Remote hardware inspection system and method

Remote hardware detection system and method

REMOTE HARDWARE INSPECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD

The present invention relates to a remote hardware detection system and method, and more particularly to a remote hardware detection system and method for a client server.

Today, many companies have adopted PC/Server systems for the management and operation of office operations. The main function of the computer/server system is to integrate the software and hardware resources in the network, and provide overall, efficient and safe provision of file access/backup, network support, and the sharing of various resources on other servers. All kinds of services. Generally, the server is mostly in the running state for a long time, achieving the purpose of high automation and continuous service provision.

Traditionally, when a problem occurs in the server of a computer/server system, it is generally necessary to diagnose the hardware through the built-in program in the server. In addition to signal detection, most of the hardware is complicated input/output (I/O). ), read the memory or hardware register, and then cross-analyze and compare the built-in program to get the result. However, some serious events cannot be diagnosed by the program. For example, the server has a blue and white warning under the operating system or a failure occurs during the system boot process. At this time, the fault diagnosis requires a special external Hardware diagnostic device to achieve.

As shown in Figure 1, the external hardware diagnostic device 12 needs to be connected to the server 10 and the monitoring station 14. The hardware diagnostic device 12 transmits the diagnostic results of the server 10 to the monitoring station 14 for system developers or customer service engineers to perform Analysis and comparison.

However, such external hardware diagnostic devices, such as Intel XDP or AMD HDT, are usually very expensive, and most of their interfaces are developed for use with motherboards before mass production due to cost considerations, which is troublesome. Most system developers or customer service engineers.

In view of this, the present invention mainly provides a remote hardware detection system and method to solve the above-mentioned problems.

One category of the present invention is to provide a remote hardware detection system.

According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, the remote hardware detection system includes a remote monitoring station and a client server. The remote monitoring station includes a hardware detection unit and a first network interface. The client server includes an input/output unit, a management/control unit, and a second network interface.

The hardware detection unit in the remote monitoring station is coupled with the first network interface. The hardware detection unit is used to generate a hardware detection command and send it to the first network interface, and the first network interface is used to send the hardware detection command through the network.

The input/output unit in the client server is coupled with the management/control unit, and the input/output unit has a detection program. The second network interface is coupled to the management/control unit, and the second network interface is used to receive hardware detection commands from the hardware detection unit in the remote monitoring station through the network.

Wherein, the second network interface will send to the management/control unit after receiving the hardware detection command. In response to the hardware detection command, the management/control unit sends a trigger signal to the input/output unit to execute the detection program. Thereby, the detection program can detect the target hardware in the client server according to the content of the hardware detection command.

In one embodiment, the hardware detection command is a data read command. The detection program accesses the hardware information of the target hardware according to the content of the data read command. Then, the hardware information is transmitted from the input/output unit to the second network interface through the management/control unit, and is transmitted to the remote monitoring station through the second network interface for the hardware inspection unit to interpret.

In another embodiment, the hardware detection command is a data write command. The detection program executes the data write operation on the target hardware according to the content of the data write command.

Another category of the present invention is to provide a remote hardware detection method. According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, the method includes the following steps:

(a) Generate a hardware detection command at a remote monitoring station; (b) Send the hardware detection command to the client server through the network; (c) Respond to the hardware detection command to be executed in the server The detection program; and (d) detecting the target hardware in the server according to the content of the hardware detection command.

In one embodiment, the hardware detection command is a data read command, and step (d) includes the following steps:

(d1) Access the hardware information of the target hardware according to the content of the data read command; and (d2) send the hardware information from the server to the remote monitoring station for interpretation.

In another embodiment, the hardware detection command is a data write command, and step (d) is to perform a data write operation on the target hardware according to the content of the data write command.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention mainly uses the input/output unit and the management/control unit in the client server to perform hardware detection, and replaces the conventional external hardware diagnostic device with hardware detection commands and network interfaces. . Functionally, the management/control unit can activate the input/output unit to perform complex input/output, memory or hardware register reading, and then send the data to the network interface via the management/control unit to complete data packaging Then they are sent to the remote monitoring station for analysis and comparison.

