Patent ID: 9690569
Date: 2017-06-27
CPC Classifications: G06F,H04L

Claim:
1. A method of updating firmware of a server rack system, the server rack system including a rack management controller (RMC) and a rack back plane (RBP), the RMC including a first processor, a first storage device, a first communication interface, an external communication interface and a rack management subsystem, the rack management subsystem including a broadcast module and a program update module, the RBP including a second processor, a second storage device and a second communication interface, the second storage device storing an original firmware program to be executed by the second processor, the method comprising the following steps of: receiving, by the external communication interface, a firmware updating program which is to be stored in the first storage device of the RMC; broadcasting, by the broadcast module of the rack management subsystem of the RMC, an update notification which is associated with the firmware updating program to the second communication interface of the RBP via the first communication interface; after receiving the update notification via the second communication interface, transmitting one by one, by the second processor of the RBP, a plurality of request messages which are associated with respective ones of sections of the firmware updating program to the RMC via the second communication interface; responding, by the program update module of the rack management subsystem of the RMC, to each of the request messages by transmitting the respective one of the sections of the firmware updating program via the first communication interface to the RBP which transmits the request message; and after receiving the sections of the firmware updating program with which the request messages are associated, recovering, by the RBP, the firmware updating program at least from the sections with which the request messages are associated so as to update the original firmware program using the firmware updating program thus recovered.