US20140129732A1 - Integrated Multiserver Platforms - Google Patents

Integrated Multiserver Platforms Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US20140129732A1
US20140129732A1 US14/153,179 US201414153179A US2014129732A1 US 20140129732 A1 US20140129732 A1 US 20140129732A1 US 201414153179 A US201414153179 A US 201414153179A US 2014129732 A1 US2014129732 A1 US 2014129732A1
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
switch
packet
multiserver
blade
multiserver platform
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US14/153,179
Inventor
Martin Lund
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Ltd
Original Assignee
Broadcom Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Broadcom Corp filed Critical Broadcom Corp
Priority to US14/153,179 priority Critical patent/US20140129732A1/en
Assigned to BROADCOM CORPORATION reassignment BROADCOM CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: LUND, MARTIN
Publication of US20140129732A1 publication Critical patent/US20140129732A1/en
Assigned to BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT reassignment BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Assignors: BROADCOM CORPORATION
Assigned to AVAGO TECHNOLOGIES GENERAL IP (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD. reassignment AVAGO TECHNOLOGIES GENERAL IP (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: BROADCOM CORPORATION
Assigned to BROADCOM CORPORATION reassignment BROADCOM CORPORATION TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Assignors: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04LTRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/40Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04LTRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L45/00Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks

Definitions

  • Certain embodiments of the invention relate to communication among servers. More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to a method and system for integrating multiserver platforms.
  • a server may be a computer system in a network that may be accessed by one or more users and/or other computers.
  • the server may provide, for example, access to information such as files, and to services such as communications, printing or other types of services that may be available through a network.
  • a special network operating system may run on a dedicated server, for example, in a large network.
  • a personal computer (PC) operating system may run on a non-dedicated server having, for example, peer-to-peer networking software running thereon.
  • a server may have one or more advanced or more powerful central processing units (CPUs), a larger memory, a larger cache and more storage space than a typical single user workstation or personal computer.
  • the server may include, for example, multiple processors which may be dedicated to a particular service or provide a particular function such as e-mail handling, printing or communications.
  • the server may also include devices such as, large power supplies, backup power capabilities such as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and various fault tolerant or redundant features such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID) technologies.
  • UPS uninterruptible power supply
  • RAID redundant array of independent disks
  • a single server may exist in a standalone enclosure and may interface with a network via one or more network interfaces. Multiple standalone boxes may be situated in a central computing center with each standalone box coupled to a network via a respective cable. Each server may interface to the network separately at a particular data rate such as, for example, approximately 1 gigabits/second (Gb/s) for a Gigabit Ethernet or approximately 10 Gb/s for a 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
  • Gb/s gigabits/second
  • the single server in a standalone enclosure may inefficiently utilize large amounts of space and/or power.
  • each single server may be connected to the network directly via a respective cable, a room full of servers might be overflowing with cables possibly necessitating detailed cable maps which may be quite time-intensive and costly to produce.
  • single servers in a standalone enclosure may not be easily replaced during failure, particularly when there may be multiple failures. Consequently, the conventional single server in a standalone box may ultimately suffer from a substantial total cost of ownership (TCO).
  • TCO total cost of ownership
  • Certain embodiments of the invention provide a method and system for communicating information in a server platform. Aspects of the method for communicating information in a server platform may include receiving at least one packet from at least one of a first switch blade associated with a first multiserver platform. The method may also include determining a second server blade associated with a second multiserver platform that may receive at least a portion of the received packet. In this regard, at least a portion of the received packet may be routed to the second blade server. The packet may be received by a third switch blade and/or a central switch. In instances where the packet may be received by the central switch, at least a portion of the received packet may be communicated to the second switch blade via at least one communication link that may couple the central switch directly to the second switch blade. The routed portion of the received packet may be processed by the second blade server.
  • Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine-readable storage, having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section for communicating information in a server platform.
  • the at least one code section may be executable by a machine, thereby causing the machine to perform the steps as described above for communicating information in a server platform.
  • aspects of the system for processing information in a multiserver platform may include a first multiserver platform having a network interface and/or a first switch blade. At least a second multiserver platform comprising a second switch blade may be coupled to the first switch blade of the first multiserver platform. A third multiserver platform comprising a third switch blade may be coupled to the second switch blade of the second multiserver platform and/or the first switch blade of the first multiserver platform.
  • the first multiserver platform, the second multiserver platform and the third multiserver platform may be coupled in a daisy-chain configuration. In this regard, the first multiserver platform and the third multiserver platform may communicate via the second multiserver platform.
  • At least one central switch may be coupled to the first switch blade of the first multiserver platform and the second switch blade of the second multiserver platform.
  • At least a third switch blade of a third multiserver platform may also be coupled to the central switch.
