TWI861752B - Host system and protection method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A host system includes a system circuit for providing system configuration information, a power supply unit for supplying power, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is coupled to the system circuit and the power supply unit, and configured to read power supply information of the power supply unit, calculate an optimized over-current protection setting according to the system configuration information, and determine whether to replace the power supply unit according to whether the power supply information matches the optimized over-current protection setting.

Description

Host system and protection method thereof

The present invention refers to a host system and a protection method thereof, and in particular to a host system and a protection method thereof that can appropriately set an overcurrent protection setting.

The Open Hardware Project has developed modular hardware design specifications for servers. Therefore, when a new device (such as a control chip or memory) is developed, the old device can be directly removed from the server and replaced with a new device to upgrade the system. Similarly, a faulty device can also be directly replaced to perform system maintenance.

However, the server requires different over-current protection settings for different types or numbers of devices. When the power consumption of the server is high and the power of the power supply unit is low, the over-current protection function is easily triggered and causes shutdown. In addition, if the over-current protection setting read by the hot-swap controller is inappropriate, even if the power of the power supply unit corresponds to the power consumption of the server, the over-current protection function will be triggered and cause shutdown.

How to effectively and correctly set the over-current protection settings according to the power supply capabilities of different devices and power supply units is indeed one of the topics in this field.

To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a host system and a protection method thereof that can appropriately set the overcurrent protection setting.

An embodiment of the present invention discloses a host system, comprising a system circuit for providing system configuration information; a power supply unit for supplying power; and a processing circuit coupled to the system circuit and the power supply unit for reading power supply information of the power supply unit, calculating an optimized over-current protection setting according to the system configuration information, and determining whether to replace the power supply unit according to whether the power supply information matches the optimized over-current protection setting.

An embodiment of the present invention discloses a protection method for a host system, comprising obtaining power supply information of a power supply unit; calculating an optimized over-current protection setting based on system configuration information about a system circuit of the host system; and determining whether to replace the power supply unit based on whether the power supply information matches the optimized over-current protection setting.

10,20: Host system

110: Processing circuit

160,260: Power supply unit

180,280: System circuit

210: Microcontroller

230: Variable resistor

240: Hot-swap controller

282: Baseboard Management Controller

284C1~284Cn: Device

30~50: Protection methods

Pr1, Pr2: Electricity

S300~S308,S400~S414,S502~S526: Steps

Figure 1 and Figure 2 are schematic diagrams of the host system of Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Figures 3 to 5 are schematic diagrams of the protection method of Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a host system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The host system 10 may include a processing circuit 110, a power supply unit (PSU) 160, and a system circuit 180.

The processing circuit 110 can be used to read the power supply information of the power supply unit 160, calculate the optimized over current protection (OCP) setting according to the system configuration information provided by the system circuit 180, and compare the power supply information with the optimized over current protection setting. If the power supply information matches the optimized over current protection setting, the processing circuit 110 can change or maintain the over current protection setting of the host system 10 to the optimized over current protection setting; on the contrary, if the power supply information does not match the optimized over current protection setting, the processing circuit 110 determines that the power supply unit 160 should be replaced, and can notify the power supply unit 160 that it should be replaced.

In short, the host system 10 can be adjusted to the appropriate over-current protection setting (i.e., optimized over-current protection setting) in response to different system configuration information, thereby improving versatility. In addition, the host system 10 can automatically operate without manual operation (e.g., automatically detect the power supply information of the power supply unit 160, or automatically compare the power supply information with the optimized over-current protection setting) to adjust to the appropriate over-current protection setting to provide the over-current protection function when needed, thereby improving efficiency and accuracy. Furthermore, the host system 10 will ensure the match between the power supply information and the optimized over-current protection setting, thereby improving operational stability.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a host system 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A microcontroller 210, a power supply unit 260 and a system circuit 280 of the host system 20 can be used to implement the processing circuit 110, the power supply unit 160 and the system circuit 180 respectively.

