Patent Application
20090240713
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system interactions, and more particularly to a system and method for validating enterprise information handling system network solutions.
2. Description of the Related Art
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.
Business enterprises have come to rely upon information handling systems in order to perform enterprise functions in an effective and efficient manner. One result of the growing reliance of enterprises on information handling systems is that enterprises have generated and continue to generate large quantities of information that needs management and storage. In response to increased enterprise storage needs, industry has developed a variety of enterprise solutions that manage and store information with networked information handling systems and supporting devices, such as networked hard disk drives. Generally, enterprises prefer enterprise solutions that are scalable so that additional management and storage devices are added as needed to provide rapid access to information when the information is needed. Another feature commonly sought by enterprises is redundancy, such as by keeping multiple copies of information within a storage solution so that failure of any one storage device will not make information inaccessible. One type of enterprise storage solution often preferred by enterprises is a storage area network (SAN). SANs are often interfaced with Fibre channel cables that provide for rapid communication of information between storage devices through host bus adapters (HBAs), Fibre channel switches and disk or storage processor enclosures (DPEs or SPEs). SANs are typically deployed in redundant or non-redundant topologies. Another type of enterprise storage topology is direct attached storage (DAS).
One difficulty that enterprises face in setting up and using networked enterprise information handling system solutions is configuring components of a solution in a compatible manner. For example, different combinations of HBAs, switches, DPEs and SPEs call for different types of cables for connecting devices. Often, when ordering networked information handling system enterprise solutions, end users have confusion about the types of components to select and how the selected components will interconnect. An overall enterprise solution is often difficult for end users to visualize since an enterprise solution often includes large numbers of components. In the event that an end user purchases incompatible components, such as incorrect cables, the end user often places responsibility for the incompatible components on the information handling system manufacturer even if the end user was required to manually validate the compatibility of the components of the enterprise solution. Active management by manufacturer sales representatives tends to reduce such errors, however, this also increases the cost of completing enterprise orders since manual validation of an enterprise solution is time consuming. Even with active manufacturer input to the components purchased by an end user, mistakes still happen since manual selection and mapping of multiple components is a tedious process prone to errors.
Therefore a need has arisen for a system and method which automatically validates the compatibility of end user configurations of networked information handling system enterprise solutions from a plurality of components.
In accordance with the present invention, a system and method are provided which substantially reduce the disadvantages and problems associated with previous methods and systems for validation of networked information handling system enterprise solutions. Information handling system component selections for a networked enterprise solution are analyzed by validation rules to ensure that end user component selections result in a valid enterprise solution.
More specifically, an enterprise validation system applies validation rules to end user information handling system component selections to ensure compatibility within each ordered information handling system, between each connected information handling system and within a logical storage group, a direct attached storage group, a storage area network group, or within the solution as a whole. A selector interface presents information handling system components from a component database to an end user and accepts end user selections. A validation engine applies validation rules from a rules database to the end user selections to ensure that the selections provide an enterprise solution with compatible components for a valid configuration. If an invalid selection is made, the enterprise solution configuration is automatically corrected or a message explaining the invalid selection and possible corrections is presented to the end user. The validation rules that are applied may vary based on a configuration topology determination for the enterprise solution, such as selection of a direct attached storage, non-redundant storage area network or redundant storage area network topology.
The present invention provides a number of important technical advantages. One example of an important technical advantage is that end user configurations of networked information handling systems are automatically validated with little or no manufacturer help. Automatically applied validation rules ensure compatibility at a device level, between connected devices and at certain logical storage groupings, based on an automatically determined topology, and to the solution as a whole. A graphical user interface automatically presents validation errors with user-friendly error messages and proposed corrections. In some instances, auto-fix, auto-disable or auto-hide validation rules help to guide end users through selection of valid and compatible configurations. This simplifies end user purchases of networked information handling system enterprise solutions with reduced costs and provides a favorable end user experience with decreased risk that enterprise solutions will ship with incompatible components.
The present invention may be better understood, and its numerous objects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference number throughout the several figures designates a like or similar element.
Networked information handling system enterprise solutions are automatically validated to ensure compatibility of end user information handling system component selections. For 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, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, 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 random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and 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 communications between the various hardware components.
Referring now to
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As an example, a validation rule within each information handling system ensures that the processor and memory assets of an information handling system are adequate to run an application loaded on an information handling system. A validation rule between each information handling system ensures that the processor and memory assets of that information handling system are adequate to meet communication demands from a selected number of other information handling systems. A validation rule for connections between information handling systems compares interface units and cables to ensure that compatible components are able to communicate with each other. In one embodiment, a validation rule applies attributes of selected components to determine a topology associated with the selected components, such as a direct attached storage, non-redundant storage area network and redundant storage area network topology. Based upon a detected topology, validation rules associated with the detected topology are used to determine the compatibility with other selected components. A validation correction module 38 monitors end user information handling system component selections to detect and automatically correct the selection of incompatible components by replacing incompatible selections with compatible selections. A validation disable module 40 detects available component selections presented to an end user and disables the selections from the presentation to the end user so that the end user cannot select an invalid component. A validation removal module 42 detects available components selections presented to an end user and removes incompatible components from the presentation of available selections to the end user.
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At step 54, incompatible components are automatically disabled or hidden to prevent selection by an end user. At step 56, a validation is performed for customized service selections, so as to ensure compatibility of selected service components with existing service components of an enterprise solution already in place by the end user. At step 58, a connection validation is performed to ensure that selected components of an information handling system are compatible with selected components of other information handling systems connected by cables or controllers. At step 60, a box-to-box validation is performed to ensure that the configuration of each information handling system is compatible with other information handling systems at the storage group level, at the DAS or SAN group level depending on the automatically determined topology, and to the enterprise solution as a whole. At step 62, a determination is made of whether to perform an auto fix for incompatibilities detected between information handling systems or for connections of information handling system. If an auto fix of incompatibilities is not performed, the process continues to step 64 to present an error message for the end user to address the incompatibilities. At step 66, user-friendly error messages are presented to explain information handling system component incompatibilities.
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Although the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
