The present disclosure generally relates to information handling systems, and more particularly relates to counting insertion and removal events of any hardware device.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Technology and information handling needs and requirements can vary between different applications. Thus information handling systems can also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information can be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems can include a variety of hardware and software resources that can be configured to process, store, and communicate information and can include one or more computer systems, graphics interface systems, data storage systems, networking systems, and mobile communication systems. Information handling systems can also implement various virtualized architectures. Data and voice communications among information handling systems may be via networks that are wired, wireless, or some combination.
Physical wear of electrical contacts is inferred based on a value of a counter. The counter increments with each insertion and/or removal of a memory drive or other device. As the counter increments, the electrical contacts are assumed to degrade in signal/data performance. A user may thus be notified of the physical wear, and the user may be cautioned to replace or backup the memory drive or other device to prevent data/signal loss. Moreover, when the value of the counter equals a preconfigured threshold value, a life of the memory drive or other device may expire due to maximum wear.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements. Embodiments incorporating teachings of the present disclosure are shown and described with respect to the drawings herein, in which:
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.
The following description in combination with the Figures is provided to assist in understanding the teachings disclosed herein. The description is focused on specific implementations and embodiments of the teachings, and is provided to assist in describing the teachings. This focus should not be interpreted as a limitation on the scope or applicability of the teachings.
BIOS/EFI module 140, disk controller 150, and I/O interface 170 are connected to chipset 110 via an I/O channel 112. An example of I/O channel 112 includes a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) interface, a PCI-Extended (PCI-X) interface, a high-speed PCI-Express (PCIe) interface, another industry standard or proprietary communication interface, or a combination thereof. Chipset 110 can also include one or more other I/O interfaces, including an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) interface, a Small Computer Serial Interface (SCSI) interface, an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) interface, a System Packet Interface (SPI), a Universal Serial Bus (USB), another interface, or a combination thereof. BIOS/EFI module 140 includes BIOS/EFI code operable to detect resources within information handling system 100, to provide drivers for the resources, initialize the resources, and access the resources. BIOS/EFI module 140 includes code that operates to detect resources within information handling system 100, to provide drivers for the resources, to initialize the resources, and to access the resources.
Disk controller 150 includes a disk interface 152 that connects the disk controller 150 to a hard disk drive (HDD) 154, to an optical disk drive (ODD) 156, and to disk emulator 160. An example of disk interface 152 includes an Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface, an Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) such as a parallel ATA (PATA) interface or a serial ATA (SATA) interface, a SCSI interface, a USB interface, a proprietary interface, or a combination thereof. Disk emulator 160 permits a solid-state drive 164 to be connected to information handling system 100 via an external interface 162. An example of external interface 162 includes a USB interface, an IEEE 1194 (Firewire) interface, a proprietary interface, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the solid-state drive 164 (such as a non-volatile memory device) may directly connect to, or interface with, the processors 102 and/or 104.
I/O interface 170 includes a peripheral interface 172 that connects the I/O interface to an add-on resource 174 and to network interface 180. Peripheral interface 172 can be the same type of interface as I/O channel 112, or can be a different type of interface. As such, I/O interface 170 extends the capacity of I/O channel 112 when peripheral interface 172 and the I/O channel are of the same type, and the I/O interface translates information from a format suitable to the I/O channel to a format suitable to the peripheral channel 172 when they are of a different type. Add-on resource 174 can include a data storage system, an additional graphics interface, a network interface card (NIC), a sound/video processing card, another add-on resource, or a combination thereof. Add-on resource 174 can be on a main circuit board, on separate circuit board or add-in card disposed within information handling system 100, a device that is external to the information handling system, or a combination thereof.
Network interface 180 represents a NIC disposed within information handling system 100, on a main circuit board of the information handling system, integrated onto another component such as chipset 110, in another suitable location, or a combination thereof. Network interface device 180 includes network channels 182 and 184 that provide interfaces to devices that are external to information handling system 100. In a particular embodiment, network channels 182 and 184 are of a different type than peripheral channel 172 and network interface 180 translates information from a format suitable to the peripheral channel to a format suitable to external devices. An example of network channels 182 and 184 includes InfiniBand channels, Fibre Channel channels, Gigabit Ethernet channels, proprietary channel architectures, or a combination thereof. Network channels 182 and 184 can be connected to external network resources (not illustrated). The network resource can include another information handling system, a data storage system, another network, a grid management system, another suitable resource, or a combination thereof.
Exemplary embodiments may track insertions and removals of any device 210. As the reader may understand, solid-state memory drives, peripheral drives, printers, mice, displays/monitors, and any other device 210 may be plugged into, and then removed from, the information handling system 100. The device 210, in other words, may be hot-swapped or hot-plugged many times, and each insertion/removal wears the physical, electrical contacts 212. Eventually a physical wear 214 is great enough to degrade electrical connection, thus compromising data transfer and error/failure results.
Exemplary embodiments thus present an elegant solution. As the device 210 is inserted and removed, over time its electrical contacts experience the wear 214 and degrade, thus compromising signal/data transmission. Exemplary embodiments implement the counter logic 216 that counts, or estimates, the number of times that the device 210 has been inserted and/or removed. The current value of the counter 218 may then be monitored and compared to the various threshold values 220. The current value of the counter 218 may thus represent an estimate of the wear 214 on the electrical contacts. As the current value of the counter 218 grows or increases, exemplary embodiments may assume or infer that physical wear 214 is concomitantly increasing and electrical performance is degrading. A user of the information handling system 100 and/or device 210 may thus be notified or warned of the count. Simply put, exemplary embodiments protect the user's data and the device 210 from excessive wear 214 and data loss.