The system circuit 280 may include a baseboard management controller (BMC) 282 and devices 284C1~284Cn. The baseboard management controller 282 may be used to scan the devices 284C1~284Cn to generate system configuration information. The system configuration information may be related to the type or number of devices 284C1~284Cn actually installed in the host system 20. The microcontroller 210 may obtain the system configuration information from the baseboard management controller 282, and may determine the optimal over-current protection setting (e.g., the maximum total power value) according to the system configuration information (e.g., the type or number of devices 284C1~284Cn).

The host system 20 may further include a variable resistor 230 and a hot swap controller 240. The resistance value of the variable resistor 230 corresponds to the over-current protection setting. In one embodiment, the variable resistor 230 may be a digital variable resistor (e.g., a digital potentiometer). In one embodiment, the variable resistor 230 may include an inter-integrated circuit bus interface, and the microcontroller 210 may set the resistance value of the variable resistor 230 through the inter-integrated circuit bus interface. In other words, the over-current protection setting of the host system 20 can be changed to or maintained as the optimized over-current protection setting, and the over-current protection setting determines the trigger level of the over-current protection function of the host system 20.

The hot-swap controller 240 can receive the power Pr1 from the power supply unit 260, and then output the power Pr2 related to the power Pr1 to the system circuit 280. The hot-swap controller 240 can be used to read the resistance value of the variable resistor 230 to obtain the over-current protection setting of the host system 20, and detect the power Pr2 to determine whether to trigger the over-current protection function. When the hot-swap controller 240 does not trigger the over-current protection function (for example, the hot-swap controller 240 determines that the power Pr2 is not abnormal or meets the over-current protection setting), the power supply unit 260 can supply power to the system circuit 280; on the contrary, when the hot-swap controller 240 triggers the over-current protection function (for example, the hot-swap controller 240 determines that the power Pr2 is abnormal or does not meet the over-current protection setting), the power supply unit 260 stops supplying power to the system circuit 280.

The power supply information of the power supply unit 260 may be related to the power supply capability of the power supply unit 260. The power supply information may include, for example, a power value, a current value, or other information about the power supply capability.

In short, since the microcontroller 210 can calculate the optimized over-current protection according to the circuit architecture of the system circuit 280, and can ensure that the over-current protection setting meets the optimized over-current protection setting when the power supply information of the power supply unit 260 matches the optimized over-current protection setting, the host system 20 can correctly supply power to the system circuit 280 or stop supplying power according to the circuit architecture of the system circuit 280 and the power supply capacity of the power supply unit 260.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a protection method 30 of an embodiment of the present invention. The protection method 30 can be compiled into a program code and used in the host system 10 or 20 to ensure the match between the power supply information and the optimized over-current protection setting. The program code can be stored in the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210; the program code can be stored in a storage circuit, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory (Flash Memory), or a random access memory (RAM), but not limited thereto. The protection method 30 may include the following steps:

Step S300: Start.

Step S302: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 obtains the power supply information of the power supply unit 160 or 260.

Step S304: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 calculates the optimized over-current protection setting based on the system configuration information about the system circuit 180 or 280.

Step S306: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 determines whether to replace the power supply unit 160 or 260 based on whether the power supply information matches the optimized over-current protection setting.

Step S308: End.

In detail, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may read the power supply information about the power supply capability of the power supply unit 160 or 260 in step S302, and may calculate the optimized over-current protection setting of the host system 10 or 20 according to the system configuration information about the type or number of the devices 284C1~284Cn in step S304. In one embodiment, the order of step S302 and step S304 may be changed or performed in parallel.

The optimized over-current protection setting may include, for example, the total power value required for the operation of the system circuit 180 or 280 of the host system 10 or 20. In one embodiment, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may determine the (maximum) power value required for the operation of each device (e.g., device 284C1~284Cn) of the host system 10 or 20 by looking up a table (e.g., using a lookup table), and sum up the (maximum) power values required for the operation of these devices into a total power value. For example, the load current of a non-volatile memory express (NVMe) solid state drive is adjustable, and the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may calculate the total power value based on the maximum power value of the non-volatile memory express interface solid state drive and the maximum power values of other devices. In one embodiment, the content of the lookup table (e.g., the power value required for each device to operate) can be set according to the Approved Vendor List (AVL). In one embodiment, the lookup table can be stored in the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210, such as a read-only memory of the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210.

