Method and equipment adapted for monitoring system components of a data processing system

• US 7,386,796 B1
• Filed: 04/01/2003
• Issued: 06/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sanmina-SCI Corporation
• Original Assignee: Newisys, Inc. (Sanmina-SCI Corporation)
• Inventors: Zhao, Yiqin, Garrison, David Alan, Simpson, Richard Ormond
• Primary Examiner(s): Wlley, David A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, LE V
• Application Number:
  US10/404,809
• Time in Patent Office: 1,897 Days
• Field of Search: 715/736
• US Class Current: 715/736
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3024 where the computing system component is a central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3031 where the computing system component is a motherboard or an expansion card
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3034 where the computing system component is a storage system, e.g. DASD based or network based digital input from or digital output to record carriers G06F3/06; digital recording or reproducing 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 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/328 Computer systems status display G06F11/327 takes precedence

Abstract

One embodiment of the disclosures made herein is a data processing system adapted for enabling at least one of presence and operating condition of system components installed in the data processing system to be monitored. Examples of presence include installed and uninstalled. Examples of operating conditions include temperature, voltage, current, duty-cycle, etc. The data processing system includes provides a user interface adapted for displaying a 1:1 mapped representation of the data processing system. Operating conditions of installed system components may be assessed via the user interface. A system component that is installed in its respective location in the data processing system (e.g., in a particular socket) is depicted in the 1:1 mapped representation of the data processing system as being installed in a corresponding location of the data processing system. After performing an operation for installing a particular system component in its respective location of the data processing system (e.g., adding additional memory in an empty memory slot), the user interface is updated automatically to depict the particular system component as being installed in a corresponding location in the 1:1 mapped representation of the data processing system. A displayed system component representation of a failed or failing system component may be highlighted in the user interface for aiding in identifying the failed of failing system component.

Claims

1. A method of displaying the user interface having a system component view, the system component view comprising:

a system component composite image depicting a plurality of system components active in a data processing system;

a plurality of information display elements, wherein at least a portion of said information display elements is superimposed on a respective one of said system components depicted in the system component composite image; and

wherein

a first portion of the system component composite image is processed for reducing detail thereof and a second portion of the system component composite image is processed for enhancing detail thereof; and

wherein

the first portion of the system component composite image for reducing detail includes a system component representation depicting static motherboard features and the second portion of the system component composite image for enhancing detail includes at least one of system component representations depicting system components mountable on the motherboard and system component representations depicting component mounting elements of the motherboard.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein each one of said information display elements is one of an information access selector and an operating condition indicator.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein a spatial relationship of system component representations of the system component composite image is 1:

1 mapped with respect to a spatial relationship of said system components active in the data processing system.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein:

the system component composite image includes a plurality of system component representation;

one of said system component representations is a stacked system component representation including a plurality of stacked system component selectors; and

information associated with a first one of said system components is displayed when a first one of said stacked system component selectors is selected and information associated with a second one of said system components is displayed when a second one of said stacked system component selectors is selected.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein each one of said stacked system component selectors has one of said information display elements associated therewith.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein each one of said information display elements is one of an information access selector and an operating condition indicator.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein the stacked system component representation includes selector-dependent indicia displayed therewith.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an operating condition gauge selectively superimposed on the system component composite image, wherein one of said information display elements is a gauge selector and the operating condition gauge is displayed in response to selecting the gauge selector.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the operating condition gauge displays real-time operating conditions.