System and method for remote RAID configuration

• US 7,216,200 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2003
• Issued: 05/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Zhang, Weijia, Lai, Yiqing, Ragunathan, Anusha
• Primary Examiner(s): BATAILLE, PIERRE MICHE
• Application Number:
  US10/700,709
• Publication Number:
  US 20050108474A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,281 Days
• Field of Search: 711/114, 711/112, 713/1, 713/2, 709/223
• US Class Current: 711/114
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0632 by initialisation or re-initialisation of storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD

Abstract

A deployment module of a RAID deployment management system integrates vendor-specific RAID configurations into a vendor-independent infrastructure with a RAID configuration utility that translates vendor-specific formatted configuration information to vendor-independent formatted configuration information. A user interface determines a RAID configuration for a target information handling system from a unique identifier associated with the target information handling system and deploys the configuration information through a deployment engine that selects a boot file from a DHCP server for the target to boot to with a PXE client. The deployment engine loads an agent to the target that executes to configure the target and then resets the boot file associated with the target so that subsequent boot allows the configured target to deploy software.

Claims

1. A system for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (“

RAID”

) configuration of a target information handling system having one of plural vendor-specific configurations, the system comprising;

a RAID configuration utility operable to provide RAID configuration information to the target information handling system with a selected vendor-specific utility associated with the target information handling system;

a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (“

DHCP”

) server operable to provide at least one of a RAID configuration Preboot Execution Environment (“

PXE”

) boot file to the target information handling system on an initial boot and a primary boot file to the target information handling system; and

a deployment engine operable to communicate the RAID configuration information to the target information handling system after boot with the RAID configuration PXE boot file, the RAID configuration information for performing a vendor specific configuration, the deployment engine further operable to reset the DHCP server to boot the target information handling system to the primary boot file after application of the RAID configuration information.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the RAID configuration information comprises an agent operable to run a RAID configuration utility over a deployment operating system running on the target information handling system.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the deployment engine is further operable to determine an initial state of the target information handling system and to adjust the RAID configuration information according to the initial state.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the deployment engine determines the initial state from a state label of the target information handling system.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising a user interface in communication with the deployment engine and the RAID configuration utility, the user interface operable to display RAID configuration information translated by the RAID configuration utility from a vendor-specific format to a vendor independent format, the user interface further operable to command the deployment engine to populate the target information handling system with the RAID configuration utility.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the user interface is further operable to select RAID configuration information for the target information handling system by comparing a unique identifier read from the target information handling system with a database that associates vendor-specific configurations to information handling system unique identifiers.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising plural RAID configuration PXE boot files, each RAID configuration PXE boot file associated with a vendor-specific RAID configuration utility.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising a post operating system agent deployable to the target information handling system and operable to command reboots of the target information handling system to trigger RAID configuration.

9. A method for RAID configuration of a target information handling system, the method comprising:

selecting a RAID configuration for deployment to a target information handling system, the RAID configuration associated with a vendor-specific configuration utility;

identifying one of plural RAID configuration boot files associated with a DHCP server, the identified RAID configuration boot file associated with the vendor-specific configuration utility;

performing a PXE boot from an initial state of the target information handling system with the RAID configuration boot file to run a deployment operating system;

deploying RAID configuration information to the target information handling system;

applying the RAID configuration information to the target information handling system;

identifying a primary boot file associated with the DHCP server; and

performing a PXE boot with the primary boot file.

10. The system of claim 9 deploying RAID configuration information to the target information handling system further comprises:

translating raid configuration information from a vendor-specific format to a vendor-independent format;

displaying the translated RAID configuration information at a user interface; and

deploying the RAID configuration information to the target information handling system with a command from the user interface.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

receiving RAID configuration status information from the target information handling system in a vendor specific format;

translating the status information to a vendor-independent format; and

displaying the status information at the user interface.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein deploying the RAID configuration information to the target information handling system further comprises:

deploying a vendor-specific RAID configuration utility to the target information handling system; and

executing the vendor-specific RAID configuration utility at the target information handling system.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

determining an initial state of the target information handling system by reading a state label from the target information handling system; and

determining RAID settings for the target information handling system from the initial state.

14. The method of claim 9 further comprising deploying software applications to the target information handling system with a primary operating system provided by the primary boot file.