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US 8,914,606 B2Granted
System and method for soft partitioning a computer system
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorBradley G. Culter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
According to at least one embodiment, a method comprises partitioning a computer system into a plurality of soft partitions that each run an operating system. The method further comprises instantiating a separate firmware instance for each of the plurality of soft partitions, wherein each of the firmware instances provides a pre-defined firmware interface for the operating system of its respective soft partition.
Claims29
A method, comprising:
- partitioning a computer system into a plurality of soft partitions each of which runs a respective operating system;
- instantiating a separate respective firmware instance for each of said plurality of soft partitions, wherein each of said firmware instances provides a respective pre-defined firmware interface for the operating system of its soft partition;
- and
- in accordance with shared logic that interfaces with each operating system through its respective pre-defined firmware instance,
- subdividing physical memory resources of the computer system into non-intersecting regions of physical memory that appear to the operating systems as individual memory devices in a spanning namespace,
- assigning to each of the plurality of soft partitions a respective set of hardware resources of the computer system including a respective set of the non-intersecting regions of physical memory and a respective subset of the spanning namespace,
- maintaining a configuration database comprising respective specifications of the sets of hardware resources assigned to the plurality of soft partitions, and
- providing the respective specification of the set of assigned hardware resources to each of the operating systems through its respective pre-defined firmware interface.
5 more elements
A computer system comprising:
- a plurality of soft partitions each running a respective operating system;
- a separate respective firmware instance for each of said plurality of soft partitions, each of said firmware instances providing a respective pre-defined firmware interface for the operating system of its soft partition;
- and
- a processor that executes shared logic interfacing with each operating system through its respective pre-defined firmware instance to perform operations comprising,
- subdividing physical memory resources of the computer system into non-intersecting regions of physical memory that appear to the operating systems as individual memory devices in a spanning namespace,
- assigning to each of the plurality of soft partitions a respective set of hardware resources of the computer system including a respective set of the non-intersecting regions of physical memory and a respective subset of the spanning namespace,
- maintaining a configuration database comprising respective specifications of the sets of hardware resources assigned to the plurality of soft partitions, and
- providing the respective specification of the set of assigned hardware resources to each of the operating systems through its respective pre-defined firmware interface.
5 more elements
A computer system, comprising:
- means for defining a plurality of soft partitions each running a respective operating system;
- and
- means for providing a separate respective firmware instance for each of said plurality of soft partitions, each of said firmware instances providing a respective pre-defined firmware interface for the operating system of its soft partition;
- and
- means for executing shared logic interfacing with each operating system through its respective pre-defined firmware instance to perform operations comprising,
- subdividing physical memory resources of the computer system into non-intersecting regions of physical memory that appear to the operating systems as individual memory devices in a spanning namespace,
- assigning to each of the plurality of soft partitions a respective set of hardware resources of the computer system including a respective set of the non-intersecting regions of physical memory and a respective subset of the spanning namespace,
- maintaining a configuration database comprising respective specifications of the sets of hardware resources assigned to the plurality of soft partitions, and
- providing the respective specification of the set of assigned hardware resources to each of the operating systems through its respective pre-defined firmware interface.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.