  • the first multiserver platform, second multiserver platform and third multiserver platform may communicate via the central switch.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a multiserver platform in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a communication system including a multiserver platform and an external network in accordance with various aspects of the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a communication system including an external network and N multiserver platforms coupled in a daisy-chain configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the coupling of two switch blades in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for providing communication within the daisy-chain configuration of FIG. 3 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary central switch configuration for the multiserver platform of FIG. 1 , in accordance with various aspects of the invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for providing communication in the central switch configuration of FIG. 6 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • Certain embodiments of the invention provide a method and system for communicating information in a server platform. Aspects of the method for communicating information in a multiserver platform may include receiving at least one packet from a first switch blade associated with a first multiserver platform. Another aspect of the method may include determining a second server blade associated with a second multiserver platform that may receive at least a portion of the received packet. In this regard, at least a portion of the received packet may subsequently be routed to the second blade server and the routed portion of the received packet processed by the second blade server. In another aspect of the invention, the packet may be received by a third switch blade and/or a central switch. Accordingly, in instances where the packet may be received by the central switch, at least a portion of the received packet may be communicated to the second switch blade via one or more communication links that may be utilized to couple the central switch directly to the second switch blade.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a multiserver platform 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • the multiserver platform 100 may include a chassis 110 , a backplane 130 , a switch blade 140 , blade server interfaces 150 , and a plurality of blade servers No. 1, No. 2, . . . , No. n, collectively referenced as 120 .
  • the chassis 110 may include the backplane 130 .
  • the invention is not so limited and a plurality of backplanes may be provided within the chassis 110 .
  • one or more backplanes may be coupled together.
  • the chassis 110 may include a single backplane
  • the backplane may be regarded as a common backplane, which may provide connectivity for the blade servers 120 .
  • the chassis 110 may be part of a single installation enclosure that includes a plurality of blade server slots which may be adapted for receiving one or more of the blade servers 120 .
  • the backplane 130 may include, for example, one or more blade server interfaces collectively referenced as 150 , which may be referred to as blade server interconnects.
  • the chassis 110 may include a plurality of blade server slots that may be adapted to facilitate connection between the blade servers and the blade server interfaces 150 .
  • the blade server slots may provide a conduit for coupling the blade servers 120 to the blade server interfaces 150 .
  • the backplane 130 may also include one or more interfaces such as a network interface 160 .
  • the network interface 160 may be referred to as network interconnect.
  • the switch blade 140 may be part of the backplane 130 .
  • the switch blade 140 may be integrated within the backplane 130 or it may be a plug-in card that may be plugged into the backplane 130 .
  • the blade servers 120 may be coupled to the backplane 130 via the blade server interfaces 150 . Each of the blade servers 120 may therefore be coupled to a corresponding one of the server interfaces 150 .
  • each of the blade servers 120 may be plugged into or removably mounted in a corresponding blade server slot in the chassis 110 so that it interfaces with a corresponding one of the server interfaces.
  • the blade servers 120 may be coupled to the backplane 130 .
  • the blade servers 120 may be coupled to the switch blade 140 of the backplane 130 via the blade server interfaces 150 .
  • the backplane 130 may be adapted to provide connectivity, for example, between two or more of the blade servers 120 .
  • the backplane 130 and/or the switch blades 140 may provide connectivity between the one or more of the blade servers 120 and the network 170 .
  • the network interface 160 facilitates connectivity between the backplane 130 and the network 170 .
  • the network interface 160 may couple backplane 130 and/or one or more of the plurality of switch blades 140 to the network 170 .
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a communication system 200 including a multiserver platform 201 and an external network 206 , in accordance with various aspects of the invention.
  • the multiserver platform 201 may include a chassis having a common backplane 211 , a common switch blade 202 and a plurality of blade servers including, a blade server #1 203 , a blade server #2 204 , . . . , blade server #N 205 , where N may be any integer number.
  • Each of the blade servers #1, #2, . . . , #N may be a server that has been integrated on a single plug-in card or blade that may be plugged into a blade server slot of the chassis with the common backplane 211 .
  • the chassis with a common backplane 211 may provide a single installation enclosure for the multiple blade servers #1, #2, . . . , #N.
  • the chassis with the common backplane 211 may also serve a common interface between each blade server 203 , 204 , 205 and the common switch blade 202 .
  • common backplane 211 may provide a common backplane interface 208 between blade server #1 203 and the common switch blade 202 .
  • Common backplane 211 may also provide a common backplane interface 209 between blade server #2 204 and the common switch blade 202 .
  • common backplane 211 may provide a common backplane interface 210 between blade server #N 205 and the common switch blade 202 .
  • the common backplane interfaces 208 , 209 , 210 are part of the common backplane 211 .
  • the common switch blade 202 may include N+1 interfaces and at least a portion of these interfaces may be adapted to perform packet switching of data frames between the N blade servers and the external network 206 , in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • the common switch blade 202 may include intelligence that may manage and distribute data traffic to the relevant blade servers including blade server #1, #2, . . . , #N.
  • the common switch blade 202 may interface with each of the N blade servers via the common backplane 211 .
  • the common switch blade 202 may also interface with the external network 206 , thereby resulting in N+1 interfaces.