Monitoring and notification may occur. When the management software application 230 receives and/or reads the current value of the counter 218, the management software application 230 may compare the current value of the counter 218 to the one or more threshold values 220. Each threshold value 220 may be associated with a corresponding logical rule 232 defining or specifying an action 234. For example, a low threshold value 220 may cause the management software application 230 to execute the action 234 as generating an audible or visual notification 236 that merely prompts a user to acknowledge an awareness of wear 214 (such as “the device has been inserted 58 times”). A middle or intermediate threshold value 220 may cause the management software application 230 to escalate the notification 236 to warn that further usage is limited (such as “the device may only be inserted 10 more times”). However, if the current value of the counter 218 equals or exceeds a high threshold value 220 (such as the final value), then the management software application 230 may infer that contact failure is imminent and further usage is blocked or prohibited (such as “the maximum usage of the device has been attained and no further insertions are permitted”). Each threshold value 220 and its corresponding logical rule 232 and action 234 may be defined or chosen to implement any performance, reliability/durability, and cost objective.
Insertions and removals may be counted. The counter logic 216 counts, or infers, the insertion number of times that the solid-state memory device 240 is inserted, the withdrawal number of times that the solid-state memory device 240 is withdrawn, and/or the number of cycles (such as insertion and withdrawal). The current value of the counter 218 and the threshold value(s) 220 are sent via the bus 248 and read by the management software application 230 and compared to the threshold value(s) 220. When any threshold value 220 is satisfied, the management software application 230 executes the corresponding rule 232 and action 234.
Insert-Remove Counter=Insert-Remove Count+Write Payload;
whereas the added logic for a micro-controller in the C programming language may be abstracted as
Insert-Remove Counter=+Write Payload.
The current value of the counter 218 may increment by one (1) (or by the value in the write payload). The management software application 230 may generate and issue the read/write command 260 to the solid-state NVMe drive 250 at any frequency is desired, as long as the payload captures the number of insert/remove cycles having occurred since the last read/write issued. Exemplary embodiments may prefer that the counter 218 is updated/written to upon a single insert to minimize inaccuracy, such as in cases where the solid-state NVMe drive 250 is removed prior to the management software application 230 writing out the value of the counter 218 at hand.
Exemplary embodiments thus present an elegant solution. As the device 210 is inserted and removed, over time its electrical contacts wear 214 and degrade, thus compromising signal/data transmission. Exemplary embodiments, implement the counter logic 216 that counts, or estimates, the number of times that the device 210 has been inserted and/or removed. The current value of the counter 218 may then be monitored and compared to the various threshold values 220. The current value of the counter 218 may thus represent an estimate of the wear 214 on the electrical contacts. As the current value of the counter 218 grows or increases, exemplary embodiments may assume or infer that the physical wear 214 is concomitantly increasing and electrical performance is degrading. A user of the device 210 may thus be notified or warned of the count. Simply out, exemplary embodiments protect the user's data and device 210 from excessive wear 214 and data loss.
While the computer-readable medium is shown to be a single medium, the term “computer-readable medium” includes a single medium or multiple media, such as a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers that store one or more sets of instructions. The term “computer-readable medium” shall also include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying a set of instructions for execution by a processor or that cause a computer system to perform any one or more of the methods or operations disclosed herein.
In a particular non-limiting, exemplary embodiment, the computer-readable medium can include a solid-state memory such as a memory card or other package that houses one or more non-volatile read-only memories. Further, the computer-readable medium can be a random access memory or other volatile re-writable memory. Additionally, the computer-readable medium can include a magneto-optical or optical medium, such as a disk or tapes or other storage device to store information received via carrier wave signals such as a signal communicated over a transmission medium. Furthermore, a computer readable medium can store information received from distributed network resources such as from a cloud-based environment. A digital file attachment to an e-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives may be considered a distribution medium that is equivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one or more of a computer-readable medium or a distribution medium and other equivalents and successor media, in which data or instructions may be stored.
In the embodiments described herein, an information handling system includes any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or use any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system can be a personal computer, a consumer electronic device, a network server or storage device, a switch router, wireless router, or other network communication device, a network connected device (cellular telephone, tablet device, etc.), or any other suitable device, and can vary in size, shape, performance, price, and functionality.
The information handling system can include memory (volatile (such as random-access memory, etc.), nonvolatile (read-only memory, flash memory etc.) or any combination thereof), one or more processing resources, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), hardware or software control logic, or any combination thereof. Additional components of the information handling system can include one or more storage devices, one or more communications ports for communicating with external devices, as well as, various I/O devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a video/graphic display, or any combination thereof. The information handling system can also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components. Portions of an information handling system may themselves be considered information handling systems.
When referred to as a “device,” a “module,” or the like, the embodiments described herein can be configured as hardware. For example, a portion of an information handling system device may be hardware such as, for example, an integrated circuit (such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a structured ASIC, or a device embedded on a larger chip), a card (such as a Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) card, a PCI-express card, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card, or other such expansion card), or a system (such as a motherboard, a system-on-a-chip (SoC), or a stand-alone device).
Devices, modules, resources, or programs that are in communication with one another need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise. In addition, devices, modules, resources, or programs that are in communication with one another can communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.
Although only a few exemplary embodiments have been described in detail herein, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure as defined in the following claims. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures.