Deciding booting of a server based on whether its virtual initiator is currently used by another server or not

• US 9,164,773 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2012
• Issued: 10/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Chaganti, Ravikanth
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): POUDEL, SANTOSH RAJ
• Application Number:
  US13/624,436
• Publication Number:
  US 20140089649A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,124 Days
• Field of Search: 713/2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/182 Distributed file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4401 Bootstrapping security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

A method includes determining, by a management controller of a first server in a storage network, if a first virtual initiator is used by a second server in the storage network, wherein the first virtual initiator includes first boot information for allocating a first storage resource of the storage network, aborting a boot up of the first server in response to determining that the first virtual initiator is being used by the second server, and proceeding with the boot up of the first server in response to determining that the first virtual initiator is not used by the second server, wherein the boot up proceeds using the first boot information to allocate the first storage resource to the first server.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by a management controller of a first server in a storage network, if a first virtual initiator is used by a second server in the storage network, wherein the first virtual initiator includes first boot information for allocating a first storage resource of the storage network, and wherein the first virtual initiator is received from a lifecycle controller of the first server;

aborting a boot up of a processor of the first server in response to determining that the first virtual initiator is being used by the second server, wherein the processor and the management controller are separate processing units of the first server; and

proceeding with the boot up of the processor in response to determining that the first virtual initiator is not used by the second server, wherein the boot up proceeds using the first boot information to allocate the first storage resource to the first server.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, by a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (uEFI) of the first server, that the first server is in the storage network;

fetching, by the management controller, a list of virtual initiators from the lifecycle controller, the list of virtual initiators including the first virtual initiator, wherein the fetching is in response to detecting that the first server is in the storage network; and

selecting, by the uEFI, the first virtual initiator;

wherein determining if the first virtual initiator is used by the second server is in response to selecting the first virtual initiator.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein first virtual initiator is selected in response to a user input.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the first virtual initiator is selected as a default virtual initiator.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the first virtual initiator is used by the second server further comprises:

querying, by the management controller, a management network that includes the first server and the second server; and

receiving an indication if the first virtual initiator is used by the second server.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein proceeding with the boot up of the processor further comprises:

overriding second boot information for allocating a second storage resource of the storage network, wherein the second boot information is provided by a network interface of the first server.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein overriding the second boot information further comprises:

overwriting the second boot information in the network interface with the first boot information.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the first boot information indicates that a network component of the storage network needs to be reconfigured prior to proceeding with the boot up of the processor; and

sending, by the management controller, an indication to the network component that the network component needs to be reconfigured.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, by the management controller, an indication that the network component has been reconfigured;

wherein proceeding with the boot up of the processor is in further response to receiving the indication that the network component has been reconfigured.

10. A first server comprising:

a first processor;

a lifecycle controller;

a second processor, wherein the first processor and the second processor are separate processing units of the first server, the first processor operable to;

boot up the first processor in response to determining that a first virtual initiator is not used by a second server, wherein the first virtual initiator includes first boot information for allocating a first storage resource of a storage network, wherein the boot up proceeds using first boot information to allocate the first storage resource to the first server, wherein the first virtual initiator is received from the lifecycle controller, and wherein the storage network includes the first server and the second server; and

abort the boot up of the first processor in response to determining that the first virtual initiator is being used by the second server; and

a management controller operable to determine if the first virtual initiator is used by the second server.

11. The server of claim 10, wherein:

the first processor is further operable to;

detect that the first server is in the storage network; and

select the first initiator from a list of virtual initiators including the first virtual initiator; and

the management controller is further operable to;

fetch, from the lifecycle controller, the list of virtual initiators in response to detecting that the server is in the storage network.

12. The server of claim 10, wherein in determining if the first virtual initiator is used by the second server, the management controller is further operable to:

query a management network that includes the first server and the second server; and

receive an indication if the first virtual initiator is used by the second server.

13. The server of claim 10, wherein in proceeding with the boot up of the first server, the first processor is further operable to:

override second boot information for allocating a second storage resource of the storage network, wherein the second boot information is provided by a network interface of the first server.

14. The server of claim 13, wherein overriding the second boot information, the first processor is further operable to:

overwrite the second boot information in the network interface with the first boot information.

15. The server of claim 10, wherein the management controller is further operable to:

determine that the first boot information indicates that a network component needs to be reconfigured prior to proceeding with the boot up of the first server; and

send an indication to the network component that the network component needs to be reconfigured.

16. The server of claim 15, wherein the management controller is further operable to:

receive an indication that the network component has been reconfigured;

wherein proceeding with the boot up of the processor is in further response to receiving the indication that the network component has been reconfigured.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including code for performing a method, the method comprising:

determining at a management controller of a first server in a storage network, if a first virtual initiator is used by a second server in the storage network, wherein the first virtual initiator includes first boot information for allocating a first storage resource of the storage network, and wherein the first virtual initiator is received from a lifecycle controller of the first server;

aborting a boot up of a processor of the first server in response to determining that the first virtual initiator is being used by the second server, wherein the processor and the management controller are separate processing units of the first server; and

proceeding with the boot up of the processor in response to determining that the first virtual initiator is not used by the second server, wherein the boot up proceeds using the first boot information to allocate the first storage resource to the first server.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein in determining if the first virtual initiator is used by the second server, the method further comprises:

querying, by the management controller, a management network that includes the first server and the second server; and

receiving from the second server an indication if the first virtual initiator is used by the second server.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein in proceeding with the boot up of the first server, the method further comprises:

overriding second boot information for allocating a second storage resource of the storage network, wherein the second boot information is provided by a network interface of the first server.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, the method further comprises:

determining that the first boot information indicates that a network component needs to be reconfigured prior to proceeding with the boot up of the server; and

sending, by the management controller, an indication to the network component that the network component needs to be reconfigured.