  • the external network 206 may include a 10 Gigabit Ethernet network connection and interface.
  • the external interface 207 between the common switch blade 202 and the external network 206 may include a 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) interface, operating at a data rate of 10 Gb/s.
  • GbE 10 Gigabit Ethernet
  • bi-directional network communication capability may be provided between the external network 206 and the common switch blade 202 .
  • the common backplane 211 may include a plurality of Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) interfaces.
  • the common switch blade 202 may communicate with each of the N blade servers independently over the common backplane 211 at a data rate of 1 Gb/s.
  • the blade server #1 203 may communicate in a bi-directional manner with the common switch blade 202 via the common backplane interface 208 .
  • the blade server #2 204 may also communicate in a bi-directional manner with the common switch blade 202 via the common backplane interface 209 .
  • the blade server #N 105 may communicate in a bi-directional manner with the common switch blade 202 via the common backplane interface 210 .
  • the common switch blade 202 may have the capability to handle communication with the multiple blade servers 203 , 204 , 205 at the same time.
  • the common switch blade 202 may facilitate the simultaneous transfer of information between any of the blade servers 203 , 204 , 205 .
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a communication system 300 including an external network 301 and N multiserver platforms coupled in a daisy-chain configuration 302 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • the daisy-chain configuration 302 includes N multiserver platforms referenced as 303 , 304 , . . . , 305 and labeled as multiserver platform #1, multiserver platform #2, . . . , multiserver platform #N, respectively.
  • the multiserver platform #1 303 may include a common switch blade 306 .
  • the multiserver platform #2 304 may include a common switch blade 307 and the multiserver platform #N 305 includes a common switch blade 308 .
  • the external network 301 may interface with the switch blade 306 of the multiserver platform #1 303 via, for example, a high speed communication link 309 .
  • the multiserver platform #1, multiserver platform #2, . . . , multiserver platforms #N referenced as 303 , 305 , . . . , 305 may be coupled together in a daisy-chained arrangement via, for example, high speed communication links.
  • the switch blade 306 of the multiserver platform #1 303 may interface with the switch blade 307 of the multiserver platform #2 304 via a high speed communication link 310 .
  • the switch blade 307 of the multiserver platform #2 304 may also interface with the switch blade of another multiserver platform via a high speed communication link 311 .
  • the switch blade 308 of the multiserver platform #N 305 may also interface with the switch blade of some other multiserver platform via a high speed communication link 312 .
  • the high speed communication links 309 , 310 , 311 , . . . , 312 may be bi-directional communication links although the invention is not so limited.
  • the high speed communication links 309 , 310 , 311 , . . . , 312 may be of the order of 1-10 Gigabit per second or higher and may be Ethernet links.
  • the high speed communication links 309 , 310 , 311 , . . . , 312 may be fibre channel links or other type of communication link, for example.
  • the multiserver platforms may be adapted to simultaneously communicate with each other via the high speed communication links 309 , 310 , 311 , . . . , 312 .
  • the switch blade 306 may be adapted to communicate with the external network 301 and the switch blade 307 at the same time over the high speed communication links 309 and 310 .
  • information may be simultaneously transferred by the switch blades 306 , 307 , . . . , 308 among the multiserver platforms 303 , 304 , . . . , 305 and the external network 301 .
  • the data communication rate between any of the multiserver platforms 303 , 304 , . . . , 305 may be any standard or non-standard data rate, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the coupling of two switch blades in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • reference 402 may include an enclosure or chassis of the first multiserver platform 402 and reference 422 may include an enclosure or chassis of the multiserver platform 422 .
  • the first multiserver platform 402 may include a backplane 404 , a plurality of N blade servers collectively referred to as 406 , a switch blade 408 and a bus 411 .
  • bus transceivers 410 , 412 , 414 , 416 and a controller 418 are also shown.
  • Each of the bus transceivers 410 , 412 , 414 , 416 may include at least one transmitter that may transmit electrical signals onto the bus 411 within the backplane 404 .
  • Each of the bus transceivers 410 , 412 , 414 , 416 may also include at least one receiver that may receive electrical signals onto the bus 411 within the backplane 404 .
  • the bus 411 may be a time division multiplexed (TDM) bus, a frequency division multiplexed (FDM) bus, or any other suitable type of bus. Accordingly, the bus transceivers 410 , 412 , 414 , 416 may be suitable time division multiplexed bus transceivers and/or frequency division multiplexed bus transceivers, for example.
  • Communication link 440 may couple the first multiserver platform 402 to the second multiserver platform 422 .
  • the communication link 440 may be similar to the communication links that couple the multiserver platform #1, multiserver platform #2, . . . , multiserver platform #N referenced as 303 , 304 , . . . , 305 in the daisy-chain arrangement 302 of FIG. 3 .
  • Each of the blade servers 406 and the switch blade 408 of the first multiserver platform 402 may include a bus transceiver that may be coupled to the bus 411 .
