US 12,321,645 B2
Disk array enclosure (DAE) firmware-based systems and methods for firmware upgrades
Bing Liu, Tianjin (CN); Joel Miller, Vacaville, CA (US); and Daniel Savilonis, Framingham, MA (US)
Assigned to Dell Products L.P., Round Rock, TX (US)
Filed by Dell Products L.P., Round Rock, TX (US)
Filed on May 23, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/322,522.
Prior Publication US 2024/0393985 A1, Nov. 28, 2024
Int. Cl. G06F 3/06 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 3/067 (2013.01) [G06F 3/0607 (2013.01); G06F 3/0634 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
receiving a request to upgrade firmware for a plurality of disk array enclosures (DAEs) in a storage system, wherein each DAE is reachable by a host server using first and second paths,
wherein the first path extends from a first port of a first host bus adapter (HBA) of the host server to each of a plurality of first input/output modules (IOMs) in the DAEs, the plurality of first IOMs having first serial attached SCSI (SAS) expanders to which a plurality of storage disks are connected, and
wherein the host server comprises a SAS driver that reports changes in a topology of the storage system to an operating system (OS) of the host server, the changes comprising a notification to the host server when a storage disk of the plurality of storage disks is removed, and another notification to the OS of the host server when the storage disk is added;
setting a flag in firmware of each IOM of the plurality of first IOMs in each DAE that causes SAS management protocol (SMP) and SCSI enclosure services (SES) protocol services of a DAE to mark each respective storage disk connected to each respective SAS expander of the plurality of first SAS expanders as vacant, the vacancy flag allowing the SAS driver to discover the plurality of first SAS expanders, but prevent discovery of each respective storage disk;
upgrading the firmware of the plurality of first IOMs, the upgrading thereby causing each SAS expander of the first SAS expanders and each storage disk of the plurality of storage disks to be reset multiple times and corresponding topology change events to be generated each time each storage disk of the plurality of storage disks is reset, each reset comprising a topology change event for the storage disk being removed and another topology change event for the storage disk being added; and
during the upgrading and based on the flag that has been set, hiding advertising to the SAS driver in the host server of topology change events indicating that the storage disk of the plurality of storage disks has been added or removed to prevent the SAS driver from reporting to the OS of the host server the notification that the storage disk has been removed and the other notification that the storage disk has been added.