Server information handling system configuration by peer-to-peer networking
View Patent ↗Server information handling system deployment and maintenance is enhanced with peer-to-peer configuration information transfers that allow a configuration from an existing server information handling system to be copied, modified and then pasted to another server information handling system. In one embodiment, the selection and use of peer-to-peer communications media is managed by a mobile telephone information handling system, such as with one or more of NFC, Bluetooth, and WLAN interfaces.
1. A method for configuration of plural unconfigured server information handling systems, the method comprising:
installing the plural unconfigured server information handling systems in a rack and interfacing each of the plural unconfigured server information handling systems with a network;
identifying a proximately-located configured server information handling system;
copying configuration information from a baseboard management controller (BMC) of the proximately-located configured server information handling system to a memory of a portable telephone information handling system with a first near field communication (NFC) transaction;
modifying the configuration information in the memory to adapt to the unconfigured plural server information handling systems;
retrieving by a second NFC transaction from each of the plural unconfigured server information handling systems an identifier of each unconfigured server information handling system; and
copying the modified configuration information from the memory to a network location and then from the network location to the BMC of each of the plural unconfigured server information handling systems, the network location finding the unconfigured server information handling systems through the network by reference to the identifier of each unconfigured server information handling system, the plural identifiers communicated from the portable telephone information handling system to the network location, the network location interfacing with the unconfigured server information handling systems through the network by reference to the plural identifiers to push configuration information to each unconfigured information handling system.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein:
modifying the configuration information in the memory further comprises modifying the configuration information with an application running on the portable telephone information handling system.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein:
copying the modified configuration information further comprises selecting with the application one of plural communication techniques for communicating the modified configuration information to the BMC of the plural unconfigured server information handling systems; and
copying the modified configuration information to the BMC of each the plural unconfigured information handling systems with the selected communication technique.
4. A system for deploying plural server information handling systems, the system comprising:
a server information handling system management controller in each of the plural server information handling systems, each management controller storing a unique identifier;
a configuration module stored in non-transitory memory of each of the plural server information handling system management controllers, the configuration module having instructions executed on the server information handling system management controller to maintain server configuration information and to communicate the server configuration information from the management controller to an external memory through a peer-to-peer communication, the server configuration information including at least the unique identifier; and
a mobile information handling system operable to request the configuration information from the configuration module of each of the plural server information handling systems with a near field communication (NFC) transaction, and to provide the unique identifier of each of the plural server information handling systems to a network location, the network location having an interface to modify the configuration, and the network location pushing the modified configuration information to each of the unconfigured server information handling system management controllers from the network location by reference to the unique identifiers.
5. A method for transferring configuration information to a server information handling system management controller of each of plural unconfigured server information handling systems, the method comprising:
obtaining, by a mobile telephone information handling system, configuration information from a first server information handling system management controller with a first near field communication (NFC) transaction information transfer;
modifying, by the mobile telephone information handling system, the configuration information to adapt to each of the plural unconfigured server information handling system management controllers;
providing, by the mobile telephone information handling system, the modified configuration information and the unique identifier to a network location;
obtaining, by the mobile telephone information handling system, a unique identifier from each of plural unconfigured server information handling systems by a second NFC transaction with each unconfigured server information handling system; and
copying the modified configuration information to each of the plural unconfigured server information handling system management controllers with a push transfer from the network location by reference to the unique identifier.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the configuration information comprises a boot device order.