In this way, even if the client server has a blue and white warning under the operating system or a failure occurs during system boot, the system developer or customer service engineer can use any external hardware diagnostic device at any time. Low-level hardware diagnosis can be performed remotely, and even multiple client servers can be diagnosed at the same time. Therefore, both the development cost of the computer motherboard and the timeliness of problem-solving can be greatly improved.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention can be further understood from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

Please refer to Figure 2A and Figure 2B. FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating the architecture of the remote hardware inspection system 2 according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2B is a functional block diagram of the remote hardware inspection system 2 according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the remote hardware inspection system 2 of the present invention includes a remote monitoring station 20, a client server 22, and a network device (24, 28). The number of the client server 22 can be one or more, and the server 22 is coupled to the network device 24 to connect to the network 26. Similarly, the remote monitoring station 20 is also coupled to the network device 28, so that the client server 22 and the remote monitoring station 20 can transmit data through the network 26. In addition, in practical applications, the client server 22 and the remote monitoring station 20 can communicate with each other via Ethernet. Furthermore, the network 26 can use the Remote Management Control Protocol (RMCP).

As shown in FIG. 2B, the remote monitoring station 20 includes a hardware detection unit 200 and a first network interface 202. The client server 22 includes an input/output (I/O) unit 224, a management/control unit 222, a second network interface 220, and hardware components, such as a memory 226, a central processing unit (CPU) 228, and a hardware temporary Storage 230 and so on. The management/control unit 222 may be a baseboard management controller (BMC) in the server. In particular, the input/output unit 224 has a detection program 2240. In the present invention, the detection program 2240 can be a System Management Interrupt (SMI) service program for handling hardware detection requirements.

The hardware detection unit 200 in the remote monitoring station 20 is coupled to the first network interface 202. The input/output unit 224 in the client server 22 is coupled to the management/control unit 222, and the second network interface 220 is coupled to the management/control unit 222. In addition, the memory 226, the CPU 228, and the hardware register 230 are coupled to the input/output unit 224. In practical applications, the input/output unit 224 in the server and the management/control unit 222 can communicate with each other through an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI).

When the client server 22 has a blue and white warning under the operating system or a failure occurs during system boot, the client can notify the system developer or customer service engineer stationed at the remote monitoring station 20 to request the server At this time, the garrison of the remote monitoring station 20 issues a special inspection instruction, so that the hardware inspection unit 200 generates a hardware inspection instruction.

Then, the hardware detection unit 200 sends the hardware detection command to the first network interface 202, and the first network interface 202 is used to send the hardware detection command to the client server 22 through the network.

The second network interface 220 is used to receive hardware detection commands from the hardware detection unit 200 in the remote monitoring station 20 via the network. The second network interface 220 sends the hardware detection command to the management/control unit 222 after receiving the hardware detection command. Then, in response to the hardware detection command, the management/control unit 222 will send a trigger signal to the input/output unit 224 to issue a system management interrupt request to the server system. At this time, the CPU will immediately execute the input/output unit 224 The SMI service program detects the target hardware in the client server 22 according to the content of the hardware detection command. It should be noted that the hardware detection command can be a data reading command or a data writing command.

When the hardware detection command is a data read command, the detection program 2240 in the input/output unit 224 will be executed and access the hardware information of the target hardware according to the content of the data read command.

For example, the items covered by the data read command can include peripheral component connection interface structure space (PCI configuration space) read, system memory space (system memory space) read, system IO space read, ISA IO Index/ Data port read, SMBus device read, CPU special signal register (MSR) read, CPU machine check error (CPU machine check error) read, integrated drive electronic interface identity (IDE identity) read... etc.

After reading the hardware information of the target hardware, the hardware information can be transmitted from the input/output unit 224 to the second network interface 220 via the management/control unit 222. After that, the second network interface 220 can compress and encapsulate the hardware information, and then distribute it to the remote monitoring station 20 for analysis and comparison.

In another embodiment, the hardware detection command is a data write command. The detection program 2240 executes a data write operation on the target hardware according to the content of the data write command. It should be noted that the data writing action can be used to test the operation of the target hardware, or to repair damaged or erroneous code.

For example, the items covered by the data write command may include system memory space write, system IO space write, CPU special signal register (MSR) write, and so on.

Please refer to Figure 3A and Figure 3B. 3A and 3B are flowcharts of the remote hardware inspection method according to the present invention. The detection method of the present invention is mainly to solve the abnormal problem of the client server, such as a warning in white on a blue background under the operating system or a failure during the booting process of the system. In this case, the personnel stationed at the remote monitoring station can issue special hardware inspection instructions. It should be noted that the hardware detection command can be a data read command or a data write command.

