A Method for Enabling Proactive Fault Monitoring in High-End Computer Servers

– This paper describes a new method for monitoring electronic components in computer servers. Conventional monitoring techniques implemented in mid-range and high-end computer systems rely on low-speed low-resolution internal instrumentation that produces low quality measurements of critical system parameters. The poor quality measurements lead to degraded performance of diagnostic and prognostic algorithms. The developed method is based on the capability of an auto-associative memory to restore an associated response given an imprecise key vector. The method is performed in two stages. In the collection stage, high-quality signatures representing observable parameters of known good and faulty electronic components are collected using high-speed high-resolution instrumentation. The collected signatures are then stored in the auto-associative memory matrix. In the monitoring stage, low-quality measurements acquired by the low-speed, low-resolution internal instrumentation (an A/D converter accessible via a system bus) are fed into the auto-associative memory. The auto-associative memory restores the high quality signatures. The restored high-quality signatures are then used by diagnostic algorithms for fault detection and isolation and by prognostic algorithms for the remaining useful life estimation.