CN102147739A - Multi-motherboard server system and network driving method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a multi-motherboard server system, at least comprising: a management board having a baseboard management controller; and a plurality of motherboards, which are pluggable motherboards respectively coupled with the management board, wherein each motherboard comprises a network interface controller, which can be initialized by the baseboard management controller and is connected with the baseboard management controller through a serial bus interface for communication, and the baseboard management controller detects whether the motherboard is coupled with the management board in a specific period and initializes the motherboard coupled with the management board. The invention also provides a network driving method for the system. By adopting the multi-motherboard server system and the network driving method thereof, the network interface controllers of a plurality of motherboards are driven by one baseboard management controller so as to realize the function of Sideband communication.

Description

Multi-main board server system and network driving method thereof

technical field

The invention relates to a multi-mainboard server, in particular to a baseboard management controller of the multi-mainboard server.

Background technique

In a known server system with multiple motherboards, a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) is installed on each motherboard. In a conventional server system, the baseboard management controller on each mainboard manages and controls the respective mainboards respectively. Since a baseboard management controller is installed on each motherboard, the manufacturing cost of many server systems will be increased, and it is also very difficult to coordinate and control multiple baseboard management controllers.

Therefore, in order to save the extra cost of installing a baseboard management controller on each motherboard, a new server system with multiple motherboards and a control solution need to be proposed. Since the mainboard in the server system can be plugged in or unplugged at any time, the driver for such a mainboard that can be plugged in or unplugged at any time becomes an urgent problem to be solved.

Contents of the invention

In view of the above-mentioned defects in the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a server system with multiple motherboards, which at least includes a management board and multiple motherboards. There is a baseboard management controller on the management board. Multiple motherboards are respectively coupled to the management board, and each motherboard includes at least one network interface controller. Wherein, the peripheral device interface controller can record an initialization state information of the motherboard, and can communicate with the baseboard management controller. The network interface controller is connected to the south bridge chip and communicates with the baseboard management controller through a serial bus interface. The network interface controller is used to connect the mainboard to a network. The baseboard management controller can initialize these motherboards, including: driving the network interface controllers on multiple motherboards, and detecting the The initialization state of the motherboard coupled to the management board.

Wherein, each motherboard also includes: a south bridge chip; and a peripheral device interface controller, which is used to connect the south bridge chip and the baseboard management controller and can communicate with the baseboard management controller, when the motherboard When coupled to the management board, the peripheral device interface controller records an initialization state information of the mainboard, and marks the mainboard as initialized after the mainboard is initialized.

Wherein, the baseboard management controller can identify the motherboard through the peripheral device interface controller, and obtain the initialization state information of the respective motherboard recorded by the peripheral device interface controller.

Wherein, the baseboard management controller can be connected to the network through the network interface controller and the serial bus interface of any one of the motherboards to receive or send a data packet.

Wherein, the baseboard management controller judges the initialization state of the motherboard according to the initialization state information, and initializes the motherboard that has not been initialized. Preferably, the baseboard management controller drives the network interface controller on the mainboard that has not been initialized.

Yet another object of the present invention is to propose a network driving method for a server system with multiple mainboards, which at least includes the following steps: providing an initialization mechanism for multiple mainboards; judging each mainboard through a baseboard management controller whether it is connected to the management board; using a peripheral device interface controller of the motherboard to judge whether the motherboard has been initialized; driving a network interface controller of the motherboard through the baseboard management controller; and marking the motherboard has been initialized.

Wherein, the step of using a peripheral device interface controller of the motherboard to determine whether the motherboard has been initialized further includes the following steps: using the baseboard management controller to read the motherboard information recorded by the peripheral device interface controller An initialization state information of .

Wherein, the step of marking the motherboard as being initialized further includes the following step: recording the initialization state information of the motherboard through the peripheral device interface controller.

Wherein, the step of judging whether each main board is connected to the management board further includes the step of judging each main board in a specific cycle.

By adopting the multi-main board server system and its network driving method of the present invention, one base board management controller drives the network interface controllers of multiple main boards to realize the function of sideband (Sideband) communication.

Description of drawings

Readers will have a clearer understanding of various aspects of the present invention after reading the detailed description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. in,

Fig. 1 is the block diagram of the multi-mainboard server system embodiment of the present invention; And

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the network driving method of the multi-mainboard server system of the present invention.