  • blade server No. 1 includes a bus transceiver 410
  • server blade No. 2 includes a bus transceiver 412
  • server blade No. N includes a bus transceiver 414 .
  • the switch blade 408 may also include a bus transceiver 416 and a bus controller 418 .
  • the bus controller 418 is illustrated as a separate entity within the switch blade 408 , the invention is not so limited. Accordingly, one or more functions provided by the bus controller 418 may be provided by the switch blade 408 . In a case where all of the functions offered by the bus controller 418 may be provided by the switch blade 408 , this may eliminate a need for an additional bus processing entity such as the bus controller 418 .
  • the bus controller 418 and/or the switch blade 408 of the first multiserver platform 402 may be adapted to control the transfer of messages between the blade servers 406 and the switch blade 408 .
  • the bus controller 418 may handle functions such as bus access and bus arbitration.
  • the bus controller 418 and/or the switch blade 408 may also provide a switching function that may permit messages to be transferred among the blade servers 406 via the switch blade 408 and from an external source such as the network 170 ( FIG. 1 ) to any one or more of the blade servers 406 .
  • one or more messages received from the network 170 may be steered by the switch blade 408 to one or more of the blade servers 406 based on a message type and a function provided by one or more of the blade servers 406 .
  • U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/648,573 filed Aug. 26, 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a method and system for selective steering of data traffic of various data types to functionally dedicated blade servers.
  • the bus controller 418 and/or the switch blade 408 of the first multiserver platform 402 may include suitable hardware and/or software that may be adapted to control, for example, bus access, bus arbitration and/or switching among the blade servers 406 and the switch blade 408 .
  • the hardware and/or software may therefore control the manner in which messages may be received from a first blade server and transferred, routed or switched to a second blade server via the switch blade 408 .
  • the second multiserver platform 422 may include a backplane 424 , a plurality of n blade servers collectively referred to as 426 , a switch blade 428 and a bus 431 . Also shown are bus transceivers 430 , 432 , 434 , 436 and a controller 438 . Each of the bus transceivers 430 , 432 , 434 , 436 may include at least one transmitter that may transmit electrical signals onto the bus 431 within the backplane 424 . Each of the bus transceivers 430 , 432 , 434 , 436 may also include at least one receiver that may receive electrical signals onto the bus 431 within the backplane 424 .
  • the bus 431 may be a time division multiplexed (TDM) bus, a frequency division multiplexed (FDM) bus, or any other suitable type of bus. Accordingly, the bus transceivers 430 , 432 , 434 , 436 may be suitable time division multiplexed bus transceivers and/or frequency division multiplexed bus transceivers, for example.
  • TDM time division multiplexed
  • FDM frequency division multiplexed
  • the bus transceivers 430 , 432 , 434 , 436 may be suitable time division multiplexed bus transceivers and/or frequency division multiplexed bus transceivers, for example.
  • Each of the blade servers 426 and the switch blade 428 of the second multiserver platform 422 may include a bus transceiver that may be coupled to the bus 431 .
  • blade server No. 1 includes a bus transceiver 430
  • server blade No. 2 includes a bus transceiver 432
  • server blade No. N includes a bus transceiver 434 .
  • the switch blade 428 may also include a bus transceiver 436 and a bus controller 438 .
  • the bus controller 438 is illustrated as a separate entity within the switch blade 438 , the invention is not so limited. Accordingly, one or more functions provided by the bus controller 438 may provided by the switch blade 428 . In a case where all of the functions offered by the bus controller 438 may be provided by the switch blade 428 , this may eliminate a need for an additional bus processing entity such as the bus controller 438 .
  • the bus controller 438 and/or the switch blade 428 of the second multiserver platform 422 may be adapted to control the transfer of messages between the blade servers 426 and the switch blade 428 .
  • the bus controller 438 may handle functions such as bus access and bus arbitration.
  • the bus controller 438 and/or the switch blade 428 may also provide a switching function that may permit messages to be transferred among the blade servers 426 via the switch blade 428 and from an external source such as the network 170 ( FIG. 1 ) to any one or more of the blade servers 426 .
  • one or more messages received from the network 170 may be steered by the switch blade 428 to one or more of the blade servers 426 based on a message type and a function provided by one or more of the blade servers 426 .
  • the bus controller 438 and/or the switch blade 428 of the second multiserver platform 422 may include suitable hardware and/or software that may be adapted to control, for example, bus access, bus arbitration and/or switching among the blade servers 426 and the switch blade 428 .
  • the hardware and/or software may therefore control the manner in which messages may be received from a first blade server and transferred, routed or switched to a second blade server via the switch blade 428 .
  • FIG. 5 is a flowchart 500 illustrating exemplary steps for providing communication within the daisy-chain configuration 302 of FIG. 3 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • a first multiserver platform may transmit a first packet of information to a second multiserver platform via a first high speed communication link.
  • the second multiserver platform may process the first packet and transmit a second packet of information to a third multiserver platform via a second high speed communication link.
