International Business Machines Corporation

Patrick John Sugrue

Thomas Anthony Gregg

Gregory Francis Pfister

Stephen R Burrow

Peter Kenneth Szwed

Richard K Errickson

Chetan Mehta

Kulwant M Pandey

Albert Ing

David Arlen Elko

Douglas W Westcott

Gregory Salyer

Daniel H Lepore

Robert S Capowski

Mark G Atkins

Joseph M Hoke

Kenneth J Fredericks

Paul J Brown

Louis T Fasano

Neil G Bartow

Vincent P Zeyak, Jr

John W Doxtader

Michal B Cohen

Paul W Jones

Paul Joseph Brown

Neil George Bartow

Robert Stanley Capowski

Louis Thomas Fasano

Douglas Wayne Westcott

Vincent Paul Zeyak

Daniel Lepore

A method, computer program product, and system to control event logging and error recovery in a system including adapters, ports, and channels are described. The method includes storing a recovery threshold for each event type among a plurality of event types and storing a level-specific logging threshold for each event type, implementing event handlers for each of the channels, the ports, and the adapters of the system, and implementing a threshold manager for the events identified by the event handlers based on the level-specific logging threshold and the recovery threshold for each of the respective event types of each of the events. For any identified event corresponding with a given event type, the implementing the threshold manager includes considering the recovery threshold and the level-specific logging threshold at every level regardless of a level at which the identified event is identified.

Event logging and error recovery

Diagnosing communications between computer systems includes sending a message from a sending node to a receiving node. The receiving node detects an error in the receiving node receiving the message and captures the data regarding the error on the receiving. A diagnostic log request is sent from the receiving node to the sending node, the diagnostic log request including a request for the sending node to log information. The sending node diagnoses the communications error in response to the diagnostic log response.

Diagnosing communications between computer systems

A method for diagnosing communications includes sending a message from a sending node to a receiving node. The sending node detects an error in the receiving node receiving the message. A force log request is sent from the sending node to the receiving node, the force log request including a request for the receiving node to log information. A force log response is received from the receiving node at the sending node, the force log response including the logged information. The sending node diagnoses the communications error in response to the force log response.

Method, system and computer program product for diagnosing communications

A system, method, and computer-readable medium for detecting errors on a network. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a network error manager retrieves a network topology from a master subnet manager, wherein the network includes a collection of devices coupled by a first interconnect type. When a connectivity failure is detected in the first interconnect type, the network error manager receives from the master subnet manager at least one event notification via a second interconnect type. An error log analysis component identifies at least one device among the collection of devices as a possible cause of the connectivity failure in the first interconnect type. The network error manager retrieves events from at least one device among the collection of devices that can influence a state of the first interconnect type.

Implementing an error log analysis model to facilitate faster problem isolation and repair

A method for communication of offline status between nodes includes detecting an impending deactivation of a physical port and sending a message from a sending node to a receiving node notifying the receiving node of the impending deactivation of the physical port. The method further includes deactivating the report of any error for the physical port and sending a response from the sending node to the receiving node verifying that deactivation of the physical port.

Communication of offline status between computer systems

A method, system, and product in a data processing system are disclosed for providing centralized management of an INFINIBAND distributed system-area network that includes multiple end nodes. A manager application is established in one of the end nodes. An agent application is established in one or more end nodes. Each agent application is independent from the manager application. The manager application maintains a current list of active agent applications and uses the list to manage the agent applications in the end nodes.

System, method, and computer program product for centralized management of an INFINIBAND distributed system area network

System, method, and computer program product for centralized management of an infiniband distributed system area network

A method and system for I/O adapters that must rely on a central processor to handle all inbound link events to reduce the number of events signaled to the central processor with hardware state machines that sort out the significant link events and automatically generate the appropriate response on the outbound link thereby greatly reducing the central processor utilization. As optical links fail (unplugging the link is a failure) or when receiving multiple continuous sequences, numerous events must be filtered by the hardware state machines to limit the number of interrupts presented to the central processor.

Automatic handling of link failures

A method and system for a processor to efficiently accesses a remote First-in First-out (FIFO) buffer that is used to record event information. The access involves an interrupt mechanism when the FIFO transitions from the empty state, a mechanism for reading a FIFO entry including FIFO state information, and a mechanism for reading large areas of the FIFO while maintaining the pointers and interrupt protocols.

Efficient reading of a remote first-in first-out buffer

Efficient reading of a remote first in first out buffer

A system and method for asynchronously transmitting data blocks, in parallel, across multiple fibers in a serial manner. Frame groups are provided as a mechanism to transmit associated data serially on each fiber and tie the data being transmitted together. The frame groups do not have sequence numbers, therefore, the receiver determines which frames are part of a frame group by the arrival times of the individual frames. The transceivers for each member of the parallel bus asynchronously achieve synchronism from either end of the fiber. A receiver of a transceiver determines a relative skew on a conductor of a link by performing skew measurements on a series of calibration frames sent by a transmitter on another end of said link. A skew monitor performs skew measurements and includes a plurality of skew measurement registers for measuring the relative skew between frames of a frame group, each register having an input from a skew counter, and outputs coupled to a microprocessor controlling the monitor. Each register gates in the value in the skew counter at the time a link control word is received. The receiver can determine that one or more frames of the calibration frames have been lost and have not exceeded the maximum measureable skew limits.

Skew measurement for receiving frame-groups

A system for the transmission of information between elements of a data processing complex and a method for establishing such a system. Two elements of a data processing system are connected by a physical link comprising multiple conductors attached to transceivers at channels in each data processing element. Once the transceivers have been synchronized, commands and responses are exchanged which ensure that all of the transceivers in a channel are connected to the same channel on the other end of the conductor. If the transceivers are considered configured an entry is made in a Configured-Transceiver table. A search is made of an Allowed-Operational-Link table which contains sets of transceivers which are allowed to become operational links. The set of transceivers thus found, is compared against the Configured-Transceiver-Table to verify that all of the members of the set have been configured. If a match is found, this set of transceivers becomes an Intended-Operational-Link. The Intended-Operational-Link is verified to ensure that both channels agree on the set of conductors will form the operational link. If the Intended-Operation-Link verifies, the operational link is established therefrom.

Concurrent maintenance of degraded parallel/serial buses

A system and method for asynchronously transmitting data blocks, in parallel, across multiple fibers in a serial manner. Frame groups are provided as a mechanism to transmit associated data serially on each fiber and tie the data being transmitted together. The frame groups do not have sequence numbers, therefore, the receiver determines which frames are part of a frame group by the arrival times of the individual frames. In one embodiment, the transceivers for each member of the parallel bus asynchronously achieve synchronism at each end of the fiber. Thus the need for a common clock is eliminated. The receivers on each side of the bus determine the relative skew for each conductor by performing skew measurements on a calibration message generated by the transmitters on the other side of the bus. When the skew on all conductors, viewed from both sides of the bus, has been determined, the skew values are exchanged across the bus, thus enabling the transmitters to set proper frame spacing.

Frame-group transmission and reception for parallel/serial buses

Growing community of inventors

Georgetown, TX, United States of America

Patrick John Sugrue