BIOS failover update with service processor

1. A system, comprising:

a host computer, comprising a central processing unit (CPU), a memory and a basic input/output system (BIOS) chip storing a current BIOS image, wherein the CPU is configured to load a copy of the current BIOS image to the memory and execute the current BIOS image as a BIOS; and

a service processor (SP) connected to the host computer via a system interface, the SP comprising a processor, a non-volatile memory, a volatile memory and the system interface, wherein the non-volatile memory stores computer executable codes configured to, when executed at the processor,

receive, from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer through the system interface, a BIOS image as a failover backup image, and store the failover backup image in the volatile memory;

receive, from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer, through the system interface, a request for the failover backup image; and

in response to the request for the failover backup image, send a copy of the failover backup image to the host computer through the system interface such that the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer replaces the current BIOS image stored in the BIOS chip with the copy of the failover backup image; wherein the BIOS is configured to, when executed at the CPU,

retrieve a copy of the current BIOS image from the BIOS chip, and send the copy of the current BIOS image as the failover backup image to the SP through the system interface;

generate the request for the failover backup image, and send the request for the BIOS image to the SP via the system interface;

receive the copy of the failover backup image from the SP via the system interface, and stores the copy of the BIOS image in the memory; and

replace the current BIOS image stored in the BIOS chip with the copy of the failover backup image stored in the memory.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the system interface is a standardized interface under an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) standard, wherein the standardized interface comprises a keyboard controller style (KCS) interface, a system management interface chip (SMIC) interface, and a block transfer (BT) interface.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the system interface is a universal serial bus (USB) interface.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the SP is a baseboard management controller (BMC).

5. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the request for the BIOS image is a first IPMI original equipment manufacturer (OEM) message.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the codes, when executed at the processor of the SP, are configured to receive the BIOS image as the failover backup image from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer by:

receiving a second IPMI OEM message from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer through the system interface; and

retrieving the BIOS image from the second IPMI OEM message.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the BIOS, when executed at the CPU, is configured to send the copy of the current BIOS image as the failover backup image to the SP by:

generating the second IPMI OEM message comprising the copy of the current BIOS image; and

sending the second IPMI OEM message to the SP through the system interface.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the codes, when executed at the processor of the SP, are configured to send the copy of the failover backup image to the host computer by:

in response to the request for the failover backup image, generating a third IPMI OEM message comprising the copy of the failover backup image; and

sending the third IPMI OEM message to the host computer through the system interface.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the BIOS, when executed at the CPU, is configured to receive the copy of the failover backup image from the SP by:

receiving the third IPMI OEM message from the SP through the system interface; and

retrieving the copy of the failover backup image from the third IPMI OEM message.

10. The system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the BIOS, when executed at the CPU, is further configured to:

generate a request for version information of the failover backup image, and send the request for the version information of the failover backup image to the SP through the system interface;

receive, from the SP through the system interface, the version information of the failover backup image; and

compare the version information of the failover backup image to a version information of the current BIOS image.

11. The system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the codes, when executed at the processor of the SP, are configured to:

receive, from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer through the system interface, the request for the version information of the failover backup image;

in response to the request for the version information, retrieve the version information from the failover backup image stored in the volatile memory; and

send the version information to the host computer through the system interface.

12. The system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the request for the version information of the failover backup image is a fourth IPMI OEM message, and the version information of the failover backup image is a fifth IPMI OEM message.

13. A method of failover updating a basic input/output system (BIOS) of a host computer with a service processor (SP), comprising:

receiving, at the SP, a failover backup image from the host computer through a system interface, and storing the failover backup image in a volatile memory of the SP, wherein the host computer comprises a central processing unit (CPU), a memory and a BIOS chip storing a current BIOS image, wherein the CPU is configured to load a copy of the current BIOS image to the memory and execute the current BIOS image as a BIOS, and wherein the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer is configured to retrieve a copy of the current BIOS image from the BIOS chip and send the copy of the current BIOS image as the failover backup image to the SP through the system interface;

receiving, at the SP, a request for the failover backup image from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer through the system interface, wherein the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer is configured to generate the request for the failover backup image and send the request for the BIOS image to the SP via the system interface; and

in response to the request for the failover backup image, sending a copy of the failover backup image to the host computer through the system interface such that the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer replaces the current BIOS image stored in the BIOS chip with the copy of the failover backup image, wherein the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer is configured to receive the copy of the failover backup image from the SP via the system interface, and stores the copy of the BIOS image in the memory, and to replace the current BIOS image stored in the BIOS chip with the copy of the failover backup image stored in the memory.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the request for the BIOS image is a first IPMI original equipment manufacturer (OEM) message.

15. The method as claimed in claim 13 ,

wherein the SP is configured to receive the BIOS image as the failover backup image from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer by:

receiving a second IPMI OEM message from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer through the system interface; and

retrieving the BIOS image from the second IPMI OEM message;

wherein the SP is configured to send the copy of the failover backup image to the host computer by:

in response to the request for the failover backup image, generating a third IPMI OEM message comprising the copy of the failover backup image; and

sending the third IPMI OEM message to the host computer through the system interface.

16. The method as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising:

receiving, at the SP, a request for the version information of the failover backup image from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer through the system interface;

in response to the request for the version information, retrieving, at the SP, the version information from the failover backup image stored in the volatile memory; and

sending, by the SP, the version information to the host computer through the system interface, wherein the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer is configured to receive the version information of the failover backup image and compare the version information of the failover backup image to a version information of the current BIOS image.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable codes, wherein the codes, when executed at a processor of a service processor (SP), are configured to:

receive a failover backup image from a host computer through a system interface, and store the failover backup image in a volatile memory of the SP, wherein the host computer comprises a central processing unit (CPU), a memory and a BIOS chip storing a current BIOS image, wherein the CPU is configured to load a copy of the current BIOS image to the memory and execute the current BIOS image as a BIOS, and wherein the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer is configured to retrieve a copy of the current BIOS image from the BIOS chip and send the copy of the current BIOS image as the failover backup image to the SP through the system interface;

receive a request for the failover backup image from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer through the system interface, wherein the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer is configured to generate the request for the failover backup image and send the request for the BIOS image to the SP via the system interface; and

in response to the request for the failover backup image, send a copy of the failover backup image to the host computer through the system interface such that the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer replaces the current BIOS image stored in the BIOS chip with the copy of the failover backup image, wherein the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer is configured to receive the copy of the failover backup image from the SP via the system interface, and stores the copy of the BIOS image in the memory, and to replace the current BIOS image stored in the BIOS chip with the copy of the failover backup image stored in the memory.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the request for the BIOS image is a first IPMI original equipment manufacturer (OEM) message.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 17 ,

wherein the codes, when executed at the processor of the SP, are configured to receive the BIOS image as the failover backup image from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer by:

receiving a second IPMI OEM message from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer through the system interface; and

retrieving the BIOS image from the second IPMI OEM message;

wherein the codes, when executed at the processor of the SP, are configured to send the copy of the failover backup image to the host computer by:

in response to the request for the failover backup image, generating a third IPMI OEM message comprising the copy of the failover backup image; and

sending the third IPMI OEM message to the host computer through the system interface.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the codes, when executed at the processor of the SP, are further configured to:

receive a request for the version information of the failover backup image from the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer through the system interface;

in response to the request for the version information, retrieve the version information from the failover backup image stored in the volatile memory; and

send the version information to the host computer through the system interface, wherein the BIOS being executed at the CPU of the host computer is configured to receive the version information of the failover backup image and compare the version information of the failover backup image to a version information of the current BIOS image.