TWI620120B - Data loading method and motherboard - Google Patents

Abstract

A data loading method is performed by a server, the server includes at least a motherboard, the motherboard includes a substrate management controller adapted to monitor the operation status of the server, and a record associated with the motherboard a field replaceable unit of the first product identification code, the baseboard management controller stores a plurality of system image data, the plurality of system image data are respectively associated with first product identification codes of different motherboards, and the substrate management controller is Performing different system monitoring functions according to the plurality of system image data, the substrate management controller determining to load one of the plurality of system image data according to the first product identification code recorded by the field replaceable unit To perform the corresponding system monitoring function.

Description

Data loading method and motherboard

The invention relates to a data processing method and component, in particular to a data loading method and a motherboard.

Current servers include multiple components such as chassis, motherboard, memory, graphics card, fan, power supply, and more. In the design of its motherboard, it also includes a variety of wafers, such as South Bridge, North Bridge, Baseboard Management Controller, etc., where the baseboard management controller can be used to monitor the server. The health of each component, such as chassis temperature, fan speed, power supply status, motherboard temperature, etc., and record the occurrence of an event.

When the hardware design of the motherboard is different, when the application is in the server, the data items to be monitored by the substrate management controller will be different, and the recorded events will be different. In terms of manufacturing, when the factory personnel want to ship, they must burn different firmware images in the substrate management controller according to different motherboards, so that the substrate management controller can achieve the corresponding monitoring function, but this way I am afraid to increase the probability of the factory burning the wrong image. In terms of design and development, developers need different source code when developing different firmware images, but when the substrate management controller of different motherboards performs an error in the firmware image, the developer will Modifications to different source codes are required, which often increases the difficulty for developers to correct errors and maintain source code.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a data loading method that can support a variety of motherboards.

Therefore, the data loading method of the present invention is executed by a server, the server includes at least a motherboard, the motherboard includes a substrate management controller adapted to monitor the operation of the server, and an electrical connection to the substrate A field replaceable unit of the management controller, the field replaceable unit recording a first product identification code associated with the motherboard, the data loading method comprising a step (A), and a step (B).

The step (A) is that the baseboard management controller stores a plurality of system image data, wherein the plurality of system image data are respectively associated with first product identification codes of different motherboards, and the baseboard management controller is based on the multiple system images Data and different system monitoring functions are performed separately.

The step (B) is that the substrate management controller determines to load one of the plurality of system image data according to the first product identification code recorded by the field replaceable unit to perform a corresponding system monitoring function.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a motherboard.

Thus, the motherboard of the present invention is suitable for a server and includes a field replaceable unit and a substrate management controller.

The field replaceable unit records a first product identification code associated with the motherboard.

The baseboard management controller is adapted to monitor the operating status of the server and includes a storage module for storing a plurality of system image data, wherein the plurality of system image data are respectively associated with the first product identification codes of different motherboards, and the The substrate management controller performs different system monitoring functions according to the plurality of system image data, and the substrate management controller determines to load the plurality of system image data according to the first product identification code recorded by the field replaceable unit. One of them to perform the corresponding system monitoring function.

The utility model has the advantages that: the substrate management controller stores the plurality of system image materials related to different motherboards, and determines the one of the loaded products according to the first product identification code, so that the factory does not need to ship According to different motherboards, the burning probability can be effectively reduced, and the multiple system image materials can share the original code, so that the developer can correct the error and perform maintenance.

Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a motherboard of the present invention is applicable to a server, and includes a Field Replaceable Unit (FRU) 2 and a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) 1.

The field replaceable unit 2 records a first product identification code 21 and a second product identification code 22 related to the motherboard. The first product identification code 21 is, for example, a product name, and the second product. The identification code 22 is, for example, a board ID. The field replaceable unit 2 can be a non-volatile storage element such as a flash memory or other types of electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). A busbar such as an I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) or an SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) is electrically connected to the baseboard management controller 1.