Next, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may determine in step S306 whether the power supply information of the power supply unit 160 or 260 matches the optimized over-current protection setting of the corresponding system configuration. For example, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may determine whether the power value of the power supply unit 160 or 260 is equal to the total power value of the optimized over-current protection setting, that is, whether it meets the power required for the operation of the system circuit 180 or 280. Alternatively, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may determine whether the power value of the power supply unit 160 or 260 is equal to the total power value of the optimized over-current protection setting plus a preset value, that is, whether it meets the power required for the operation of all devices of the host system 10 or 20.

When the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 determines in step S306 that the power supply unit 160 or 260 should be replaced, the power supply unit 160 or 260 can be replaced manually or automatically so that the power supply information of the newly inserted power supply unit matches the optimized overcurrent protection setting. In one embodiment, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can instruct relevant personnel to replace the power supply unit 160 or 260; or, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can disconnect the host system 10 or 20 from the power supply unit 160 or 260 and switch the host system 10 or 20 to another power supply unit.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a protection method 40 of an embodiment of the present invention. The protection method 40 can be compiled into a program code and used in the host system 10 or 20 to ensure the match between the power supply information and the optimized over-current protection setting. The protection method 40 may include the following steps:

Step S400: Start.

Step S402: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 obtains the power supply information of the power supply unit 160 or 260.

Step S404: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 obtains system configuration information about the system circuit 180 or 280.

Step S406: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 calculates the optimized over-current protection setting based on the system configuration information about the system circuit 180 or 280.

Step S408: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 determines whether the power supply information matches the optimized over-current protection setting. If so, execute step S410; otherwise, execute step S412.

Step S410: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 optimizes the over-current protection setting according to the power supply information, and changes or maintains the over-current protection setting of the host system 10 or 20 to the optimized over-current protection setting.

Step S412: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 optimizes the over-current protection setting according to the power supply information mismatch and determines whether the power supply unit 160 or 260 should be replaced.

Step S414: End.

In detail, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can obtain system configuration information about the system circuit 180 or 280 from the baseboard management controller 282 in step S404. In one embodiment, the baseboard management controller 282 can scan the system configuration (for example, scan the system circuit 280 of the host system 20 to confirm the type, form factor, quantity or other information of the devices 284C1~284Cn of the system circuit 280), and feed back the scanned system configuration information to the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210. In one embodiment, the baseboard management controller 282 can identify the motherboard chip platform type (for example, ARM platform or X86 platform), thereby generating system configuration information.

That is, in one embodiment, the baseboard management controller 282 can scan which devices (e.g., devices 284C1~284Cn) are present in step S404, and the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can determine the (maximum) power value required for the operation of each device (e.g., devices 284C1~284Cn) by looking up a table in step S406, and sum up the (maximum) power values required for the operation of these devices as a total power value to calculate the optimized over-current protection setting. In one embodiment, the order of step S402, step S404, and step S406 can be changed or performed in parallel.

In step S410, if the power supply information matches the optimized over-current protection setting, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can determine that there is no need to replace the power supply unit 160 or 260. The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can also instruct to change the over-current protection setting of the host system 10 or 20 to or maintain the optimized over-current protection setting. In other words, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can automatically change the over-current protection setting of the host system 10 or 20 according to the power supply information and the system configuration information. In one embodiment, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can adjust or maintain the resistance value of the variable resistor 230 to set the over-current protection setting of the host system 10 or 20 to the optimized over-current protection setting. In one embodiment, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 stores the optimized over-current protection setting in a memory.

