Apparatus, system, and method for non-interruptively updating firmware on a redundant hardware controller

A system for non-interruptively updating firmware on redundant hardware controllers, the system comprising:

• a management module, the management module configured to execute a firmware overlay process;
• a primary baseboard management controller coupled to the management module via a hardware control interface, the primary baseboard management controller controlling all operations associated with the redundant hardware controllers, and the primary baseboard management controller being configured to route a flash update from the management module to a synchronization interface without executing the flash update on the primary baseboard management controller in response to the management module executing the firmware overlay process;
• a secondary baseboard management controller coupled to the primary baseboard management controller, the secondary baseboard management controller controlling no operations associated with the redundant hardware controllers, and the secondary baseboard management controller being configured to receive the flash update from the primary baseboard management controller via the synchronization interface;
• and
• an update module in communication with the primary baseboard management controller and the secondary baseboard management controller, the update module configured to non-interruptively replace a current firmware image stored on the secondary baseboard management controller with the flash update concurrently with operations associated with the redundant hardware controllers being controlled by the primary baseboard management controller;
• wherein the management module, primary baseboard management controller, secondary baseboard management controller, and update module receiving module, forwarding module, implementation module, and termination module comprise one or more of logic hardware or at least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having executable code stored thereon.

A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform operations for non-interruptively updating firmware on redundant hardware controllers, the operations comprising:

• receiving at a primary hardware controller hardware management commands and a flash command from a service processor via a shared serial connection, the primary hardware controller being in an active state and having sole control over the shared serial connection to execute all hardware management commands received from the service processor via the shared serial connection, the hardware management commands and flash command intended for execution by the primary hardware controller;
• while the primary hardware controller is in the active state, forwarding the flash command from the primary hardware controller to a secondary hardware controller via a synchronization interface without executing the flash command on the primary hardware controller, the secondary hardware controller being in an idle state and having no control over the shared serial connection while the primary hardware controller is in the active state;
• updating a firmware image stored on the secondary hardware controller in response to receiving and executing the flash command, wherein updating the firmware image stored on the secondary hardware controller occurs concurrently with the execution of the hardware management commands on the primary hardware controller;
• and
• completing a firmware overlay process of the secondary hardware controller, the firmware overlay process comprising switching the primary hardware controller from the active state to an idle state having no control over the shared serial connection and switching the secondary hardware controller from the idle state to an active state having sole control over the shared serial connection after the firmware image on the secondary hardware controller is updated.

A method for deploying computing infrastructure, comprising integrating computer readable code into a computing system, the method comprising:

• managing client hardware;
• receiving hardware management tasks and a flash command at a primary hardware controller from a service processor over a serial connection and forwarding the flash command without executing the flash command, while the primary hardware controller is in an active state having sole control over the serial connection;
• receiving the forwarded flash command at a secondary hardware controller from the primary hardware controller via a dedicated point to point connection, while the secondary hardware controller is in an idle state having no control over the serial connection;
• and
• executing a firmware overlay process, to perform the additional steps of:
• updating a firmware image stored on the secondary hardware controller in response to receiving the flash command concurrently with the execution of hardware management tasks on the primary hardware controller;
• after the firmware image stored on the secondary hardware controller is updated, switching the primary hardware controller from the active state to an idle state having no control over the serial connection and switching the secondary hardware controller from the idle state to an active state having sole control over the serial connection;
• after switching the primary hardware controller from the active state to the idle state and switching the secondary hardware controller from the idle state to the active state, updating a firmware image stored on the primary hardware controller based on the flash command;
• and
• after updating the firmware image stored on the primary hardware controller, switching the primary hardware controller back to the active state from the idle state and switching the secondary hardware controller back to the idle state from the active state.