Applying firmware updates in a system with zero downtime by selectively offlining and onlining hardware using a scale-up hypervisor layer

#Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to methods and systems for updating firmware in the hardware components of a server.

#Background of the Related Art

#FIG. 1 is a diagram of computer cluster using a scale-up hypervisor suitable for updating firmware to various compute nodes and components of the cluster.

#FIG. 2 is a diagram of a compute node that may be used in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

#FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a process of determining the timing and scope of a firmware update.

#One embodiment of the present invention provides a method comprising running a scale-up hypervisor on a server complex including at least one server and running a single operating system and at least one application on top of the scale-up hypervisor. The method further comprises identifying a firmware update available for a first hardware component within the server complex. The scale-up hypervisor removes all workload from the first hardware component, and the identified firmware update is applied to the first hardware component while the first hardware component is idle and the hypervisor continues running the single operating system and the at least one application.

#A scale-up hypervisor can run on a server complex including a single server or on a server complex including a plurality of servers that create a large symmetric multi-processor (SMP) that looks like a single server to the operating system (OS). This is sometimes referred to as SMP scaling. Embodiments of the present invention utilize the scale-up hypervisor in a method of applying firmware updates to any hardware component in the server complex. As disclosed herein, the scale-up hypervisor may remove workload from any one hardware component or server to facilitate updating or repairing of the relevant firmware while continuing to run the operating system and an application on the server complex. In other words, the identified firmware update may be applied to the first hardware component without the application experiencing any downtime. A beneficial aspect of various embodiments of the invention is that firmware updates may be sequentially applied to hardware components across the server complex.

#Optionally, the method may further comprise the scale-up hypervisor assigning workload to the first hardware component after the identified firmware update to the first hardware component has been completed. As a result the capacity of the first hardware component is only unavailable for a short period of time while the firmware of the first hardware component is being updated. In a further option, the method may further comprise identifying a firmware update that is available for a second hardware component within the server complex, the scale-up hypervisor removing workload from the second hardware component to one or more other hardware component within the server complex, and applying the identified firmware update to the second hardware component while the hypervisor continues running the operating system and the application on the server complex. Similarly, methods of the present invention may sequentially remove workload from any one or more hardware component and update the firmware on the one or more hardware component before updating the firmware of any further hardware component. It should be recognized that if the server complex includes a plurality of servers and workload is removed from an entire server, then a firmware update may be simultaneously applied to any or all of the hardware components on that server.