Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - (Page 30) software Develop a software architecture for troubleshooting high-availability systems. detective: firstfault data capture BY STEVEN STOLPER The software t is a dark and stormy night. At the customer’s site, the newly installed system hums quietly. Suddenly, at 3:00 AM, everything stops. An hour later, you are wakened from your bed by the piercing screams of the telephone. As you listen to the support engineer explain the situation, you immediately ask the vital questions, “Are there any error messages? Is the system still in that state? Can I get remote access to take a look?” As embedded system developers, we produce systems that often fulfill vital needs. Our systems must be both highly reliable and constantly available. Their very criticality shapes the answers to the questions we ask on those late-night emergency calls. Yes, the system produced error messages, but it’s no longer in the problem state. The customer couldn’t wait around to troubleshoot it. He restarted the system, or it restarted itself, because it needs to be online. In many cases, system downtime is completely unacceptable. Similarly, when the system processes sensitive information, it may still be in the failed state but the customer won’t permit remote access to debug it. How can developers debug critical applications, when by the time they learn of the problem, the trail is long cold? This question is particularly important to developers of enterprise-class systems and servers, telecommunications and switching boxes, highly distributed networked systems, and mobile devices. Traditionally, the first step in diagnosis is to capture the logs that the system produced and look at the error messages. Good error messages go a long way toward revealing a problem. But error messages by their very nature are inappropriate 30 AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2007 | embedded systems design europe | www.embedded.com/europe I 030_ESDE.indd 30 7/09/07 14:30:24 http://www.embedded.com/europe
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 Contents News Cover Feature: Annual Study Uncovers the Embedded Market DSP Serves the Convergence Needs of Small Business Embedded Test Offers Unique Value for Serial I/O The Software Detective: First-Fault Data Capture Boards May Shrink But Performance Doesn't New Products Advertising Contacts Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - (Page 1) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - (Page 2) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Contents (Page 3) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Contents (Page 4) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Contents (Page 5) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - News (Page 6) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - News (Page 7) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - News (Page 8) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - News (Page 9) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - News (Page 10) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - News (Page 11) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Cover Feature: Annual Study Uncovers the Embedded Market (Page 12) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Cover Feature: Annual Study Uncovers the Embedded Market (Page 13) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Cover Feature: Annual Study Uncovers the Embedded Market (Page 14) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Cover Feature: Annual Study Uncovers the Embedded Market (Page 15) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Cover Feature: Annual Study Uncovers the Embedded Market (Page 16) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Cover Feature: Annual Study Uncovers the Embedded Market (Page 17) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Cover Feature: Annual Study Uncovers the Embedded Market (Page 18) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Cover Feature: Annual Study Uncovers the Embedded Market (Page 19) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - DSP Serves the Convergence Needs of Small Business (Page 20) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - DSP Serves the Convergence Needs of Small Business (Page 21) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - DSP Serves the Convergence Needs of Small Business (Page 22) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - DSP Serves the Convergence Needs of Small Business (Page 23) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - DSP Serves the Convergence Needs of Small Business (Page 24) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Embedded Test Offers Unique Value for Serial I/O (Page 25) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Embedded Test Offers Unique Value for Serial I/O (Page 26) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Embedded Test Offers Unique Value for Serial I/O (Page 27) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Embedded Test Offers Unique Value for Serial I/O (Page 28) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Embedded Test Offers Unique Value for Serial I/O (Page 29) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - The Software Detective: First-Fault Data Capture (Page 30) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - The Software Detective: First-Fault Data Capture (Page 31) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - The Software Detective: First-Fault Data Capture (Page 32) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - The Software Detective: First-Fault Data Capture (Page 33) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - The Software Detective: First-Fault Data Capture (Page 34) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - The Software Detective: First-Fault Data Capture (Page 35) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Boards May Shrink But Performance Doesn't (Page 36) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Boards May Shrink But Performance Doesn't (Page 37) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Boards May Shrink But Performance Doesn't (Page 38) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Boards May Shrink But Performance Doesn't (Page 39) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - New Products (Page 40) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - New Products (Page 41) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - New Products (Page 42) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Advertising Contacts (Page 43) Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - Advertising Contacts (Page 44)
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.