Methods and systems for updating the firmware on a plurality of network-attached computing devices
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for updating firmware on a plurality of computing devices over a distributed network comprising:
- receiving from a manager computer over the distributed network at the plurality of computing devices, an instruction to execute a firmware maintenance procedure, the instruction received while executing an operating system;
in response to receiving the instruction, rebooting the network attached computers to an operating system independent operating environment;
receiving at the plurality of computing devices a new firmware image over the distributed network in the operating system independent operating environment; and
in response to receiving the new firmware image, updating a current firmware on each of the plurality of computing devices with the new firmware image in the operating system independent operating environment.
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Abstract
Methods and systems are provided for updating firmware on a plurality of networked computing devices via a distributed network. An instruction to update the firmware on a plurality of networked computing devices, such as nodes in a computer cluster, is sent from a manager computer to the computing devices monitoring for instructions. When the instruction is received, the computing devices transition to an operating system independent recovery state, receive a new firmware image over the distributed network, and update the firmware with the new firmware image.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for updating firmware on a plurality of computing devices over a distributed network comprising:
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receiving from a manager computer over the distributed network at the plurality of computing devices, an instruction to execute a firmware maintenance procedure, the instruction received while executing an operating system; in response to receiving the instruction, rebooting the network attached computers to an operating system independent operating environment; receiving at the plurality of computing devices a new firmware image over the distributed network in the operating system independent operating environment; and in response to receiving the new firmware image, updating a current firmware on each of the plurality of computing devices with the new firmware image in the operating system independent operating environment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for updating firmware of a plurality of network attached computers over a network, the system comprising:
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a first computer operative to; send an instruction to update the firmware of the network attached computers over the network; and send a new firmware image over the network to the network attached computers; and at least a second computer and a third computer comprising the network attached computers wherein each network attached computer is operative to; while in an operating system dependent state monitor a communications port for the instruction to update the firmware; in response to receiving the instruction, transition from the operating system dependent state to an operating system independent recovery state; in response to transitioning to the recovery state, receive the new firmware image while in the operating system independent recovery state; and in response to receiving the new firmware image, update a current firmware with the new firmware image while in the operating system independent recovery state. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer implemented method for maintaining a BIOS of a plurality of networked computers via a distributed network wherein the networked computers comprise nodes of a computer cluster operating as a single computing system, the method comprising:
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receiving via the distributed network at each node, an instruction to update a BIOS on each node wherein the instruction comprises a single request broadcast to the nodes; in response to receiving the instruction, transitioning the nodes to a recovery state wherein the recovery state comprises an OS independent operating environment; receiving at the nodes a new BIOS image broadcast over the distributed network as a one image broadcast to all the nodes wherein the distributed network supports a user datagram protocol/Internet protocol; and in response to receiving the new BIOS image, updating a current BIOS on each of the nodes with the new BIOS image. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification