Method and system for a vbmc for a composed server instance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025077654-A1
Application number	US-202318459694-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 1, 2023
Priority date	Sep 1, 2023
Publication date	Mar 6, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for managing an LCS includes: sending a request to a microvisor kernel (MK) of a microvisor to provision an LCS on a first IHS; initiating provisioning of the LCS based on a configuration template; receiving a notification, from the MK, specifying that the LCS has been provisioned; after the notification has been received: obtaining first metadata associated with the first IHS and second metadata associated with a second IHS; analyzing the first metadata and second metadata to extract relevant data; inferring, based on the relevant data, that the first IHS has at least the required amount of hardware resources to execute a vBMC associated with the first IHS; sending, based on the inferring, a second request to an SCP of the first IHS to generate the vBMC on the first IHS; and receiving a second notification, from the SCP, specifying that the vBMC is generated on the SCP.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for managing a logically composed system (LCS), comprising:
sending a request to a microvisor kernel (MK) of a microvisor to provision an LCS on a first information handling system (IHS), wherein the request comprises a configuration template (CT), wherein the microvisor executes on the first IHS to provision a plurality of LCSs comprising the LCS; initiating provisioning of the LCS based on the CT, wherein the provisioning of the LCS comprises an initiation of a guest basic input/output system (BIOS) of the LCS; receiving a notification, from the MK, specifying that the LCS has been provisioned; after the notification has been received:
sending a second request to a system control processor (SCP) of the first IHS to generate a virtual baseboard management controller (vBMC) on the first IHS, wherein the vBMC is configured to manage at least a portion of the LCS;
receiving a second notification, from the SCP, specifying that the vBMC is generated on the SCP;
after the second notification has been received:
making a determination that the vBMC could not manage at least the portion of the LCS;
obtaining, based on the determination, first metadata (FM) associated with a second IHS and second metadata (SM) associated with a third IHS;
analyzing the FM and the SM to extract relevant data, wherein the relevant data comprises first information in relation to a first hardware resource set (HRS) of the second IHS and second information in relation to a second HRS of the third IHS;
inferring, based on the relevant data, that the second IHS has at least a required amount of hardware resources to execute a runtime instance of the vBMC (RIvBMC);
sending, in response to the inferring, a third request to a second SCP of the second IHS to execute the RIvBMC;
receiving a third notification, from the second SCP, specifying that the RIvBMC is ready to execute on the second SCP;
upon receiving the third notification, generating a secure data transfer path between the vBMC and the RIvBMC, wherein the vBMC and the RIvBMC communicate over the secure data transfer path; and
initiating a display notification of an administrator about the RIvBMC using a graphical user interface (GUI).

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
after receiving the third notification from the second SCP:
receiving an additional memory resource deployment request (AMRDR) from the runtime instance of the vBMC, wherein the AMRDR has been received by the runtime instance of the vBMC, via the secure data transfer path, from the LCS;
making a determination that the AMRDR is within a memory resource deployment policy limit;
sending, based on the determination, a confirmation in relation to the AMRDR to the runtime instance of the vBMC; and
deploying an additional memory resource to the LCS.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the secure data transfer path utilizes a tunneling protocol.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, prior to sending the second notification, the SCP receives a cybersecurity attestation in relation to the vBMC from the microvisor, wherein the cybersecurity attestation specifies at least a security status of the vBMC.

5 . The method of claim 1 ,
wherein a physical BMC of the first IHS is not aware of the vBMC executing on the SCP of the first IHS and of the LCS, wherein the physical BMC of the first IHS is not aware of the microvisor and the runtime instance of the vBMC executing on the second SCP of the second IHS, wherein the LCS is not aware of the physical BMC of the first IHS and of the runtime instance of the vBMC, and wherein the vBMC is logically separated from hardware and software resources of the LCS.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to sending the CT to the MK:
sending a fourth request to a processor of the first IHS to initiate the microvisor,
wherein, upon receiving the fourth request, the processor initiates the microvisor via a BIOS microvisor loader.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
prior to sending the fourth request:
receiving a vendor key that is assigned to the first IHS from the processor to initiate a bi-directional trust establishment process;
in response to receiving the vendor key, sending a second vendor key to the processor to complete bi-directional trust establishment process; and
notifying the administrator about the completed bi-directional trust establishment process,
wherein the bi-directional trust establishment process is required in order to allow the processor of the first IHS to initiate the microvisor.

8 . The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the CT specifies at least one HRS, wherein the at least one HRS comprises:
a third HRS of a third IHS;
a fourth HRS of a fourth IHS; and
a fifth HRS of an external resource,
wherein the first IHS, the third IHS, and the fourth IHS are distinct devices operably connected to each other and the external resource over a network.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the third HRS specifies at least one selected from a group consisting of a minimum user count, a maximum user count, a central processing unit (CPU) count per-LCS, a speed select technology configuration, an LCS hardware virtualization configuration, and an LCS IO memory management unit configuration.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the fourth HRS specifies at least one selected from a group consisting of a minimum user count, a maximum user count, a swap space configuration per-LCS, a reserved memory configuration, and a memory ballooning configuration.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the fifth HRS specifies at least one selected from a group consisting of a minimum user count, a maximum user count, a graphics processing unit (GPU) count per-LCS, a type of a GPU scheduling policy, and a type of a GPU virtualization approach that needs to be implemented.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the third HRS comprises hardware resources that are distinct from hardware resources of the fourth hardware resource set.

13 . The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the runtime instance of the vBMC is a proxy variant of the vBMC, wherein, when the LCS sends an inquiry to the vBMC, the runtime instance of the vBMC analyzes the inquiry and sends a response, via the secure data transfer path, to the LCS in relation to the inquiry on behalf of the vBMC, and wherein the vBMC is external to a physical BMC of the first IHS.

14 . A method for managing a logically composed system (LCS), comprising:
sending a request to a microvisor kernel (MK) of a microvisor to provision an LCS on a first information handling system (IHS), wherein the request comprises a configuration template (CT), wherein the microvisor executes on the first IHS to provision a plurality of LCSs comprising the LCS; initiating provisioning of the LCS based on the CT, wherein the provisioning of the LCS comprises an initiation of a guest basic input/output system (BIOS) of the LCS; receiving a notification, from the MK, specifying that the LCS has been provisioned; after the notification has been received:
sending a second request to a system control processor (SCP) of the first IHS to generate a virtual baseboard management controller (vBMC) on the first IHS;
receiving a second notification, from the SCP, specifying that the vBMC is generated on the SCP;
after the second notification has been received:
making a determination that the vBMC could not manage at least a portion of the LCS;
obtaining, based on the determination, first metadata (FM) associated with a second IHS and second metadata (SM) associated with a

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Farley Douglas L
• Gowda Srinivas Giri Raju
• Lawson David Craig
• Swanson Shawn Mathew

Classifications

• G06F2009/45587

  Isolation or security of virtual machine instances · CPC title

• G06F9/45558

  Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects · CPC title

• G06F21/552 Primary

  involving long-term monitoring or reporting · CPC title

• G06F2221/034

  Test or assess a computer or a system · CPC title

• G06F9/451 Primary

  Execution arrangements for user interfaces · CPC title