In step S412, if the power supply information does not match the optimized over-current protection setting, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may determine that the power supply unit 160 or 260 should be replaced. In one embodiment, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may also notify the mismatch information, such as sending a mismatch signal. The mismatch signal may be used to indicate that the power supply unit 160 or 260 should be replaced or to indicate that the power supply information does not match the optimized over-current protection setting. For example, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may use a light (such as a light-emitting diode) or a sound (such as a buzzer) to alert the on-site personnel, or display an abnormal window to alert the on-site personnel or remote personnel. The abnormal window may include, for example, which host system has a mismatch, the total power value of the optimized over-current protection setting, or simply inform that the power supply information does not match the optimized over-current protection setting (i.e., the power supply unit 160 or 260 cannot support the current system configuration).

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a protection method 50 of an embodiment of the present invention. The protection method 50 can be compiled into a program code and used in the host system 10 or 20 to ensure the match between the power supply information and the optimized over-current protection setting. The protection method 50 may include the following steps:

Step S502: Start the boot process.

Step S504: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can obtain the safety mode setting.

Step S506: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can obtain the power supply information of the power supply unit 160 or 260.

Step S508: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can determine whether the power supply information matches the safety mode setting. If so, execute step S510; otherwise, execute step S522.

Step S510: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may suspend the boot process.

Step S512: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may obtain system configuration information about the system circuit 180 or 280.

Step S514: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can calculate the optimized over-current protection setting based on the system configuration information about the system circuit 180 or 280.

Step S516: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can determine whether the power supply information matches the optimized over-current protection setting. If so, execute step S518; otherwise, execute step S522.

Step S518: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can match the optimized over-current protection setting according to the power supply information, and change or maintain the over-current protection setting of the host system 10 or 20 to the optimized over-current protection setting.

Step S520: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can continue the boot process.

Step S522: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may stop the boot process.

Step S524: The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may send a mismatch signal.

Step S526: (Manually or automatically) replace the power supply unit 160 or 260 so that the power supply information of the newly inserted power supply unit 160 or 260 matches the optimized over-current protection setting. Then, execute step S504.

Specifically, in step S502, the power may be activated to start the boot process, for example, by providing power to the host system 10 or 20 or by pressing a power button to (hard) start the host system 10 or 20.

The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can read the safety mode setting in step S504. At this time, the overcurrent protection setting of the host system 10 or 20 can be set to the safety mode setting (for example, the resistance value of the variable resistor 230 corresponds to the safety mode setting). The safety mode setting can be a default value setting when the variable resistor 230 is selected. The safety mode setting can include, for example, the minimum threshold required for the boot process (for example, the minimum power value or the minimum current value), the minimum threshold for providing at least the power required for the central processing unit (CPU) or the dual in-line memory module (DIMM) boot process, or at least the minimum threshold required to run to step S512 or before step S512.

After the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 obtains the safety mode setting and the power supply information in steps S504 and S506 respectively, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 ensures that the boot process is performed under the condition that the power supply information of the power supply unit 260 matches the safety mode setting. In one embodiment, the order of step S504 and step S506 can be changed or performed in parallel.

In other words, when the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 determines in step S508 that the power supply information of the power supply unit 260 does not match the safety mode setting (for example, it determines that the power value of the power supply unit 260 is less than the minimum power value required by the boot process), the boot process ends (step S522), and the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can replace the power supply unit 160 or 260 in step S526. The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can also notify the mismatch information in step S524, such as sending a mismatch signal, but step S524 can be omitted in one embodiment. The mismatch signal can be used to indicate that the power supply unit 160 or 260 should be replaced or to indicate that the power supply information does not match the safety mode setting. For example, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may use a light or sound to alert the on-site personnel, or display an abnormal window to alert the on-site personnel or remote personnel. The abnormal window may, for example, include which host system has a mismatch, the minimum threshold value of the safe mode setting, or simply inform that the power supply information does not match the safe mode setting (i.e., the power supply unit 160 or 260 cannot support the boot process). In other words, in the case of a mismatch, the host system 10 or 20 will not proceed to the boot process of loading the operating system into the memory.

