BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly cloning a System Control Processor (SCP) subsystem included in an information handling system.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.

Information handling systems such as server devices and/or other computing systems known in the art may be “cloned” in order to, for example, replicate a first server device on at least one second server device such that the second server device(s) operate like the first server device but without the need to configure the second server device(s) “from scratch”. For example, telecom providers, Internet and/or other service providers, enterprises, and/or other server device users known in the art may utilize large numbers of server devices (e.g., server device “clusters”) to perform the same (or substantially similar) operations. As such, server device users may configure one or more server devices according to desired configuration(s), and may then clone any of those server device(s) (e.g., up to hundreds of times) in order to relatively quickly and efficiently create cluster(s) of server devices that are all configured to perform desired operations. Furthermore, rather than cloning newly-configured server devices, a computing system user may instead clone one or more server devices after those server devices have been operating for some time.

Conventional server devices do not include any “built-in” or integrated subsystem for performing such cloning operations, and instead require the provisioning of cloning software on any server device that is being cloned. Such cloning software typically operates by collecting server device state information from components in a first server device, generating a server device cloning image using that server device state information, and then installing that server device cloning image on second server device(s) to cause the second server device(s) to operate in the same (or a substantially similar) manner as the first server device. However, while such cloning operations provide for the cloning of conventional server devices, issues arise when server devices are provided with subsystems that generate their own subsystem state information that is inaccessible to cloning software running on the server device, which prevents the creation of a clone of that server device/subsystem combination. For example, the inventors of the present disclosure have developed a System Control Processor (SCP) subsystem that may be provided in server devices and/or other computing systems in order to provide communication functionality (e.g., Network Interface Controller (NIC) functionality) for the server device/computing system, while also performing perform a variety of advanced functionality for that server device/computing system. However, in the process of the operation of the SCP subsystem, SCP components included in and/or connected to the SCP subsystem generate SCP subsystem state information, and that SCP subsystem state information is not accessible to cloning software in the server device/computing system. As such, conventional techniques for cloning server devices and/or other computing systems are not sufficient to fully replicate a server device/computing system including an SCP subsystem.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an SCP cloning system that addresses the issues discussed above.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a System Control Processor (SCP) subsystem includes a System Control Processor (SCP) processing system; and an SCP memory system that is coupled to the SCP processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the SCP processing system, cause the SCP processing system to provide an SCP cloning engine that is configured to: receive, via a network from a management system, a first cloning command; retrieve, based on the first cloning command, respective first SCP component state information from each of a plurality of first SCP components that are included in a first SCP subsystem; generate, using the respective first SCP component state information and based on the first cloning command, a first SCP subsystem image that is configured for installation on an SCP subsystem to configure that SCP subsystem the same as the first SCP subsystem; and transmit, based on the first cloning command, the first SCP subsystem image to a second SCP subsystem in each of at least one second computing system.

