FIRMWARE UPDATE

• US 20170046152A1
• Filed: 08/12/2015
• Published: 02/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2015
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Quanta Computer
• Original Assignee: Quanta Computer
• Inventors: CHIU, Yang-Li, SHIH, Ching-Chih
• Application Number:
  US14/824,452
• Publication Number:
  US 20170046152A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0727 in a storage system, e.g. in a DASD or network based storage system drivers for digital recording or reproducing units G06F3/06; circuits for error detection or correction within digital recording or reproducing units G11B20/18; for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/073 in a memory management context, e.g. virtual memory or cache management memory management G06F12/00; testing of static memory units G11C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0787 Storage of error reports, e.g. persistent data storage, storage using memory protection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/14 Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in operation G06F11/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/654 using techniques specially adapted for alterable solid state memories, e.g. for EEPROM or flash memories

Abstract

A management controller can dynamically manage the firmware update of a storage node in a server system. For example, an administrative device can determine the up-to-date firmware version for a storage device or a memory device associated with storage device controller, such as a SAS expander. The administrative device can send the updated firmware image to a management controller. The firmware image is a bit-by-bit replication of the updated firmware. The management controller can send the updated firmware image to storage device controller. The storage device controller can determine whether the updated firmware image is for the storage device or for the memory device associated with the storage device controller. Upon determining, updating the firmware image in the designated device can be performed. The success log and failure log can be reported to the management controller.

Claims

1. A method of updating a storage device controller in a computing device, comprising:

receiving, by the storage device controller, a firmware image from a management controller for the computing device;

determining, by the storage device controller, that the firmware image should be applied to the storage device controller;

upon the determining that the updated firmware image should be applied to the storage device expander, storing, by the storage device controller, a new firmware based on the firmware image within memory associated with the storage device controller; and

rebooting the storage device controller using the new firmware.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the new firmware in a first region in the memory, the memory including the first region and a second region, wherein the second region includes a current firmware in use by the storage device controller; and

after storing the new firmware image in the first region, rebooting the storage device controller from the first region.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first region is an inactive region and the second region is an active region.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the management controller is a baseboard management controller (BMC).

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

operating the storage device controller using a current firmware in an active region of the memory;

storing the new firmware in an inactive region of the memory;

after storing the new firmware image in the inactive region of the memory, causing the first region to become the active region; and

rebooting the storage device controller to cause the storage device controller to run from the active region.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the active region and the inactive region are set using a set of active values.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage device controller is a serial attached small computer interface (SAS) expander.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium, having stored thereon a plurality of code section for causing a management controller of at storage node to perform a method comprising:

identifying a storage device controller in the storage node that is operating normally;

transmitting a firmware image to the storage device controller;

determining whether the firmware image was received by the storage device controller without errors;

generating a success log indicating that the firmware image was received by the storage device controller without errors; and

sending the success log to an administrator device.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising code sections for causing the management controller to perform steps comprising:

determining that the firmware image was received by the storage device controller with errors;

generating a failure log indicating that the firmware image was received by the storage device controller with errors; and

sending the failure log to the administrator device.

10. A server system comprising:

a storage device controller;

a management controller communicatively coupled to the storage device controller and a communications network; and

at least one storage device communicatively coupled to the storage device controller;

wherein the management controller is configured to receive a firmware image over the network from an administrative device and send the updated firmware image to the storage device controller, and wherein the storage device controller is configured for receiving the firmware image from the management controller, writing a firmware based on the firmware image to one of the storage device controller or the at least one storage device, analyzing the firmware, and determining whether to set the one of the storage device controller or the at least one storage device to utilize the firmware based on the analyzing.

11. The server system of claim 10, wherein the management controller is a baseboard management controller (BMC).

12. The server system of claim 10, wherein the storage device controller is a serial attached small computer interface (SAS) expander.

13. The server system of claim 10, wherein the writing comprises storing the firmware in an inactive region of a memory device, and wherein the setting comprises:

setting the inactive region of the memory device to be the active region of the memory device;

rebooting the one of the storage device controller or the at least one storage device using the firmware in the active region.

14. The server system of claim 10, wherein the analyzing comprises determining that the firmware is valid, and wherein the determining comprises setting the one of the storage device controller or the memory device to use the firmware if the firmware is valid.

15. The server system of claim 10, wherein the storage device controller is further configured for detecting an error in the firmware image and forwarding a error message to the management controller.

16. A method comprising:

receiving, from a first controller device at a second controller device, a firmware image;

determining, by the second controller device, that the firmware image is for updating firmware of one or more storage devices associated with the second controller device; and

installing, by the second controller device, the updated firmware image on the one or more storage devices.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first controller is a baseboard management controller.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the second controller is a serial attached small computer system interface (SAS) expander.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

storing the firmware image in a first region of a memory device in at least one of the storage devices, the memory device including the first region and a second region, wherein the second region includes firmware executed by the at least one of the storage devices prior to receiving the updated firmware image; and

after storing the updated firmware image in the first region, rebooting the at least one of the storage devices from the first region.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein each of the first region and a second region comprise active values for indicating an active one and inactive one of the first and the second regions, and further comprising swapping the active values prior to the rebooting.