Patent ID: 7814480

Claim:
A control software update method for updating control software for a network apparatus having a first controller and a second controller that are coupled via a communication channel, wherein the first controller performs control with first control software, the second controller performs control with second control software, and the network apparatus is coupled to a network via the first controller, the control software update method comprising the steps of: (a) at the first controller, obtaining first control software update data for updating the first control software via the network and transferring the obtained first control software update data to the second controller via the communication channels; (b) at the second controller, storing the first control software update data transferred from the first controller in a storage device in the second controller; (c) after the entirety of the first control software update data is stored in the storage device by the second controller, transferring the first control software update data to the first controller via the communication channel; and (d) at the first controller, updating the first control software with the first control software update data transferred from the second controller; wherein the transferring of step (c) and the updating of step (d) are executed in parallel at the second controller and the first controller; (e) at the first controller, obtaining via the network second control software update data for updating the second control software and sending the obtained second control software update data to the second controller via the communication channels; (f) at the second controller, storing the second control software update data transferred from the first controller in the storage device in the second controller; and (g) after the entirety of the second control software update data is stored in the storage device by the second controller, updating the second control software with the second control software update data stored in the storage device.