Compaq ProLiant 8000 Compaq ROM Technologies - Page 6

TC991204TB TECHNOLOGY BRIEF (cont.) ... To recover from a corrupted system ROM image or to upgrade the ROMs, the appropriate System ROMPaq Utility must be applied twice. On the first application, the utility will automatically upgrade or load its system ROM firmware on the inactive image, A ROM in Figure 3, and then make that image primary (Figure 4). The System ROMPaq Utility will also verify that the image that is flashed is identical to the image contained in the System ROMPaq. A ROM Primary image (active) Revision NEW firmware B ROM Redundant image (inactive) Revision ORG firmware Figure 4: State of primary and redundant images after first application of System ROMPaq. The System ROMPaq Utility will always upgrade or load its version of the firmware on the inactive image. If for some reason the firmware from the System ROMPaq is defective or there is a hardware problem with the primary image of the ROM, the redundant image will still be available. On the second application, the System ROMPaq will again upgrade the inactive image, now B ROM, and make it the primary image (Figure 5). At this point, both the primary and redundant images will be in the same configuration as the initial setup, except the primary or active image will be on B ROM. A ROM Redundant image (inactive) Revision NEW firmware B ROM Primary image (active) Revision NEW firmware Figure 5: State of primary and redundant images after second application of the System ROMPaq. During normal system operation, Compaq recommends that all firmware and driver upgrades be updated with bundled sets of pretested versions. Incompatible versions of firmware, drivers, and software can cause unpredictable system behavior. The redundant ROM functionality allows automatic fault recovery without requiring an administrator to manage the process or to manage the additional ROM image. The net result is a reduced total cost of ownership for servers with Remote-flash Redundant ROM. CONCLUSION As the world's leading server manufacturer, Compaq continues to consider customer needs and the demands of today's computing environment. The Compaq Remote ROM Flash Utility and Remote-flash Redundant ROM help Compaq servers meet customer requirements for manageability and high availability. The Remote ROM Flash Utility works with a wide range of Compaq servers to allow administrators to update system ROMs remotely and concurrently. Remote-flash Redundant ROM works in conjunction with the Remote ROM Flash Utility on Compaq's mission-critical servers to provide remote ROM management while providing a disaster recovery mechanism that maintains availability in the unlikely event of a problem in the process. By delivering ease of use, remote management, and fault tolerance, these two technologies reduce costs of management and downtime and demonstrate Compaq's technology leadership. Compaq will continue to integrate these and other new technologies to deliver servers that meet and exceed the requirements of enterprise customers. 6