Maintaining system firmware images remotely using a distribute file system protocol
AssigneeHewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
InventorsJason Spottswood, Darren J. Cepulis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Maintaining system firmware images remotely using a distributed file system protocol is described. A method of preserving a system firmware image on a computer includes identifying that system firmware on the computer is to be updated with a new image, identifying an original image of the system firmware using a management processor of the computer, establishing a network connection to a remote storage system through a network interface of the computer using the management processor, sending the original image through the network connection to the remote storage system using a distributed file system protocol.
Claims15
A method of preserving a system firmware image on a computer, comprising:
- identifying that system firmware on the computer is to be updated with a new image;
- identifying an original image of the system firmware using a management processor of the computer;
- establishing a network connection to a remote storage system through a network interface of the computer using the management processor;
- and
- sending the original image through the network connection to the remote storage system using a distributed file system protocol.
The method of claim I further comprising:
- executing code to update the system firmware with the new image on the management processor;
- wherein the management processor obtains the original image stored in the system firmware prior to the system firmware being updated with the new image.
The method of claim I further comprising:
- executing code to update the system firmware with the new image on a central processor unit (CPU) of the computer;
- and
- invoking an application programming interface (API) of an operating environment executing on the management processor to obtain the original image stored in the system firmware prior to the system firmware being updated with the new image.
The method of claim I further comprising:
- prior to sending the original image, identifying that the storage system does not have the original image stored thereon.
A computer system, comprising:
- a central processing unit (CPU);
- system firmware to be used by the CPU to boot the computer system;
- a network interface;
- and
- a management processor to preserve an original image of the system firmware in response to a new image that is to update the system firmware by adding the original image to a system firmware repository stored by a remote storage system using a distribute file system protocol through the network interface.
A method of maintaining system firmware images, comprising:
- establishing a network connection between a computer and a remote storage system using a management processor of the computer in response to a request to update system firmware of the computer with a new image;
- the management processor identifying, using a distributed file system protocol, a system firmware repository stored by the remote storage system;
- the management processor adding an original image of the system firmware to the system firmware repository prior to the update of the system firmware;
- and
- updating the system firmware with the new image.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.