The present disclosure pertains to information handling systems and, more specifically, management of information handling system infrastructure.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may 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 may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for 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 may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
When developing a system management software platform, much depends on the software's ability to understand the APIs and data model of the target device (s). Generally, standardized protocols evolve over time to define consistent API surfaces and payloads for managing infrastructure. As technology trends change, new standards arise to reflect the changes. Additionally, infrastructure management is not a static feature set. As new concepts and features are implemented, system management protocols must adapt to provide appropriate management support.
The ability to support API standards that change over time is one challenging aspect of implementing a system management platform. Until fairly recently, many widely implemented management platforms complied with WS-Management (MS-Man), a Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) open standard defining a Simple Object Access Protocol/Extensible Markup Language (SOAP/XML) based messaging protocol for managing servers and other devices, applications, and various Web services. More recently, the Redfish standard, which implements a representational state transfer (REST)-compliant or RESTful interface for managing servers, storage, networking and converged infrastructure, has emerged as the prevailing standard for system management platforms. In addition, older protocols, including Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)-over-LAN are still in use. System management is still further complicated because different generations of hardware/firmware may implement different API standards. Even within a specific API or Data Model, there can be implementation differences from one hardware/firmware release to the next.
The issues noted above have resulted in platform implementations restricting the list of supported devices to those that implement specific system management protocols or originate from certain vendors and/or absorb the complexity of recognized device-protocol-function permutations within application code. Still further complicating the platform management landscape, new system management protocols may be implemented alongside previous protocols and may not reach parity for multiple releases. This has led to a large amount of complexity when attempting to support many generations of hardware from multiple vendors.
The challenges discussed above may be addressed by a serverless system management solution suitable for one or more generations of heterogeneous platform infrastructure encompassing a plurality of system management protocols and version-specific implementation details. A group of container images may be defined, each of which implements the specific exchanges required to accomplish a given management operation for one or more supported resources. Container images may be specific to specific combinations of device and firmware version and the protocols and messaging details embedded in each container are independent of one another. The correct container image to use to accomplish a given operation is determined by mapping attributes of a managed device to specific container image coordinates. These mappings may be maintained in a published function-as-a-service (FaaS) catalog, which may be external to the managed platform. Similarly, the container images may be maintained in a container registry that is external to the management platform. In at least some such embodiments, the FaaS catalog and the container registry may be consumed from time to time by the serverless management solution. Details of an exemplary solution and architecture are described below with respect to
The implementations illustrated in
In one aspect, a disclosed serverless, FaaS-based systems management method for implementing an onboarded management platform responds to discovering a target device by retrieving a manifest from the target device. The manifest includes information indicating management operations supported by the device and mapping coordinates for locating container images indicative of systems management interactions for performing a management operation on the targeted device. If the manifest includes unrecognized mapping coordinates, the unrecognized mapping coordinates are added to a local FaaS mapping store and the target device is requested to push its container images to a local container registry. Communications with the target device may be in accordance with an onboarding API that supports a retrieve-manifest API call for retrieving the manifest and a push-containers API call to request the target device to push the container images to the local FaaS registry. Communications in accordance with the API may be secured and push-containers call may provide the target device with an access credential token and endpoint information for accessing the local container registry. The local container registry may validate the access credential token as well as any container image signatures before accepting the container images. A verification that the local container registry includes a container image for each mapping coordinate in the manifest may be performed to confirm the platform as being operable to manage the newly added or updated device.
Technical advantages of the present disclosure may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the figures, description and claims included herein. The objects and advantages of the embodiments will be realized and achieved at least by the elements, features, and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are examples and explanatory and are not restrictive of the claims set forth in this disclosure.
A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:
Exemplary embodiments and their advantages are best understood by reference to
For the purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a consumer electronic device, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include memory, one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (“CPU”), microcontroller, or hardware or software control logic.
Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more storage devices, one or more communications ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input/output (“I/O”) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communication between the various hardware components.
Additionally, an information handling system may include firmware for controlling and/or communicating with, for example, hard drives, network circuitry, memory devices, I/O devices, and other peripheral devices. For example, the hypervisor and/or other components may comprise firmware. As used in this disclosure, firmware includes software embedded in an information handling system component used to perform predefined tasks. Firmware is commonly stored in non-volatile memory, or memory that does not lose stored data upon the loss of power. In certain embodiments, firmware associated with an information handling system component is stored in non-volatile memory that is accessible to one or more information handling system components. In the same or alternative embodiments, firmware associated with an information handling system component is stored in non-volatile memory that is dedicated to and comprises part of that component.