  • the third multiserver platform may process the second packet and transmit a third packet of information to the second multiserver platform via the second high speed communication link.
  • the second multiserver platform may process the third packet and transmit a fourth packet of information to the first multiserver platform via the first high speed communication link.
  • the first multiserver platform may process the fourth packet and transmit a fifth packet of information over an external network via a third high speed communication link.
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram 600 illustrating an exemplary central switch configuration 602 for the multiserver platform of FIG. 1 , in accordance with various aspects of the invention.
  • the central switch configuration 602 may include a central switch, a switching element or a switch 603 , a multiserver platform #1 604 , a multiserver platform #2 605 , up to and including a multiserver platform #N 606 .
  • the multiserver platform #1 604 may include a common switch blade or switch blade 607 .
  • the multiserver platform #2 605 may include a switch blade 608 and the multiserver platform #N 606 may include a switch blade 609 .
  • the external network 601 may interface with the switch blade 607 of the multiserver platform #1 604 via a high speed communication link 610 .
  • the multiserver platform #1 604 may be coupled to the central switch 603 via a high speed communication link 611 .
  • the multiserver platform #2 605 may be coupled to the central switch 603 via the high speed link 612 and in a similar manner, the multiserver platform #N 606 may be coupled to the central switch 603 via the high speed communication link 613 .
  • the switch blade 607 of the multiserver platform #1 604 may interface with the central switch 603 via the high speed communication link 611 .
  • the switch blade 608 of the multiserver platform #2 605 may connect with the central switch 603 via the high speed communication link 612 .
  • the switch blade 609 of the multiserver platform #N 606 may connect to the central switch 603 via the high speed communication link 613 .
  • the central switch may coordinate the high speed switching or routing of packets among the various multiserver platforms 604 , 605 , . . . , 606 .
  • One advantage of the central switch configuration of FIG. 6 over the daisy-chain configuration 302 of FIG. 3 is that, in the central switch configuration of FIG. 6 , a packet may be transmitted from any given multiserver platform 604 , 605 , . . . , 606 , through the central switch 603 , to any other multiserver platform.
  • a packet of data may have to be passed through a plurality of intermediate multiserver platforms in order to be transferred to from a source platform to a destination platform.
  • the high speed communication links 610 , 611 , 612 , 613 may be bi-directional communication links.
  • the high speed communication links may be links of the order of 1-10 Gigabits per second. Notwithstanding, these links may be Ethernet links or fibre channel links.
  • the switch blades 607 , 608 , 609 of the multiserver platforms 604 , 605 , 606 may have the capability to simultaneously communicate with the central switch 603 via the high speed communication links 611 , 612 , . . . , 613 .
  • the switch blade 607 may also have the capability to communicate with the external network 601 and the central switch 603 at the same time over the high speed communication links 610 and 611 .
  • the data communication rate between any of the multiserver platforms 604 , 605 , . . . , 606 and the central switch 603 may be any standard or non-standard data rate, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a flowchart 700 illustrating exemplary steps for providing communication in the central switch configuration of FIG. 6 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • a first multiserver platform may transmit a first packet of information to a central switch via a first high speed communication link.
  • the central switch may transmit the first packet to a second multiserver platform via a second high speed communication link.
  • the second multiserver platform may process the first packet and may transmit a second packet of information to the central switch via the second high speed communication link.
  • the central switch may transmit the second packet to the first multiserver platform via the first high speed communication link.
  • the first multiserver platform may process the second packet and may transmit a third packet of information over an external network via a third high speed communication link.
  • the multiserver platforms may communicate data and/or control information among each other via one or more high speed communication links that may be coupled to the switch blades of the multiserver platforms and/or the central switch where present.
  • the control information may include pertinent information related the multiserver platforms. For example, some control information may indicate the blade server associated with a particular multiserver platform from which a particular packet may have originated. Other exemplary information may include synchronization information, security information, and provisioning and security.
  • any one or more of the multiserver platforms may each provide a plurality of server functions.
  • each of the multiserver platforms may be dedicated to providing a different, specific server function.
  • the configurations of FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 may provide blade server scalability by utilizing at least two multiserver platforms to increase server performance and/or system capacity, for example.
  • multiserver platforms may be added or removed to facilitate increased and decreased traffic, respectively.
  • aspects of the invention provide a method and system for inter-platform blade server integration using a plurality of multiserver platforms.
  • the configurations of FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 may provide blade server scalability using a plurality of multiserver platforms to increase server performance and/or system capacity.
  • a larger virtual server platform is effectively created.
  • aspects of the system for processing information in a server platform may include a first multiserver platform 303 ( FIG. 3 ) having at least one network interface 309 and/or a first switch blade 306 .
  • At least a second multiserver platform 304 comprising a second switch blade 307 may be coupled to the first switch blade 306 of the first multiserver platform 303 .