10: Server system 113～143: South bridge chip

20: Network 200: Management Board

110～140: Motherboard 210: Baseboard Management Controller

111～141: Network interface controller 300～380: Step process

112～142: Peripheral equipment interface controller

Detailed ways

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a block diagram of an embodiment of the multi-mainboard server system of the present invention. The multi-main board server system 10 of the present invention at least includes a management board 200 and a plurality of main boards 110-140. The management board 200 has a baseboard management controller 210 . The main boards 110-140 are pluggable main boards that can be coupled with the management board 200 respectively, and are used to perform data calculation of the server system 10, which respectively include network interface controllers 111-141, peripheral device interface controllers 112- 142, and south bridge chips 113-143.

The peripheral device interface controllers 112 - 142 are respectively connected to the south bridge chips 113 - 143 and the BMC 210 . The peripheral device interface controllers 112-142 can respectively record initialization status information on whether the motherboards 110-140 have been initialized. Moreover, the peripheral device interface controllers 112 - 142 are used to communicate with the main boards 110 - 140 and the BMC 210 respectively, so as to transmit the initialization state information about the main boards 110 - 140 to the BMC 210 . Peripheral device interface controllers 112-142 can respectively record an initialization state information of the motherboards 110-140 where they are located, and mark that the motherboards 110, 120, 130 or 140 have been initialized after the motherboards 110, 120, 130 or 140 have been initialized. initialization. Wherein, the above peripheral device interface controller is a complex programmable logic device (Complex Programmable Logic Device, CPLD) or a programmable integrated circuit (Programmable Integrated Circuit, PIC).

The network interface controllers 111 - 141 are adapted to be connected to the network 20 , are respectively connected to the south bridge chips 113 - 143 , are capable of connecting the motherboards 110 - 140 to the network 20 , and provide for receiving or sending data packets. The network interface controllers 111-141 are also connected to the baseboard management controller 210 through a serial bus interface, such as an I ² C interface. Therefore, the BMC 210 can communicate with the network 20 through any one of the network interface controllers 111-141 and the serial bus interface of the motherboards 110-140 to receive or send a data packet.

The baseboard management controller 210 identifies the main boards 110-140 through the peripheral device interface controllers 112-142, and obtains the initialization status information of the main boards 110-140 recorded by the peripheral device interface controllers 112-142, so as to determine whether the main board 110 Initialization state for ~140. Wherein, the initialization status information recorded by the peripheral device interface controllers 112-142 is used to respond to the baseboard management controller 210 that the motherboard has been initialized, or the motherboard has not been initialized. Wherein, the baseboard management controller 210 communicates with each of the peripheral device interface controllers 112-142 through an intelligent platform management bus (Intelligent Platform Management Bus, IPMB) transmission protocol.

In addition, the baseboard management controller 210 can initialize various components on the motherboards 110-140, including: driving the network interface controllers 111-141 on the motherboards 110-140 through a serial bus interface (such as: I ² C interface) . Moreover, the baseboard management controller 210 will read the peripherals of the main boards 110-140 coupled to the management board 200 at a specific cycle (for example, a cycle of 1 second in this embodiment, but not limited thereto). The device interface controllers 112 - 142 record an initialization status information of the motherboards 110 - 140 to determine the initialization status of the motherboards 110 - 140 coupled to the management board 200 . Wherein, the specific period is set by the baseboard management controller 210 . In addition, after the baseboard management controller 210 drives the network interface controllers 111-141 on the mainboards 110-140, the peripheral device interface controllers 112-142 on the mainboards 110-140 will mark the mainboards 110-142 where they are located. The initialization state of 140 is initialized. In this way, the baseboard management controller 210 can prevent the same motherboard from being initialized repeatedly during the process of judging whether the motherboard has been initialized in the next specific cycle.

In addition, when the network interface controllers 111-141 are driven by the baseboard management controller 210, the baseboard management controller 210 can communicate with the network interface controllers of the motherboards 110-140 through the serial bus interface (such as: I ² C interface) Any one of 111-141 is externally connected to the network 20 for communication.