The baseboard management controller 1 supports an industry standard of the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) and is suitable for monitoring the operation status of the server, such as monitoring the temperature of the chassis, the fan speed, the voltage state of the power supply, Motherboard temperature...etc. The baseboard management controller 1 includes a storage module 10, such as a flash ROM, for storing a plurality of system image materials 11, 12 and a plurality of candidate image materials 13, 14 The substrate management controller 1 determines which monitoring functions are enabled by loading one of the system image data 11, 12 and the candidate image data 13, 14 of the storage module 10. The plurality of system image data 11, 12 are respectively associated with the first product identification code 21 of different motherboards, and the substrate management controller 1 performs different system monitoring according to the plurality of system image data 11, 12 respectively. Functions such as system image data 11 are applied to the operation of the A motherboard and record a hardware design corresponding to the A motherboard, such as motherboard temperature, fan speed, CPU temperature, voltage supply, The number of central processors of the A motherboard, the number of dual in-line memory modules (dimm), the number of fans, etc., for example, the system image data 12 is applied to the operation of the B motherboard and corresponds to the hardware design of the B motherboard. Monitoring items such as motherboard temperature, fan speed, CPU temperature, voltage supply status, number of central processors of the B motherboard, number of dual in-line memory modules, number of fans, and so on. The plurality of candidate image materials 13, 14 may be different versions of at least one of the system image materials 11, 12, for example, the candidate image material 13 is an updated version of the system image material 11, that is to say, for example, the developer updates the A motherboard. When the hardware design is the A' motherboard, the alternate image data 13 can be used by the updated A' motherboard.

Referring to FIG. 2, the data loading method of the present invention is executed on the motherboard of the server shown in FIG. 1, and includes the following steps.

In step A, the storage module 10 of the baseboard management controller 1 stores the plurality of system image data 11, 12 and the plurality of candidate image data 13, 14.

In step B, the substrate management controller 1 determines one of the plurality of system image data 11, 12 loaded into the storage module 10 according to the first product identification code 21 recorded by the field replaceable unit 2. To perform the corresponding system monitoring function. In detail, this step B includes the following sub-steps.

In step B1, the substrate management controller 1 reads the field replaceable unit 2 and performs parse to obtain the first product identification code 21.

In step B2, the substrate management controller 1 determines whether there is a corresponding one of the stored plurality of system image data 11 and 12 that matches the first product identification code 21.

In step B3, if the result of the determination in step B2 is YES, the substrate management controller 1 determines the corresponding one of the plurality of system image data 11, 12 loaded into the storage module 10.

In step B4, if the determination result in step B2 is no, the substrate management controller 1 determines a preset one of the plurality of system image data 11, 12 loaded into the storage module 10.

For example, the substrate management controller 1 is, for example, the system image data 11 applied to the A motherboard, and the first product identification code 21 read by the substrate management controller 1 is indicated as A. The motherboard management controller 1 determines to load the system image data 11 correspondingly; but when the substrate management controller 1 reads the first product identification code, the C host is different from the A host board. In the case of the board, since the system image data conforming to the C motherboard is not found, the baseboard management controller decides to load the system image data 11.

In step C, the substrate management controller 1 further determines, according to the second product identification code 22 recorded by the field replaceable unit 2, whether to load one of the candidate image data 13, 14 The one of the plurality of system image data 11, 12 is replaced.

For example, when the substrate management controller 1 reads, for example, that the second product identification code 22 indicates the original version of the A motherboard, the substrate management controller 1 decides to maintain the loading of the system image data 11; When the obtained second product identification code 22 indicates an updated version of the A' motherboard, the baseboard management controller does not load the system image data 11, but decides to load the candidate image data 13.

It should be noted that, in general, the system image data 11 for developing the A motherboard requires a source code, and the system image data 12 for developing the B motherboard requires another source code, where the source code For example, the code written by the developer in C language, and the system image data 11, 12 is the binary code generated after the original code is compiled, and the research and development personnel monitor the project of the A motherboard and the B motherboard. After writing two source codes and compiling with the computer, two firmware images (iso files) are generated, one is to record the system image data 11, and the other is to record the system image data 12, which the developer will The two firmware images are respectively burned into the storage module 100 of the base management controller 1 of the A and B motherboards, and maintenance is performed for the two original codes at the same time, for example, debugging, updating, and the like.

In other implementations of the present invention, the developer may also write the same source code for the monitoring items of the A motherboard and the B motherboard, and generate a firmware image after compiling, this firmware image file. At the same time, the system image data 11 and the system image data 12 are recorded, and the A motherboard and the B motherboard simultaneously store the firmware image file, and the substrate management controller 1 of the A motherboard and the B motherboard are respectively based on the site. The first product identification code 21 read by the replaceable unit 2 determines which of the system image data 11, 12 is to be loaded. In this way, for the production line personnel, only the same firmware image file needs to be burned to the storage module 100 of the substrate management controller 1 for different motherboards, thereby reducing the probability of burning errors; For the personnel, when the substrate management controller 1 executes an error in the system image data 11, 12, since the same source code is shared, the developer can correct the error only by modifying once, and does not need to find an individual. The source code is corrected.