When the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 determines in step S508 that the power supply information of the power supply unit 260 matches the safety mode setting (for example, it determines that the power value of the power supply unit 260 is greater than or equal to the minimum power value required by the boot process), the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may first suspend the boot process (step S510). In one embodiment, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may suspend the sending of a platform reset signal in the boot process to suspend the boot process (step S510). The platform reset signal may be, for example, a PLTRST# signal sent by the south bridge or a signal used to reset each device. In one embodiment, step S510 may occur before the Power On Self Test (POST) of the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may continue the boot process (step S520) only after ensuring that the power supply information matches the optimized overcurrent protection setting in steps S512~S516. In one embodiment, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 may instruct to send a platform reset signal in step S520 to continue the boot process. In one embodiment, the order of step S518 and step S520 may be changed or performed in parallel.

When the boot process is completed, the hot-swap controller 240 can detect the resistance value of the variable resistor 230 to read the over-current protection setting, and detect the current flowing from the power supply unit 160 or 260 to the system circuit 180 or 280 to determine whether an over-current occurs. For example, when the current flowing to the system circuit 180 or 280 is greater than the over-current protection setting, the hot-swap controller 240 shuts off the connection between the power supply unit 160 or 260 and the system circuit 180 or 280, so that the power supply unit 160 or 260 stops supplying power to the system circuit 180 or 280. Furthermore, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can restart the host system 10 or 20 and output a warning signal to notify information of overcurrent or abnormal power Pr2. When the power of the host system 10 or 20 is restarted, the boot procedure can be executed again and the power supply information of the power supply unit 160 or 260 and the overcurrent protection setting of the host system 10 or 20 can be determined to meet the system configuration.

In one embodiment, the host systems 10 and 20 can be applied to the standard open rack developed by the Open Compute Project (OCP).

In one embodiment, the host systems 10 and 20 may be servers, such as file servers (e.g., network attached storage devices (NAS)), database servers, application servers, or web servers, but are not limited thereto.

In one embodiment, the devices 284C1-284Cn may be a storage device (e.g., a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD)), a processor (e.g., a graphics processing unit (GPU), a central processing unit, a vision processing unit (VPU)), a network interface controller (NIC), a memory (e.g., a two-wire memory module), a sensor, or an accelerator (e.g., an artificial intelligence accelerator), but are not limited thereto. The types of the devices 284C1-284Cn may depend on the type of the host system 20. For example, when the host system 20 belongs to a computing node, one of the devices 284C1~284Cn may be a graphics processor (or an accelerator, or other computing devices); when the host system 20 belongs to a storage node, the devices 284C1~284Cn are mainly storage and central processing units, but none of the devices 284C1~284Cn is a graphics processor (or an accelerator, or other computing devices).

In one embodiment, the baseboard management controller 282 and the devices 284C1~284Cn can be arranged on the same baseboard (e.g., motherboard).

In one embodiment, the processing circuit 110 may be a programmable logic device (CPLD), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or a microcontroller.

In one embodiment, in addition to supplying power to the system circuit 180 or 280, the power supply unit 160 or 260 also supplies power to other devices of the host system 10 or 20 (such as the microcontroller 210, the variable resistor 230, or the hot-swap controller 240).

In one embodiment, the power supply unit 160 or 260 can be expanded to multiple power supply units. Correspondingly, in step S506, the processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can read the power supply information of all power supply units of a host system. The processing circuit 110 or the microcontroller 210 can select the lowest power supply information from the power supply information of all power supply units, and use the lowest power supply information to perform a match comparison in step S508 or S516.

In summary, the host system can calculate the appropriate optimized over-current protection settings according to the types or number of devices in the host system, and dynamically adjust the over-current protection settings accordingly so that the over-current protection settings meet the requirements of the power supply information and system configuration information, so as to provide over-current protection function when needed and avoid unnecessary shutdowns.

