Method of reading system log

• US 6,073,255 A
• Filed: 10/01/1997
• Issued: 06/06/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Round Rock Research LLC
• Original Assignee: Micro Electronics Incorporated
• Inventors: Johnson, Karl S., Nouri, Ahmad
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Application Number:
  US08/942,068
• Time in Patent Office: 979 Days
• Field of Search: 395/200.54, 395/200.47, 709/224, 709/217, 709/225, 714/31
• US Class Current: 714/31
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/20 Cooling means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/206 comprising thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• 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 11/0769 Readable error formats, e.g. cross-platform generic formats, human understandable formats
• 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 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3058 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations thermal management in cooling arrangements of a computing system G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3065 Monitoring arrangements determined by the means or processing involved in reporting the monitored data error or fault reporting or logging G06F11/0766
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/328 Computer systems status display G06F11/327 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4027 using bus bridges G06F13/4022 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/305 by remotely controlling device operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0601 Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0673 Single storage device
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/12 Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0826 : for reduction of network costs H04L41/0833 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0836 : to enhance reliability, e.g. reduce downtime
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 : Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 : comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 : for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 : related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 : by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0823 : Errors, e.g. transmission errors
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/106 : using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 : Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 : Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 : in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A fault tolerant method of downloading the contents of a server system log through either a local or remote client machine without intervention of the server operating system software. The remote machine accesses the server by use of a dial-in modem connection while the local machine accesses the server by a local serial connection. The system log may be stored in a non-volatile RAM which is powered by a remote interface if the server power is off. The downloaded information is displayed in a graphical user interface window to enable diagnosis and recovery of the server.

Claims

1. A method for reading a system log for a computer, the method comprising the acts of:

sending a command for remotely reading a system log from a second computer through a remote interface to a first computer;

executing the command on a microcontroller in the first computer; and

sending a read system log signal from the microcontroller to the first computer thereby reading the system log.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of sending a read system log signal from the microcontroller to the first computer includes the act of sending the read system log signal to a log memory.

3. The method of claim 1, additionally including the act of providing power to the remote interface from a remote interface power supply independent of a computer power supply.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second computer is at the same location as the first computer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second computer is at a location remote to the first computer.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the act of sending the command for remotely reading the system log from the second computer includes the act of connecting a pair of modems, wherein a first modem connects to the first computer and a second modem connects to the second computer.

7. The method of claim 1, further including the act of providing a response to the second computer through the remote interface based on results of the command.

8. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising the act of connecting the remote interface proximately to the first computer.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the act of sending the read system log signal to a log memory includes the act of accessing a non-volatile memory.

10. The method of claim 3, additionally comprising the act of providing power from the remote interface power supply to the first computer when the first computer power supply fails.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the act of providing the response includes the act of storing response data in a remote interface memory.

12. A method of remotely reading a system log of a computer, the method comprising the acts of:

connecting a remote interface to a first computer and a second computer;

providing a read system log command at the second computer directed to the first computer;

encapsulating the command in a communications protocol;

transmitting the encapsulated command to the remote interface;

communicating the command received by the remote interface to the first computer; and

performing the command on the first computer.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the act of performing the command includes the act of establishing a secure mode in the computer environment.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the act of performing the command includes the act of requesting data from a component of the first computer.

15. The method of claim 12, further including the act of providing a response to the second computer through the remote interface based on results of the command.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the act of providing a response includes the act of storing response data in a memory associated with the remote interface.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the act of connecting the remote interface to the first computer includes the act of proximately locating the remote interface to the first computer.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the act of performing the command on the first computer includes the act of reading data from a log memory.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the log memory comprises a non-volatile memory.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the remote interface comprises a circuit having a microcontroller, and wherein the memory is connected to the microcontroller and stores the response data.

21. The method of claim 20, additionally comprising the act of proximately locating and connecting the circuit to the first computer.