System and method for the management of hardware triggered hotplug operations of input/output cards

A method of managing hardware triggered hotplug operations of one or more input/output (I/O) cards of a computer system, comprising

• receiving hardware triggers, each of which relates to a hotplug operation to be carried out on a I/O card associated with a card slot,
• processing one or more of said hardware triggers by
• analysing a hardware trigger to determine the card slot to which said hardware trigger relates,
• consulting a hotplug operation policy to ascertain whether hotplug operations are enabled for said card slot,
• if hotplug operations are not enabled for said card slot, ignoring said hardware trigger, and
• if hotplug operations are enabled for said card slot, further processing the hardware trigger.

A method of managing hardware triggered hotplug operations of one or more input/output (I/O) cards of a computer system, comprising

• receiving hardware triggers, each of which relates to a hotplug operation to be carried out on a I/O card associated with a card slot,
• processing one or more of said hardware triggers by
• analysing a hardware trigger to determine the card slot to which said hardware trigger relates,
• querying said card slot to determine whether it contains a card,
• if said card slot does not contain a card, ignoring said hardware trigger,
• if said card slot does contain a card, determining the nature of the hotplug operation of said hardware trigger, and
• further processing said hotplug operation of said hardware trigger.

A method of managing hardware triggered hotplug operations of one or more input/output (I/O) cards of a computer system, comprising

• receiving hardware triggers, each of which relates to a hotplug operation to be carried out on an I/O card associated with a card slot,
• processing one or more of said hardware triggers, by
• analysing a hardware trigger to determine the card slot to which said hardware trigger relates,
• querying said card slot to determine whether it contains a card,
• if said card slot does not contain a card, ignoring said hardware trigger,
• if said card slot does contain a card,
• determining whether said card is essential or non-essential to said computer system, and
• ignoring said hotplug operation of said hardware trigger when said card is essential, and
• performing said hotplug operation of said hardware trigger when said card is non-essential.

A system for managing hardware triggered hotplug operations of one or more input/output (I/O) cards of a computer system, comprising

• a hotplug system driver which receives hardware triggers, each of which relates to a hotplug operation to be carried out on an I/O card associated with a card slot, and places said hardware triggers in a hotplug event queue,
• a hotplug service daemon which processes said queue of hardware triggers, processing one or more of said hardware triggers by
• analysing a hardware trigger to determine the card slot to which said hardware trigger relates,
• consulting a hotplug operation policy to ascertain whether hotplug operations are enabled for said card slot,
• if hotplug operations are not enabled for said card slot, ignoring said hardware trigger,
• if hotplug operations are enabled for said card slot, querying said card slot to determine whether it contains a card,
• if said card slot does not contain a card, ignoring said hardware trigger,
• if said card slot does contain a card, determining the nature of the hotplug operation of said hardware trigger,
• a hotplug command module which performs said hotplug operation of said hardware trigger on the instructions of said hotplug service daemon using said hotplug system driver, if said hotplug operation is an add card hotplug operation or a resume card hotplug operation, and
• a critical resource analysis module which, when said hotplug operation is a delete card hotplug operation or a suspend card hotplug operation, on the instructions of the hotplug command module, determines if said card is essential or non-essential to said computer system, and instructs said hotplug command module to ignore said hotplug operation of said hardware trigger when said card is essential to said computer system, and perform said hotplug operation of said hardware trigger when said card is non-essential to said computer system.

A method of adding an I/O card to a computer system, comprising

• placing said card in a card slot,
• creating a hardware trigger which relates to a hotplug operation to be carried out on said card in said card slot,
• placing said hardware trigger in a queue,
• processing said hardware trigger, by
• analysing said hardware trigger to determine said card slot to which said hardware trigger relates,
• consulting a hotplug operation policy to ascertain whether hotplug operations are enabled for said card slot,
• if hotplug operations are not enabled for said card slot, ignoring said hardware trigger,
• if hotplug operations are enabled for said card slot, querying said slot to determine whether it contains a card,
• if said card slot does not contain a card, ignoring said hardware trigger,
• if said card slot does contain a card, determining that the hotplug operation is an add card hotplug operation, and
• performing said add card hotplug operation of said hardware trigger, to add said card to said computer system.

A method of deleting an I/O card from a computer system, comprising

• creating a hardware trigger which relates to a hotplug operation to be carried out on said I/O card in a card slot,
• placing said hardware trigger in a queue,
• processing said hardware trigger, by
• analysing said hardware trigger to determine the card slot to which said hardware trigger relates,
• consulting a hotplug operation policy to ascertain whether hotplug operations are enabled for said card slot,
• if hotplug operations are not enabled for said card slot, ignoring said hardware trigger,
• if hotplug operations are enabled for said card slot, querying said slot to determine whether it contains a card,
• if said card slot does not contain a card, ignoring said hardware trigger,
• if said card slot does contain a card, determining that the hotplug operation is a delete card hotplug operation, and
• performing said delete card hotplug operation of said hardware trigger.

A computer program, residing on a computer readable medium, for managing hardware triggered hotplug operations of one or more input/output (I/O) cards of a computer system, said program comprising executable instructions that enable said computer system to receive hardware triggers, each of which relates to a hotplug operation to be carried out on an I/O card associated with a card slot,

• place said hardware triggers in a queue,
• process said queue of hardware triggers,
• process one or more of said hardware triggers, by
• analyse a hardware trigger to determine the card slot to which said hardware trigger relates,
• consult a hotplug operation policy to ascertain whether hotplug operations are enabled for said card slot,
• if hotplug operations are not enabled for said card slot, ignore said hardware trigger,
• if hotplug operations are enabled for said card slot, query said slot to determine whether it contains a card,
• if said card slot does not contain a card, ignore said hardware trigger,
• if said card slot does contain a card, determine the nature of the hotplug operation of said hardware trigger, and
• if said hotplug operation is a delete card hotplug operation or a suspend card hotplug operation, determine whether said card is essential or non-essential to said computer system, and ignore said delete card hotplug operation or said suspend card hotplug operation when said card is essential, and perform said delete card hotplug operation or said suspend card hotplug operation when said card is non-essential, or
• if said hotplug operation is an add card hotplug operation or a resume card hotplug operation, perform said add card hotplug operation or said resume card hotplug operation.