Please refer to FIG. 2 , which is a flow chart of the steps of the network driving method of the multi-board server system of the present invention. The network driving method 300 of the present invention is applied to a multi-board server system 10 coupled to the management board 200 with a baseboard management controller 210 to manage and control. First, an initialization mechanism for multiple motherboards is provided (step 310). Then, through a baseboard management controller 210 , it is judged whether each motherboard is connected to the management board 200 in a specific period (step 320 ), wherein the specific period is set by the baseboard management controller 210 . In the judging step of step 320, if the baseboard management controller 210 judges that one of the motherboards is not connected to the management board 200, then stop all subsequent actions on the motherboard not connected to the management board 200, and the baseboard management controller 210 will perform step 320 again within a certain period, and continue to judge whether each main board is connected to the management board 200 . But in step 320, if the BMC 210 judges that a motherboard has been connected to the management board 200, then the BMC 210 will read an initialization state of the motherboard recorded by the peripheral device interface controller. information (step 330), and then judge whether the motherboard connected to the management board 200 has been initialized (step 340). In the judging step of step 340, if the motherboard connected to the management board 200 has been initialized, then directly continue to step 380; The network interface controller of the motherboard (step 350). Simultaneously, after the network interface controller drive of this motherboard is completed, then the peripheral device interface controller marks this motherboard as being initialized (step 360), and records the initialization state information of this motherboard by the peripheral device interface controller (step 370). In this way, the baseboard management controller 210 can prevent the same motherboard from being initialized repeatedly during the process of judging whether the motherboard has been initialized in the next specific cycle. Then, when the network interface controller of the motherboard connected to the management board 200 is driven, the baseboard management controller 210 can be connected to the network 20 for communication through the driven network interface controller (step 380), wherein the baseboard management controller The controller 210 is connected to the network 20 through any network interface controller and serial bus interface connected to the motherboard of the management board 200 to receive or send a data packet. Finally end this process.

As mentioned above, using the multi-mainboard server system and network driving method of the present invention, one baseboard management controller drives the network interface controllers of multiple mainboards to realize the function of sideband communication.

Hereinbefore, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, those skilled in the art can understand that without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, various changes and substitutions can be made to the specific embodiments of the present invention. These changes and substitutions all fall within the scope defined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A multi-motherboard server system, comprising:

a management board having a baseboard management controller; and

a plurality of motherboards which are pluggable motherboards respectively coupled with the management board, wherein each motherboard comprises a network interface controller which can be initialized by the baseboard management controller and is connected with the baseboard management controller through a serial bus interface for communication, and the network interface controller is used for connecting the motherboard to a network;

the baseboard management controller detects whether the mainboard is coupled to the management board or not in a specific period, and initializes state recording of the mainboard coupled to the management board.

2. The multi-motherboard server system of claim 1 wherein each motherboard further comprises:

a south bridge chip; and

and a peripheral interface controller, which is connected with the south bridge chip and the baseboard management controller and can communicate with the baseboard management controller, when the mainboard is coupled with the management board, the peripheral interface controller records an initialization state information of the mainboard, and marks that the mainboard is initialized after the mainboard is initialized.

3. The multi-motherboard server system of claim 1 wherein the baseboard management controller is capable of identifying the motherboards through the peripheral interface controllers and obtaining the initialization status information of the respective motherboards recorded by the peripheral interface controllers.

4. The multi-motherboard server system of claim 1 wherein the baseboard management controller can be connected to the network through the network interface controller and the serial bus interface of any one of the motherboards to receive or send a data packet.

5. The multi-motherboard server system of claim 1, wherein the baseboard management controller determines the initialization status of the motherboards according to the initialization status information, and initializes the motherboards that have not been initialized.

6. The multi-motherboard server system of claim 5 wherein the baseboard management controller drives the network interface controller on the motherboard for the motherboard that has not been initialized.

7. A network driving method of a multi-motherboard server system, the network driving method comprising the steps of:

providing an initialization mechanism for a plurality of motherboards;

judging whether each mainboard is connected with the management board or not through a substrate management controller;

utilizing a peripheral equipment interface controller of the mainboard to judge whether the mainboard is initialized;

a network interface controller for driving the motherboard via the baseboard management controller; and

marking the motherboard as initialized.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of determining whether the motherboard has been initialized by a peripheral interface controller of the motherboard further comprises the steps of: and reading the initialization state information of the mainboard, which is recorded by the peripheral equipment interface controller, by the baseboard management controller.

9. The network driving method of multi-motherboard server system as recited in claim 7, wherein the step of marking the motherboard as initialized further comprises the steps of:

and recording the initialization state information of the mainboard through the peripheral equipment interface controller.

10. The network driving method of multi-motherboard server system as recited in claim 7, wherein the step of determining whether each motherboard is connected to the management board further comprises the step of determining each motherboard in a specific cycle.

Images