Server system and operation method thereof

Abstract

An operation method for a server system includes: (A) under control of a hardware abstraction layer (HAL), a plurality of node management units sharing a hardware resource; (B) if If one of the node management units needs to use the hardware resource, the method includes the node management unit sending an instruction or a data to the HAL and accordingly the HAL using the hardware resource in represent of the node management unit; and (C) if. If an external instruction is received, the method includes the HAL identifying which transmission port of the hardware resource receives the external instruction, so to send the external instruction to a corresponding node management unit, and. Then, after the external instruction is executed, the method includes the corresponding node management unit sending back an information to the HAL so that the HAL sends back the information to an external system administrator.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A server system, comprising:
 at least a system board comprising a baseboard management controller and a plurality of nodes, wherein the baseboard management controller comprises a plurality of node management units, a hardware abstraction layer (HAL) and a hardware resource, and the node management units respectively manage the nodes and share the hardware resource under the control of the HAL; 
 a connection port used for connecting to an external system administrator; and 
 an internal channel connected to the system board and the connection port; 
 the at least a system board further comprising a plurality of transmission ports, the baseboard management controller being connected to the external system administrator via the transmission ports, wherein
 ifafter an external instruction is transmitted to the baseboard management controller through the hardware resource, then the HAL identifies which transmission port receives the external instruction and transmits the external instruction to the corresponding node management unit, and 
 after the corresponding node management unit executes the external instruction, the corresponding node management unit transmits an information to the HAL for transmitting the information back to the external system administrator via the transmission port. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The server system according to  claim 1 , wherein for each node management unit, the HAL establishes a logic hardware device mapped to the hardware resource. 
     
     
       3. The server system according to  claim 2 , wherein if one of the node management units needs to use the hardware resource, the node management unit transmits an instruction to the HAL and the HAL accesses the hardware resource according to the instruction and transmits a result to the node management unit. 
     
     
       4. The server system according to  claim 2 , wherein when one of the node management units needs to use the hardware resource, the node management unit transmits a data to the HAL and the HAL accesses the hardware resource according to the data. 
     
     
       5. An operation method for a server system comprising at least a system board, the system board comprising a baseboard management controller and a plurality of nodes, the baseboard management controller comprising a plurality of node management units, a hardware abstraction layer (HAL) and a hardware resource, the node management units respectively managing the nodes, the operation method comprising:
 (A) sharing the hardware resource by the node management units under the control of the HAL; 
 (B) transmitting an instruction to the HAL by the node management unit when one of the node management units needs to use the hardware resource, wherein the HAL uses the hardware resource on behalf of the node management unit, accesses the hardware resource according to the instruction and transmits a result to the node management unit; and 
 (C) if after an external instruction is received, the HAL identifying identifies which transmission port of the hardware resource receives the external instruction and transmitting transmits the external instruction to the corresponding node management unit and, after the external instruction is executed, the corresponding node management unit transmitting transmits an information to the HAL and the HAL further transmits the information to an external system administrator via the transmission port. 
 
     
     
       6. The operation method according to  claim 5 , wherein, the step (A) comprises:
 for each node management unit, establishing a logic hardware device mapped to the hardware resource by the HAL. 
 
     
     
       7. The server system according to claim 2, wherein when one of the node management units needs to use the hardware resource, the node management unit transmits a data to the HAL and the HAL accesses the hardware resource according to the data. 
     
     
       8. The server system according to claim 1, wherein the HAL identifies which one of the plurality of transmission ports received the external instruction. 
     
     
       9. The server system according to claim 1, wherein the external instruction is transmitted to the baseboard management controller through the hardware resource. 
     
     
       10. The server system according to claim 1, wherein the server system comprises at least three system boards. 
     
     
       11. The operation method according to claim 6, wherein when one of the node management units needs to use the hardware resource, the node management unit transmits an instruction to the HAL and the HAL accesses the hardware resource according to the instruction and transmits a result to the node management unit. 
     
     
       12. The operation method according to claim 6, wherein when one of the node management units needs to use the hardware resource, the node management unit transmits a data to the HAL and the HAL accesses the hardware resource according to the data. 
     
     
       13. The operation method according to claim 5, wherein the information comprises response information regarding execution of the eternal instruction. 
     
     
       14. The operation method according to claim 5, wherein the server system comprises at least three system boards.