  • a third multiserver platform 305 comprising a third switch blade 308 may be coupled to the second switch blade 304 of the second multiserver platform 307 and/or the first switch blade 306 of the first multiserver platform 303 .
  • the first multiserver platform 303 , the second multiserver platform 304 and the third multiserver platform 305 may be coupled in a daisy-chain configuration. In this regard, the first multiserver platform 303 and the third multiserver platform 305 may communicate via the second multiserver platform 304 .
  • At least one central switch 603 may be coupled to the first switch blade 607 of the first multiserver platform 604 and the second switch blade 608 of the second multiserver platform 605 .
  • At least a third switch blade 609 of a third multiserver platform 606 may also be coupled to the central switch 603 .
  • the first multiserver platform 604 , second multiserver platform 605 and third multiserver platform 606 may communicate via the central switch 603 .
  • the present invention may be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.
  • the present invention may be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein is suited.
  • a typical combination of hardware and software may be a general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein.
  • the present invention may also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods.
  • Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form.

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for multiserver platforms. In some embodiments, a packet from an external network is received in a first switch. The first switch is in a first multiserver platform in which multiple servers communicate with the external network via the first switch. The first switch transmits the packet to a central switch to forward the packet to a second switch in a second multiserver platform. The central switch communicates with the external network via the first switch in the multiserver platform.

Description

    CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
  • This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/647,963, entitled “System and Method for Integrating Multiserver Platforms” and filed on Aug. 26, 2003, which claims priority to the following provisional patent applications: U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/458,719, entitled “Method and System to Provide Inter-Chassis Blade Server Integration for Scalability” and filed on Mar. 28, 2003; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/448,656, entitled “A Method and System to Provide External Communication Using a Multiserver Platform Having a Single Switch Backplane” and filed on Feb. 18, 2003; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/456,831, entitled “Method and System to Provide Inter-Blade Server Communication Using a Single Switch Backplane” and filed on Mar. 21, 2003; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/463,014, entitled “Method and System to Selectively Steer Data Traffic to Service Blades Using a Single Switch Backplane” and filed on Apr. 15, 2003. Each of the above stated applications is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
  • FIELD OF THE INVENTION
  • Certain embodiments of the invention relate to communication among servers. More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to a method and system for integrating multiserver platforms.
  • BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  • A server may be a computer system in a network that may be accessed by one or more users and/or other computers. The server may provide, for example, access to information such as files, and to services such as communications, printing or other types of services that may be available through a network. In some cases, a special network operating system (OS) may run on a dedicated server, for example, in a large network. A personal computer (PC) operating system may run on a non-dedicated server having, for example, peer-to-peer networking software running thereon.
  • Generally, a server may have one or more advanced or more powerful central processing units (CPUs), a larger memory, a larger cache and more storage space than a typical single user workstation or personal computer. The server may include, for example, multiple processors which may be dedicated to a particular service or provide a particular function such as e-mail handling, printing or communications. The server may also include devices such as, large power supplies, backup power capabilities such as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and various fault tolerant or redundant features such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID) technologies.
  • A single server may exist in a standalone enclosure and may interface with a network via one or more network interfaces. Multiple standalone boxes may be situated in a central computing center with each standalone box coupled to a network via a respective cable. Each server may interface to the network separately at a particular data rate such as, for example, approximately 1 gigabits/second (Gb/s) for a Gigabit Ethernet or approximately 10 Gb/s for a 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
  • Thus, the single server in a standalone enclosure may inefficiently utilize large amounts of space and/or power. Furthermore, since each single server may be connected to the network directly via a respective cable, a room full of servers might be overflowing with cables possibly necessitating detailed cable maps which may be quite time-intensive and costly to produce. In addition, single servers in a standalone enclosure may not be easily replaced during failure, particularly when there may be multiple failures. Consequently, the conventional single server in a standalone box may ultimately suffer from a substantial total cost of ownership (TCO).
  • Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.
  • BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
  • Certain embodiments of the invention provide a method and system for communicating information in a server platform. Aspects of the method for communicating information in a server platform may include receiving at least one packet from at least one of a first switch blade associated with a first multiserver platform. The method may also include determining a second server blade associated with a second multiserver platform that may receive at least a portion of the received packet. In this regard, at least a portion of the received packet may be routed to the second blade server. The packet may be received by a third switch blade and/or a central switch. In instances where the packet may be received by the central switch, at least a portion of the received packet may be communicated to the second switch blade via at least one communication link that may couple the central switch directly to the second switch blade. The routed portion of the received packet may be processed by the second blade server.
  • Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine-readable storage, having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section for communicating information in a server platform. The at least one code section may be executable by a machine, thereby causing the machine to perform the steps as described above for communicating information in a server platform.
  • Aspects of the system for processing information in a multiserver platform may include a first multiserver platform having a network interface and/or a first switch blade. At least a second multiserver platform comprising a second switch blade may be coupled to the first switch blade of the first multiserver platform. A third multiserver platform comprising a third switch blade may be coupled to the second switch blade of the second multiserver platform and/or the first switch blade of the first multiserver platform. The first multiserver platform, the second multiserver platform and the third multiserver platform may be coupled in a daisy-chain configuration. In this regard, the first multiserver platform and the third multiserver platform may communicate via the second multiserver platform.