The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention. All equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

10: Host system

110: Processing circuit

160: Power supply unit

180: System circuit

Claims (20)

A host system includes: a system circuit for providing system configuration information; a power supply unit for supplying power; and a processing circuit coupled to the system circuit and the power supply unit, for reading power supply information of the power supply unit, calculating an optimized over-current protection setting according to the system configuration information, and determining whether to replace the power supply unit according to whether the power supply information matches the optimized over-current protection setting. A host system as described in claim 1, wherein the system circuit comprises: at least one device; and a baseboard management controller coupled to the at least one device, for scanning the at least one device to generate the system configuration information, the system configuration information being related to the type or number of the at least one device. A host system as described in claim 2, wherein the at least one device is a storage device, a graphics processor, a central processing unit, a network interface controller, a memory, or an accelerator. A host system as described in claim 1, wherein the system circuit comprises: a variable resistor coupled to the processing circuit, wherein a resistance value of the variable resistor corresponds to an overcurrent protection setting, and the processing circuit is further used to match the optimized overcurrent protection setting according to the power supply information and change the overcurrent protection setting to or maintain the optimized overcurrent protection setting; and a hot-swap controller coupled between the variable resistor, the power supply unit and the system circuit, and used to determine whether to trigger an overcurrent protection function according to the overcurrent protection setting. A host system as described in claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further used to send a mismatch signal to indicate replacement of the power supply unit based on the fact that the power supply information does not match the optimized over-current protection setting. A host system as described in claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further used to determine whether the power supply information matches a safe mode setting before obtaining the system configuration information. A host system as described in claim 6, wherein the safe mode setting includes a minimum threshold value required for a boot process. A host system as described in claim 6, wherein the processing circuit is further used to stop a boot process based on the power supply information not matching the safe mode setting, or to pause the boot process and attempt to obtain the system configuration information based on the power supply information matching the safe mode setting. The host system as described in claim 8, wherein the processing circuit is further used to change or maintain an overcurrent protection setting of the host system to the optimized overcurrent protection setting after calculating the optimized overcurrent protection setting, and continue the boot process. A host system as described in claim 1, wherein the host system is a file server or an application server, and the processing circuit is a microcontroller. A protection method for a host system comprises: obtaining power supply information of a power supply unit; calculating an optimized over-current protection setting based on system configuration information of a system circuit of the host system; and determining whether to replace the power supply unit based on whether the power supply information matches the optimized over-current protection setting. The protection method as described in claim 11, further comprising: obtaining the system configuration information, wherein the system configuration information is related to the type or number of at least one device of the system circuit. The protection method as described in claim 12, wherein the at least one device is a storage device, a graphics processor, a central processing unit, a network interface controller, a memory, or an accelerator. The protection method as described in claim 11, wherein the step of determining whether to replace the power supply unit according to whether the power supply information matches the optimized overcurrent protection setting includes: changing or maintaining an overcurrent protection setting of the host system to the optimized overcurrent protection setting according to the power supply information matching the optimized overcurrent protection setting, wherein a resistance value of a variable resistor corresponds to the overcurrent protection setting. The protection method as described in claim 11, wherein the step of determining whether to replace the power supply unit based on whether the power supply information matches the optimized over-current protection setting includes: sending a mismatch signal to indicate replacement of the power supply unit based on the power supply information not matching the optimized over-current protection setting. The protection method as described in claim 11 further includes: before obtaining the system configuration information, determining whether the power supply information matches a safety mode setting. The protection method as described in claim 16, wherein the safe mode setting includes a minimum threshold value required for a boot process. The protection method as described in claim 16, wherein the step of determining whether the power supply information matches the safe mode setting comprises: stopping a boot process according to the power supply information not matching the safe mode setting; or pausing the boot process according to the power supply information matching the safe mode setting, and attempting to obtain the system configuration information. The protection method as described in claim 18 further includes: changing or maintaining an overcurrent protection setting of the host system to the optimized overcurrent protection setting, and continuing the boot process. The protection method as described in claim 11, wherein the host system is a file server or an application server.