FIG. 3A shows a flowchart of the detection method of the present invention when the hardware detection command is a data read command. Please also refer to the schematic diagram of Figure 2A and the functional block diagram of Figure 2B.

First, step S10 is executed to generate a data reading command at the remote monitoring station 20.

Subsequently, step S12 is executed to send the data read command to the client server 22 via the network.

Then, step S14 is executed, and the management/control unit 222 in the client server 22 generates and transmits a trigger signal related to the detection program 2240. The detection program 2240 can be built in the input/output unit 224 of the client server 22. In addition, the detection program 2240 is an SMI service program, and the trigger signal is an SMI signal.

Then, step S16 is executed, and the input/output unit 224 receives the trigger signal and inquires the management/control unit 222 about the content of the data reading instruction.

Then, step S18 is executed, and the management/control unit 222 replies to the input/output unit 224 regarding the content of the data reading instruction.

Then, after the input/output unit 224 confirms the content of the data read command, the detection method executes step S20, and the CPU executes the SMI service program in the input/output unit 224 to access the server according to the content of the data read command The hardware information of the target hardware.

After that, step S22 is executed, and the input/output unit 224 reports the hardware information of the target hardware to the management/control unit 222, and then compresses and encapsulates the hardware information, and transmits it from the server 22 to the remote monitoring station 20 for use Interpretation.

FIG. 3B shows a flowchart of the detection method of the present invention when the hardware detection command is a data write command. Please also refer to the schematic diagram of Figure 2A and the functional block diagram of Figure 2B.

First, step S30 is executed to generate a data write command at the remote monitoring station 20.

Subsequently, step S32 is executed to send the data write command to the client server 22 via the network.

Then, step S34 is executed, and the management/control unit 222 in the client server 22 generates and transmits the SMI signal for starting the SMI service program.

Then, step S36 is executed, and the input/output unit 224 receives the SMI signal and queries the management/control unit 222 for the content of the data write instruction.

Then, step S38 is executed, and the management/control unit 222 replies to the input/output unit 224 regarding the content of the data write instruction.

After the input/output unit 224 confirms the content of the data write command, the detection method executes step S40, and the CPU executes the SMI service program in the input/output unit 224, and performs data write commands on the target hardware in the server according to the content of the data write command. Perform data writing action. The data writing action can be used to test the operation of the target hardware, or to repair damaged or erroneous code.

In summary, with the remote hardware detection system and method of the present invention, even if the client server has a blue and white warning under the operating system or a failure occurs during system startup, the remote monitoring station is stationed People can perform low-level hardware diagnosis remotely at any time without using any external hardware diagnosis device, and even diagnose multiple client servers at the same time, so whether it is in the development cost of the computer motherboard or The timeliness for solving problems can be greatly improved.

Based on the above detailed description of the preferred embodiments, it is hoped that the characteristics and spirit of the present invention can be described more clearly, and the scope of the present invention is not limited by the preferred embodiments disclosed above. On the contrary, the purpose is to cover various changes and equivalent arrangements within the scope of the patent for which the present invention is intended. Therefore, the scope of the patent application for the present invention should be interpreted in the broadest way based on the above description, so as to cover all possible changes and equivalent arrangements.

<p>10. . . server</p><p>12. . . Hardware diagnostic device</p><p>14. . . Monitoring station</p><p>2. . . Remote hardware inspection system</p><p>20. . . Remote monitoring station</p><p>twenty two. . . server</p><p>24, 28. . . Network device</p><p>26. . . network</p><p>200. . . Hardware detection unit</p><p>202. . . The first network interface</p><p>220. . . Second network interface</p><p>222. . . Management/Control Unit</p><p>224. . . Input/output unit</p><p>226. . . Memory</p><p>228. . . CPU</p><p>230. . . Hardware register</p><p>2240. . . Detection program</p><p>S10~S40. . . Process steps</p>

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the architecture of a conventional computer/server system in hardware detection;

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating the architecture of a remote hardware inspection system according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a functional block diagram of a remote hardware inspection system according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

3A and 3B are flowcharts of the remote hardware inspection method according to the present invention.