  • In another embodiment of the invention, at least one central switch may be coupled to the first switch blade of the first multiserver platform and the second switch blade of the second multiserver platform. At least a third switch blade of a third multiserver platform may also be coupled to the central switch. The first multiserver platform, second multiserver platform and third multiserver platform may communicate via the central switch.
  • These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings.
  • BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a multiserver platform in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a communication system including a multiserver platform and an external network in accordance with various aspects of the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a communication system including an external network and N multiserver platforms coupled in a daisy-chain configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the coupling of two switch blades in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for providing communication within the daisy-chain configuration of FIG. 3 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary central switch configuration for the multiserver platform of FIG. 1, in accordance with various aspects of the invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating exemplary steps for providing communication in the central switch configuration of FIG. 6 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
  • Certain embodiments of the invention provide a method and system for communicating information in a server platform. Aspects of the method for communicating information in a multiserver platform may include receiving at least one packet from a first switch blade associated with a first multiserver platform. Another aspect of the method may include determining a second server blade associated with a second multiserver platform that may receive at least a portion of the received packet. In this regard, at least a portion of the received packet may subsequently be routed to the second blade server and the routed portion of the received packet processed by the second blade server. In another aspect of the invention, the packet may be received by a third switch blade and/or a central switch. Accordingly, in instances where the packet may be received by the central switch, at least a portion of the received packet may be communicated to the second switch blade via one or more communication links that may be utilized to couple the central switch directly to the second switch blade.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a multiserver platform 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The multiserver platform 100 may include a chassis 110, a backplane 130, a switch blade 140, blade server interfaces 150, and a plurality of blade servers No. 1, No. 2, . . . , No. n, collectively referenced as 120.
  • The chassis 110 may include the backplane 130. However, although only one backplane 130 is shown, the invention is not so limited and a plurality of backplanes may be provided within the chassis 110. In this regard, one or more backplanes may be coupled together. In a case where the chassis 110 may include a single backplane, the backplane may be regarded as a common backplane, which may provide connectivity for the blade servers 120. The chassis 110 may be part of a single installation enclosure that includes a plurality of blade server slots which may be adapted for receiving one or more of the blade servers 120.
  • The backplane 130 may include, for example, one or more blade server interfaces collectively referenced as 150, which may be referred to as blade server interconnects. In this regard, the chassis 110 may include a plurality of blade server slots that may be adapted to facilitate connection between the blade servers and the blade server interfaces 150. In other words, the blade server slots may provide a conduit for coupling the blade servers 120 to the blade server interfaces 150. The backplane 130 may also include one or more interfaces such as a network interface 160. The network interface 160 may be referred to as network interconnect.
  • The switch blade 140 may be part of the backplane 130. In this regard, the switch blade 140 may be integrated within the backplane 130 or it may be a plug-in card that may be plugged into the backplane 130.
  • The blade servers 120 may be coupled to the backplane 130 via the blade server interfaces 150. Each of the blade servers 120 may therefore be coupled to a corresponding one of the server interfaces 150. For example, each of the blade servers 120 may be plugged into or removably mounted in a corresponding blade server slot in the chassis 110 so that it interfaces with a corresponding one of the server interfaces. In this regard, the blade servers 120 may be coupled to the backplane 130.
  • Once the blade servers 120 are mounted or plugged into the chassis 110, the blade servers 120 may be coupled to the switch blade 140 of the backplane 130 via the blade server interfaces 150. The backplane 130 may be adapted to provide connectivity, for example, between two or more of the blade servers 120. Furthermore, the backplane 130 and/or the switch blades 140 may provide connectivity between the one or more of the blade servers 120 and the network 170.
  • The network interface 160 facilitates connectivity between the backplane 130 and the network 170. In this regard, the network interface 160 may couple backplane 130 and/or one or more of the plurality of switch blades 140 to the network 170.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a communication system 200 including a multiserver platform 201 and an external network 206, in accordance with various aspects of the invention. The multiserver platform 201 may include a chassis having a common backplane 211, a common switch blade 202 and a plurality of blade servers including, a blade server #1 203, a blade server #2 204, . . . , blade server #N 205, where N may be any integer number.
  • Each of the blade servers #1, #2, . . . , #N may be a server that has been integrated on a single plug-in card or blade that may be plugged into a blade server slot of the chassis with the common backplane 211. The chassis with a common backplane 211 may provide a single installation enclosure for the multiple blade servers #1, #2, . . . , #N.