For the purposes of this disclosure, computer-readable media may include any instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities that may retain data and/or instructions for a period of time. Computer-readable media may include, without limitation, storage media such as a direct access storage device (e.g., a hard disk drive or floppy disk), a sequential access storage device (e.g., a tape disk drive), compact disk, CD-ROM, DVD, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and/or flash memory; as well as communications media such as wires, optical fibers, microwaves, radio waves, and other electromagnetic and/or optical carriers; and/or any combination of the foregoing.
For the purposes of this disclosure, information handling resources may broadly refer to any component system, device or apparatus of an information handling system, including without limitation processors, service processors, basic input/output systems (BIOSs), buses, memories, I/O devices and/or interfaces, storage resources, network interfaces, motherboards, and/or any other components and/or elements of an information handling system.
In the following description, details are set forth by way of example to facilitate discussion of the disclosed subject matter. It should be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the field, however, that the disclosed embodiments are exemplary and not exhaustive of all possible embodiments. Throughout this disclosure, a hyphenated form of a reference numeral refers to a specific instance of an element and the un-hyphenated form of the reference numeral refers to the element generically. Thus, for example, “device 12-1” refers to an instance of a device class, which may be referred to collectively as “devices 12” and any one of which may be referred to generically as “a device 12”.
As used herein, when two or more elements are referred to as “coupled” to one another, such term indicates that such two or more elements are in electronic communication, mechanical communication, including thermal and fluidic communication, thermal, communication or mechanical communication, as applicable, whether connected indirectly or directly, with or without intervening elements.
Turning now to the drawings,
The platform 100 illustrated in
In at least one embodiment, infrastructure resources 140, including but not limited to servers and other hardware devices, may be specified by two or more parameters. As a non-limiting example, a server-type resource may be specified by a combination of a model identifier and a version identifier wherein the version identifier indicates a version of system firmware code provisioned on the applicable resource.
As depicted in
It should be noted that, although first firmware version 131 and second firmware version 132 are designed for the same management function and are executed on substantially similar or identical hardware, the two container images employ a different combination of management APIs. Specifically, whereas the first container image 131 uses a Redfish (RESTful) API 161, second container image 132 is based on multiple APIs including a WS-man (SOAP based) API 162. Thus, platform 100 does not impose hardware-based or function-based API constraints on the container images across different firmware versions.
For the sake of clarity and brevity,
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Referring specifically to
Each of the illustrated target devices 403 includes an interface, identified in
Referring now to
If all the mappings in the FaaS manifest are already present and current, onboard platform 400 is operable to manage the newly added or updated device and onboarding sequence 500 may terminate. If one or more of the mappings in the FaaS manifest are either not present or not current, the applicable mapping information is added to the local store of FaaS mappings, i.e., FaaS mapping database 110, and onboarding sequence 500 continues.
In the illustrated onboarding sequence 500, onboarding module 401 prepares (510) an access token credential for its local container registry, i.e., FaaS container registry 112. Onboarding module 401 then provides the token and endpoint information for FaaS container registry 112 in a push-FaaS-containers API call (512) requesting target device 403 to push its container images to FaaS container registry 112. Target device 403 responds to the request by pushing (514) its container images and the access credential token to FaaS container registry 112. The FaaS container registry 112 validates (516) the token and signatures for the FaaS container images (FCIs). If the validation is successful, FaaS container registry 112 employs conventional layer caching to accept any container image that is not already present. Onboarding module 401 may then verify (520) that all container images referenced in the FaaS manifest provided by target device 403 are present within FaaS container registry 112. Upon a successful verification that all required container images are present, onboard platform 400 is operable to manage the newly added or updated target device while, beneficially, the management plane has not been required to establish communication with the externally-deployed container registry 102 or FaaS catalog 104.
Referring now to
Responsive to identifying (operation 606) one or more new or unrecognized mapping coordinates, the unrecognized mapping coordinates are added (operation 610) to a local FaaS mapping store and the target device is requested (operation 612) to push its container images to a local container registry. In at least some embodiments, operation 612 is implemented with an API call that includes a token containing access credentials for the local container registry. After the target device has responded to the request by pushing its Faas container images to the local container registry, along with any access credential token provided in the request, and the local FaaS registry has validated the token, if provided, and accepted any container not already present within the registry, the illustrated method 600 verifies (operation 614) that the local container registry includes a container image for each mapping in the manifest received from the target device. Upon a successful verification, the onboard platform is operable to manage the target device.
Referring now to
This disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. Similarly, where appropriate, the appended claims encompass all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. Moreover, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system, or component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, or operative.
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical objects to aid the reader in understanding the disclosure and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Although embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.