Detecting a computing system basic input/output system issue

• US 9,098,409 B2
• Filed: 06/11/2014
• Issued: 08/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pure Storage, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cleversafe Incorporated (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Grube, Gary W., Markison, Timothy W.
• Primary Examiner(s): BATAILLE, PIERRE MICHE
• Application Number:
  US14/302,390
• Publication Number:
  US 20140298001A1
• Time in Patent Office: 419 Days
• Field of Search: 711/103, 711/5, 711/170, 711/173, 711/12.059
• 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 11/10 Adding special bits or symbols to the coded information, e.g. parity check, casting out 9's or 11's
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1016 Error in accessing a memory location, i.e. addressing error
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1076 Parity data used in redundant arrays of independent storages, e.g. in RAID systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1092 Rebuilding, e.g. when physically replacing a failing disk
• 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 11/1666 where the redundant component is memory or memory area
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/14 Protection against unauthorised use of memory or access to memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/064 Management of blocks
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/30145 Instruction analysis, e.g. decoding, instruction word fields
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4401 Bootstrapping security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

A method begins where a processing module accesses at least some of a set of basic input/output system (BIOS) memories to retrieve a decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices, where a BIOS program is dispersed storage error encoded to produce the set of encoded BIOS slices. The method continues with the processing module reconstructing the BIOS program from the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices. The method continues with the processing module detecting a BIOS issue based on one or more of an operational issue with one or more BIOS memories of the set of BIOS memories, a rebuild issue with one or more encoded BIOS slices of the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices, and a modification to the BIOS program. The method continues with the processing module determining a BIOS change regarding the BIOS issue and implementing the BIOS change.

Claims

1. A basic input/output system (BIOS) system comprises:

a set of BIOS memories;

a decoding module, when enabled, is operable to;

access at least some of the set of BIOS memories to retrieve a decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices for each set of one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices, wherein a BIOS program is dispersed storage error encoded to produce the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices; and

reconstruct the BIOS program from the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices from each set of the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices; and

a BIOS management module operable to;

detect a BIOS issue based on one or more of;

an operational issue with one or more BIOS memories of the set of BIOS memories, a rebuild issue with one or more encoded BIOS slices of the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices, and a modification to the BIOS program;

determine a BIOS change regarding the BIOS issue; and

implement the BIOS change to change one or more of;

an encoded BIOS slice, a BIOS memory, and utilization of the BIOS program.

2. The BIOS system of claim 1 further comprises:

the BIOS management module is further operable to produce a rebuild request when the BIOS issue is the rebuild issue, wherein the rebuild request includes an identity of an encoded BIOS slice of the one or more encoded BIOS slices requiring the rebuilding to produce an identified encoded BIOS slice;

a rebuilding module operable, in response to the rebuild request, to;

retrieve the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices of the set of the one or more sets of the encoded BIOS slices that includes the identified encoded BIOS slice and wherein the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices excludes the identified encoded BIOS slice;

reconstruct a data segment of the BIOS program from the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices; and

generate a rebuilt encoded BIOS slice from the reconstructed data segment of the BIOS program; and

the BIOS management module is further operable to;

determine a storage location for the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice; and

update the set of BIOS memories to include the storage location of the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice.

3. The BIOS system of claim 1 further comprises:

when the BIOS issue is the operational issue with the one or more BIOS memories of the set of BIOS memories, the BIOS management module is further operable to;

identify an encoded BIOS slice of the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices that is adversely affected by the operational issue; and

generate a rebuild request regarding the identified encoded BIOS slice;

a rebuilding module operable, in response to the rebuild request, to;

retrieve the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices of the set of the one or more sets of the encoded BIOS slices that includes the identified encoded BIOS slice and wherein the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices excludes the identified encoded BIOS slice;

reconstruct a data segment of the BIOS program from the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices; and

generate a rebuilt encoded BIOS slice from the reconstructed data segment of the BIOS program; and

the BIOS management module is further operable to;

determine a new storage location for the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice; and

update the set of BIOS memories to include the new storage location of the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice.

4. The BIOS system of claim 1 further comprises:

the BIOS management module is further operable to;

determine a level of compromise to the utilization of the BIOS program based on existence of the operational issue and existence of the rebuild issue;

when the level of compromise is above a first threshold, flag a rebuild operation and maintain normal use of the BIOS program;

when the level of compromise is between the first threshold and a second threshold, flag the rebuild operation and restrict re-boot of a computing device that includes the BIOS system to a set of re-bootable operations until the level of compromise is raised above the first threshold; and

when the level of compromise is below the second threshold, flag the rebuild operation and prohibit re-boot of the computing device until the level of compromise is raised above the second threshold.

5. The BIOS system of claim 1, wherein the set of BIOS memories comprises one of:

a set of read only memory (ROM) devices;

a set of erasable and programmable ROM (EPROM) devices;

at least one ROM device and at least one EPROM device;

a set of memory sections in main memory of a computing device that includes the BIOS system;

at least one memory section of the main memory and at least one ROM device;

a set of random access memory (RAM) devices; and

at least one RAM device and at least one ROM device.

6. The BIOS system of claim 1 further comprises:

the BIOS management module is further operable to;

select one of a plurality of versions of the BIOS program to produce a selected version of the BIOS program; and

provide an indication of the selected version of the BIOS program to the decoding module; and

the decoding module, when enabled, is operable to;

access at least some of the set of BIOS memories to retrieve a decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices for each set of one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices of the selected version of the BIOS program.

7. The BIOS system of claim 1 further comprises:

the BIOS management module is further operable to;

select one of a plurality BIOS programs to produce a selected BIOS program; and

provide an indication of the selected BIOS program to the decoding module; and

the decoding module, when enabled, is operable to;

access at least some of the set of BIOS memories to retrieve a decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices for each set of one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices of the selected BIOS program.

8. A computer-implemented method for execution by a computing device, the computer-implemented method comprises:

accessing at least some of a set of basic input/output system (BIOS) memories to retrieve a decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices for each set of one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices, wherein a BIOS program is dispersed storage error encoded to produce the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices;

reconstructing the BIOS program from the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices from each set of the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices;

detecting a BIOS issue based on one or more of;

an operational issue with one or more BIOS memories of the set of BIOS memories, a rebuild issue with one or more encoded BIOS slices of the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices, and a modification to the BIOS program;

determining a BIOS change regarding the BIOS issue; and

implementing the BIOS change to change one or more of;

an encoded BIOS slice, a BIOS memory, and utilization of the BIOS program.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 further comprises:

producing a rebuild request when the BIOS issue is the rebuild issue, wherein the rebuild request includes an identity of an encoded BIOS slice of the one or more encoded BIOS slices requiring the rebuilding to produce an identified encoded BIOS slice;

in response to the rebuild request;

retrieving the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices of the set of the one or more sets of the encoded BIOS slices that includes the identified encoded BIOS slice and wherein the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices excludes the identified encoded BIOS slice;

reconstructing a data segment of the BIOS program from the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices;

generating a rebuilt encoded BIOS slice from the reconstructed data segment of the BIOS program;

determining a storage location for the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice; and

updating the set of BIOS memories to include the storage location of the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 further comprises:

when the BIOS issue is the operational issue with the one or more BIOS memories of the set of BIOS memories;

identifying an encoded BIOS slice of the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices that is adversely affected by the operational issue; and

generating a rebuild request regarding the identified encoded BIOS slice; and

in response to the rebuild request;

retrieving the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices of the set of the one or more sets of the encoded BIOS slices that includes the identified encoded BIOS slice and wherein the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices excludes the identified encoded BIOS slice;

reconstructing a data segment of the BIOS program from the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices;

generating a rebuilt encoded BIOS slice from the reconstructed data segment of the BIOS program;

determining a new storage location for the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice; and

updating the set of BIOS memories to include the new storage location of the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 further comprises:

determining a level of compromise to the utilization of the BIOS program based on existence of the operational issue and existence of the rebuild issue;

when the level of compromise is above a first threshold, flagging a rebuild operation and maintain normal use of the BIOS program;

when the level of compromise is between the first threshold and a second threshold, flagging the rebuild operation and restrict re-boot of a computing device that includes the BIOS system to a set of re-bootable operations until the level of compromise is raised above the first threshold; and

when the level of compromise is below the second threshold, flagging the rebuild operation and prohibit re-boot of the computing device until the level of compromise is raised above the second threshold.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the set of BIOS memories comprises one of:

a set of read only memory (ROM) devices;

a set of erasable and programmable ROM (EPROM) devices;

at least one ROM device and at least one EPROM device;

a set of memory sections in main memory of a computing device that includes the BIOS system;

at least one memory section of the main memory and at least one ROM device;

a set of random access memory (RAM) devices; and

at least one RAM device and at least one ROM device.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 further comprises:

selecting one of a plurality of versions of the BIOS program to produce a selected version of the BIOS program;

providing an indication of the selected version of the BIOS program; and

accessing at least some of the set of BIOS memories to retrieve a decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices for each set of one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices of the selected version of the BIOS program.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 further comprises:

selecting one of a plurality BIOS programs to produce a selected BIOS program;

providing an indication of the selected BIOS program; and

accessing at least some of the set of BIOS memories to retrieve a decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices for each set of one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices of the selected BIOS program.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having accessible therefrom a set of instructions interpretable by a processing module, the set of instructions being configured to cause the processing module to carry out operations for:

accessing at least some of a set of basic input/output system (BIOS) memories to retrieve a decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices for each set of one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices, wherein a BIOS program is dispersed storage error encoded to produce the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices;

reconstructing the BIOS program from the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices from each set of the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices;

detecting a BIOS issue based on one or more of;

an operational issue with one or more BIOS memories of the set of BIOS memories, a rebuild issue with one or more encoded BIOS slices of the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices, and a modification to the BIOS program;

determining a BIOS change regarding the BIOS issue; and

implementing the BIOS change, to change one or more of;

an encoded BIOS slice, a BIOS memory, and utilization of the BIOS program.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the set of instructions further being configured to cause the processing module to carry out operations for:

producing a rebuild request when the BIOS issue is the rebuild issue, wherein the rebuild request includes an identity of an encoded BIOS slice of the one or more encoded BIOS slices requiring the rebuilding to produce an identified encoded BIOS slice;

in response to the rebuild request;

retrieving the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices of the set of the one or more sets of the encoded BIOS slices that includes the identified encoded BIOS slice and wherein the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices excludes the identified encoded BIOS slice;

reconstructing a data segment of the BIOS program from the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices;

generating a rebuilt encoded BIOS slice from the reconstructed data segment of the BIOS program;

determining a storage location for the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice; and

updating the set of BIOS memories to include the storage location of the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the set of instructions further being configured to cause the processing module to carry out operations for:

when the BIOS issue is the operational issue with the one or more BIOS memories of the set of BIOS memories;

identifying an encoded BIOS slice of the one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices that is adversely affected by the operational issue; and

generating a rebuild request regarding the identified encoded BIOS slice; and

in response to the rebuild request;

retrieving the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices of the set of the one or more sets of the encoded BIOS slices that includes the identified encoded BIOS slice and wherein the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices excludes the identified encoded BIOS slice;

reconstructing a data segment of the BIOS program from the decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices;

generating a rebuilt encoded BIOS slice from the reconstructed data segment of the BIOS program;

determining a new storage location for the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice; and

updating the set of BIOS memories to include the new storage location of the rebuilt encoded BIOS slice.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the set of instructions further being configured to cause the processing module to carry out operations for:

determining a level of compromise to the utilization of the BIOS program based on existence of the operational issue and existence of the rebuild issue;

when the level of compromise is above a first threshold, flagging a rebuild operation and maintain normal use of the BIOS program;

when the level of compromise is between the first threshold and a second threshold, flagging the rebuild operation and restrict re-boot of a computing device that includes the BIOS system to a set of re-bootable operations until the level of compromise is raised above the first threshold; and

when the level of compromise is below the second threshold, flagging the rebuild operation and prohibit re-boot of the computing device until the level of compromise is raised above the second threshold.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the set of BIOS memories comprises one of:

a set of read only memory (ROM) devices;

a set of erasable and programmable ROM (EPROM) devices;

at least one ROM device and at least one EPROM device;

a set of memory sections in main memory of a computing device that includes the BIOS system;

at least one memory section of the main memory and at least one ROM device;

a set of random access memory (RAM) devices; and

at least one RAM device and at least one ROM device.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the set of instructions further being configured to cause the processing module to carry out operations for:

selecting one of a plurality of versions of the BIOS program to produce a selected version of the BIOS program;

providing an indication of the selected version of the BIOS program; and

accessing at least some of the set of BIOS memories to retrieve a decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices for each set of one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices of the selected version of the BIOS program.

21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the set of instructions further being configured to cause the processing module to carry out operations for:

selecting one of a plurality BIOS programs to produce a selected BIOS program;

providing an indication of the selected BIOS program; and

accessing at least some of the set of BIOS memories to retrieve a decode threshold number of encoded BIOS slices for each set of one or more sets of encoded BIOS slices of the selected BIOS program.