Communication interface systems for locally analyzing computers

Details Communication interface systems for locally analyzing computers Communication interface systems for locally analyzing computers

2000-05-31

2003-11-25

Gaffin, Jeffrey (Department: 2182)

Electrical computers and digital data processing systems: input/

Input/output data processing

C710S036000, C710S106000, C340S571000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06654816

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to computer management and diagnostics, and more particularly to a system and method for retrieving, displaying and controlling information of a computer by a handheld or portable device or the like via a communication interface.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
It is often desired or even necessary to monitor certain parameters of a computer system to determine its status or to identify certain error conditions. This is particularly true for a server on a network. System administrators of a network, for example, must typically monitor the operation of one or more computers operating as servers of the network to determine and identify critical errors and operating parameters. One or more server systems are typically coupled to a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) or the like to serve a corresponding plurality of client computer systems. In more sophisticated configurations, the servers are equipped with management capabilities or software to enable a system administrator to control operations of the network, track and monitor network status, to maximize network efficiency, and to locate and correct network problems or failures. Many network management systems software is based on the simple network management protocol (SNMP) which is a well known management standard. Some particular network management software includes Compaq's companion insight manager (CIM) or Novel's netware.
Other information is also useful for performing management functions, such as the usage of resources and the status of various hardware devices installed. For example, it may be desired to determine the amount of available memory, parameters associated with the CPU(s), the version and date of ROM firmware, etc. A system monitoring software application may be used to monitor and identify such information for display on a monitor. For larger networks with several servers, it is not always convenient or cost effective to have a monitor for each system, or even to supply a single common monitor. For example, for network configurations including one or more servers mounted on a rack, there may be insufficient room for a monitor and other peripheral devices such as a mouse and keyboard.
In the simplest form, server diagnostics may consist of a system light emitting diode (LED) display indicating normal operation, activity, or some sort of system warning or failure. The LED design provides limited Input/Output (I/O) capability, is awkward to use, and provides limited capability, as only a particular subset of management information is available due in part to limited display capability. More advanced diagnostic features are available using Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) in order to provide additional and more complete information. The LCD usage model is usually one of alert or exception reporting. During normal operation, the LCD display is under-utilized. It displays nametag information, or other static information. The LCD is most beneficial during fault conditions or for asset management. The display has the ability to notify the user of a fault condition, and to provide additional easily accessible detail regarding the condition, possible precursor events, and appropriate resolution measures. It should be noted that there are other display technologies that provide similar functionality such as vacuum fluorescent technology.
One particular LCD device is an Integrated Management Display (IMD), which provides a more complete set of management information to the administrator. An existing IMD is relatively expensive and consumes a large amount of real estate on the front bezel. The case of the IMD is excessively large for the new dense server designs, and cannot be included on some designs. For example, cooling requirements may often preclude the use of a large diagnostic display that consumes a substantial amount of front bezel space. It is possible to reduce the size and capabilities of the IMD, but reducing functional capabilities is not always desired or practicable.
There is a concern regarding the implementation of many LCD displays in a server. As the density of the servers and other products continually increases, there will be more and more LCD displays in rack configurations. A configuration with a substantial number of displays are often utilized only in the exception case, such as when indicating the need for attention during fault conditions, and thus are often under-utilized during normal operations.
Even with the cost of LCD designs being reduced to address cost concerns, LCD devices are likely to be sold as options for certain configurations. It is expected that as the option cost decreases, attach rate will increase. It is desired to reduce the cost to provide management capabilities on a greater number of devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A communication interface system according to embodiments of the present invention may have many forms depending upon the desired functionality, such as status information retrieval, computer diagnostics, computer interface, etc. In some embodiments, a communication interface system enables retrieval of status or health information of a computer by a handheld device. In more sophisticated embodiments, the handheld device may be utilized to interact and control the computer system at various levels of operation, including power up, normal operation and powered down states.
A computer status information retrieval system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, includes a computer and a handheld device each with a communication port. The computer executes a health program that provides status information associated with operation of the computer. The handheld device interfaces with the computer communication port to retrieve and display the status information. The computer status information retrieval system is particularly advantageous when the computer is in a headless configuration, where the computer does not otherwise have input/output (I/O) devices such as a keyboard, mouse, or monitor. In the headless configuration, the computer communication port is conveniently located on the front bezel of the computer, where the handheld device replaces the LCD hardware the retrieve the status information. The handheld device may be any type of portable device including a corresponding serial or infrared communication port, such as a palm PC (PPC) a personal digital assistant (PDA), a notebook computer, etc.
It is appreciated that a single communication port is relatively small compared to IMD or LCD hardware so that valuable real estate on the front bezel of the computer is saved. This is particularly advantageous for a server system in a stacked configuration, where each server has only a single communication port for communication with an external device, such as a handheld PDA. An administrator can communicate with any of the server systems in the stack configuration via the communication port via the handheld device, which conveniently replaces IMD or LCD functions.
In one embodiment, the communication between the computer and handheld device is through serial ports. In serial port embodiments, a serial cable is coupled between the serial ports of the handheld device and the computer. In one embodiment, a docking cradle with a serial connector is provided where the handheld device is placed into the docking cradle to enable serial communications with the computer.
It is noted that the status information may include any information that is collected, stored or otherwise provided by a health program executing on the computer system. Such health information may at least include any combination of naming information, system hardware information or event information. The handheld device may be utilized to simply retrieve the health information from the computer. In another embodiment, the health program is capable of controlling operational parameters of the computer, where the handheld device assumes operational control of the computer via the health program. In a further e

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