Importance

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Abstract

A high reliability computer system includes a first and a second processing engine (PE), circuitry for switching control of the system from the first PE operating as a primary PE to the second PE upon detection of a failure of the first PE, at least one shared resource associated with both the first and second PEs, at least one dedicated resource associated with the first PE and at least one dedicated resource associated with the second PE, a database associated with and accessible by one of the first and second PEs and a configuration engine. The database contains initialization information for the one PE, including a first class of instructions affecting the shared resource and a second class of instructions affecting the dedicated resource of the one PE. The second class of instructions includes setting an enable password or a surrogate therefor for the one PE. The configuration engine is associated with the one PE and is operable in one of a first mode and a second mode. The configuration engine allows the one PE to execute the first and second classes of instructions in the first mode and allows the one PE to execute the second class of instructions in the second mode. The configuration engine may include a classifier for classifying the instructions into the first and second classes. Alternatively, the configuration engine may include the database having a first memory containing the first and second classes of instructions and a second memory containing the second class of instructions.

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First Claim