As can be seen from the above description, the substrate management controller 1 stores the system image data 11, 12 of the plurality of motherboards applied to different servers, and determines the loading according to the first product identification code 21. Therefore, the factory does not need to perform programming according to the storage module 100 of the baseboard management controller 1 used by different motherboards, which can effectively reduce the probability of burning errors. In addition, the plurality of system image data 11, 12 can share the same source code, because the developer does not need to correct the error for the individual source code, so that the developer can perform firmware maintenance on the substrate management controller 1 to enable the substrate management. The controller 1 can be applied to different servers, and thus, the object of the present invention can be achieved.

The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and the simple equivalent changes and modifications made by the scope of the patent application and the patent specification of the present invention are It is still within the scope of the invention patent.

1‧‧‧Baseboard Management Controller
2‧‧‧Field replaceable unit
10‧‧‧Storage module
21‧‧‧First product identification code
11‧‧‧System image data
22‧‧‧Second product identification code
12‧‧‧System image data
A~C‧‧‧ steps
13‧‧‧Alternative imagery
B1~B4‧‧‧ substeps
14‧‧‧Alternative image data

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the embodiments of the present invention, wherein: Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a motherboard of the present invention; and Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating An embodiment of the data loading method of the present invention.

Claims (8)

A data loading method is performed by a server, the server includes at least a motherboard, the motherboard includes a substrate management controller adapted to monitor operation of the server, and an electrical connection controller a field replaceable unit, the field replaceable unit recording a first product identification code associated with the motherboard, the data loading method comprising: (A) the baseboard management controller storing a plurality of system image data, the plurality of The system image data is respectively related to the first product identification code of different motherboards, and the substrate management controller respectively performs different system monitoring functions according to the plurality of system image data; and (B) the substrate management controller according to the The first product identification code recorded by the field replaceable unit determines to load one of the plurality of system image data to perform a corresponding system monitoring function. The data loading method of claim 1, wherein the step (B) comprises (B1) the substrate management controller reading the field replaceable unit to obtain the first product identification code, (B2) The baseboard management controller determines whether there is a corresponding one of the stored plurality of system image data that meets the first product identification code, and (B3) if the determination result of the step (B2) is yes, the baseboard management controller Determining to load the corresponding one of the plurality of system image data, and (B4) if the determination result of step (B2) is no, the baseboard management controller determines to load a preset one of the plurality of system image data . The data loading method of claim 1, the field replaceable unit further records a second product identification code associated with the motherboard, and in step (A), the substrate management controller is further targeted At least one system image data, storing a plurality of different versions of the candidate image data, and the data loading method further comprises: (C) the substrate management controller further recording the second product identification code according to the field replaceable unit To determine whether to load one of the alternative image materials to replace the one of the plurality of system image materials. The data loading method of claim 3, wherein the first product identification code is a product name, and the second product identification code is a board ID. A motherboard for a server and comprising: a field replaceable unit for recording a first product identification code associated with the motherboard; and a substrate management controller adapted to monitor the operation status of the server and including a storage module for storing a plurality of system image data, wherein the plurality of system image data are respectively associated with the first product identification codes of different motherboards, and the substrate management controller respectively performs different according to the plurality of system image data The system monitoring function determines, according to the first product identification code recorded by the field replaceable unit, loading one of the plurality of system image data to perform a corresponding system monitoring function. The motherboard of claim 5, wherein the substrate management controller reads the field replaceable unit to obtain the first product identification code, and determines whether the stored plurality of system image materials have Corresponding to a corresponding one of the first product identification codes; if the result of the determination is yes, the substrate management controller determines to load the corresponding one of the plurality of system image materials; if the result of the determination is no, the substrate management control The device decides to load a preset in the multiple system image data. The motherboard of claim 5, the field replaceable unit further records a second product identification code associated with the motherboard, and the baseboard management controller further stores a plurality of correspondences for each system image data. a plurality of different versions of the candidate image data; the substrate management controller further replacing the one of the candidate image materials according to the second product identification code recorded by the field replaceable unit One of the multiple system image materials. The motherboard of claim 7, wherein the first product identification code is a product name, and the second product identification code is a board ID.