the malfunction to a backend server;

receive, from the backend server, an indication of a second diagnostic module to be subsequently executed by the IHS; and

execute the second diagnostic module.

2. The IHS of claim 1, wherein identification of the software or hardware malfunction is performed by a Basic I/O System (BIOS)/Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) routine stored within the IHS as part of a Power-on Self Test (POST) or boot operation performed by the IHS.

3. The IHS of claim 1, wherein to communicate the malfunction to the backend server, the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to transmit a message to the backend server with test or repair results provided by the first diagnostic module.

4. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the second diagnostic module is not available within the IHS, and wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to receive the second diagnostic module from the backend server.

5. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the second diagnostic module is not available within the IHS, and wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to receive the second diagnostic module from another IHS available to the IHS via a network.

6. The IHS of claim 5, wherein the indication of the second diagnostic module includes an identification or address of the other IHS.

7. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the backend server is configured to select the second diagnostic module among a plurality of diagnostic modules based upon an evaluation of the IHS or the malfunction.

8. The IHS of claim 1, wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to receive, from the backend server, an indication of a source of the second diagnostic module, and wherein the source is selected by the backend server among a plurality of sources based upon an evaluation of the network traffic or the availability of other devices with respect to the IHS.

9. The IHS of claim 1, wherein receiving the indication of the second diagnostic module includes receiving an ordered list of diagnostic modules, wherein at least a given one of the diagnostic modules on the list is not available within the IHS, and wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the IHS to execute each of the diagnostic modules in the listed order.

10. The IHS of claim 9, wherein the backend server is configured to customize the ordered list of diagnostic modules to address a specific test or repair result related to the malfunction based, at least in part, upon a historical analysis of other IHSs.

11. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

identifying, by a client device, a software or hardware malfunction;

communicating the malfunction to a backend server over a network;

receiving, from the backend server, an identification of a diagnostic module to be executed by the client device and an identification of a source containing the diagnostic module, wherein the diagnostic module is selected among a plurality of diagnostic modules based upon an evaluation of the client device or the malfunction, and wherein the source is selected among a plurality of sources based upon an evaluation of network traffic or an availability of other devices with respect to the client device; and

executing the diagnostic module.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising retrieving the diagnostic module from the backend server.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising retrieving the diagnostic module from another device distinct from the client device and from the backend server.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising:

in response to executing the diagnostic module, identifying, by the client device, another software or hardware malfunction;

communicating the other malfunction to the backend server over the network;

receiving, from the backend server, an identification of another diagnostic module to be executed by the client device, wherein the other diagnostic module is selected among the plurality of diagnostic modules based upon an evaluation of the other malfunction; and

executing the other diagnostic module.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the other diagnostic module is provided by another device disposed in physical proximity with respect to the client device.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising identifying the other device and notifying the backend server of the availability of the other device and of the other diagnostic module.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the backend server is configured to receive the notification, determine that the other module is retrievable by the client device in less time if sourced from the other device, and instruct the client device to retrieve the other diagnostics module from the other device.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the backend server is configured to receive the notification, determine that the other module is retrievable by the client device in less time if sourced from the backend server, and instruct the client device to retrieve the other diagnostics module from the backend server.

19. A storage device having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by an Information Handling System (IHS), cause the IHS to:

receive, from a client device over a network, an indication of a first software or hardware malfunction in the client device, wherein the first malfunction is detected by the client device during a first boot attempt of the client device;

evaluate the first malfunction to identify a first diagnostic module to be executed by the client device and a first source containing the first diagnostic module, wherein the first source is selected among a plurality of available sources; and

send an indication of the first diagnostic module and first source to the client device, wherein the client device is configured to retrieve the first diagnostic module from the first source and to execute the first diagnostic module as part of a second boot attempt.

20. The storage device of claim 19, wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the IHS, further cause the IHS to:

receive, from the client device over the network, an indication of a second software or hardware malfunction in the client device, wherein the second malfunction is detected by the client device during the second boot attempt;

evaluate the second malfunction to identify a second diagnostic module to be executed by the client device and a second source containing the second diagnostic module, wherein the second source is selected among the plurality of sources; and

send an indication of the second diagnostic module and second source to the client device, wherein the client device is configured to retrieve the second diagnostic module from the second source and to execute the second diagnostic module.