  • The chassis with the common backplane 211 may also serve a common interface between each blade server 203, 204, 205 and the common switch blade 202. For example, common backplane 211 may provide a common backplane interface 208 between blade server #1 203 and the common switch blade 202. Common backplane 211 may also provide a common backplane interface 209 between blade server #2 204 and the common switch blade 202. Finally, common backplane 211 may provide a common backplane interface 210 between blade server #N 205 and the common switch blade 202. In this regard, the common backplane interfaces 208, 209, 210 are part of the common backplane 211.
  • The common switch blade 202 may include N+1 interfaces and at least a portion of these interfaces may be adapted to perform packet switching of data frames between the N blade servers and the external network 206, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The common switch blade 202 may include intelligence that may manage and distribute data traffic to the relevant blade servers including blade server #1, #2, . . . , #N. The common switch blade 202 may interface with each of the N blade servers via the common backplane 211. The common switch blade 202 may also interface with the external network 206, thereby resulting in N+1 interfaces.
  • In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the external network 206 may include a 10 Gigabit Ethernet network connection and interface. The external interface 207 between the common switch blade 202 and the external network 206 may include a 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) interface, operating at a data rate of 10 Gb/s. In this regard, bi-directional network communication capability may be provided between the external network 206 and the common switch blade 202. In order to facilitate Gigabit Ethernet communication, the common backplane 211 may include a plurality of Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) interfaces. The common switch blade 202 may communicate with each of the N blade servers independently over the common backplane 211 at a data rate of 1 Gb/s. For example, the blade server #1 203 may communicate in a bi-directional manner with the common switch blade 202 via the common backplane interface 208. The blade server #2 204 may also communicate in a bi-directional manner with the common switch blade 202 via the common backplane interface 209. Finally, the blade server #N 105 may communicate in a bi-directional manner with the common switch blade 202 via the common backplane interface 210.
  • In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the common switch blade 202 may have the capability to handle communication with the multiple blade servers 203, 204, 205 at the same time. In this regard, the common switch blade 202 may facilitate the simultaneous transfer of information between any of the blade servers 203, 204, 205.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a communication system 300 including an external network 301 and N multiserver platforms coupled in a daisy-chain configuration 302 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The daisy-chain configuration 302 includes N multiserver platforms referenced as 303, 304, . . . , 305 and labeled as multiserver platform #1, multiserver platform #2, . . . , multiserver platform #N, respectively. Referring to FIG. 3, the multiserver platform #1 303 may include a common switch blade 306. The multiserver platform #2 304 may include a common switch blade 307 and the multiserver platform #N 305 includes a common switch blade 308.
  • The external network 301 may interface with the switch blade 306 of the multiserver platform #1 303 via, for example, a high speed communication link 309. The multiserver platform #1, multiserver platform #2, . . . , multiserver platforms #N referenced as 303, 305, . . . , 305 may be coupled together in a daisy-chained arrangement via, for example, high speed communication links. For example, the switch blade 306 of the multiserver platform #1 303 may interface with the switch blade 307 of the multiserver platform #2 304 via a high speed communication link 310. The switch blade 307 of the multiserver platform #2 304 may also interface with the switch blade of another multiserver platform via a high speed communication link 311. The switch blade 308 of the multiserver platform #N 305 may also interface with the switch blade of some other multiserver platform via a high speed communication link 312.
  • The high speed communication links 309, 310, 311, . . . , 312 may be bi-directional communication links although the invention is not so limited. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the high speed communication links 309, 310, 311, . . . , 312 may be of the order of 1-10 Gigabit per second or higher and may be Ethernet links. Notwithstanding, the high speed communication links 309, 310, 311, . . . , 312 may be fibre channel links or other type of communication link, for example. Also, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the switch blades 306, 307, . . . , 308 of the multiserver platforms may be adapted to simultaneously communicate with each other via the high speed communication links 309, 310, 311, . . . , 312. Similarly, the switch blade 306 may be adapted to communicate with the external network 301 and the switch blade 307 at the same time over the high speed communication links 309 and 310. In this regard, information may be simultaneously transferred by the switch blades 306, 307, . . . , 308 among the multiserver platforms 303, 304, . . . , 305 and the external network 301. The data communication rate between any of the multiserver platforms 303, 304, . . . , 305 may be any standard or non-standard data rate, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the coupling of two switch blades in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a first multiserver platform 402 coupled to a second multiserver platform 422. In this regard, reference 402 may include an enclosure or chassis of the first multiserver platform 402 and reference 422 may include an enclosure or chassis of the multiserver platform 422. Notwithstanding, the first multiserver platform 402 may include a backplane 404, a plurality of N blade servers collectively referred to as 406, a switch blade 408 and a bus 411. Also shown are bus transceivers 410, 412, 414, 416 and a controller 418. Each of the bus transceivers 410, 412, 414, 416 may include at least one transmitter that may transmit electrical signals onto the bus 411 within the backplane 404. Each of the bus transceivers 410, 412, 414, 416 may also include at least one receiver that may receive electrical signals onto the bus 411 within the backplane 404. The bus 411 may be a time division multiplexed (TDM) bus, a frequency division multiplexed (FDM) bus, or any other suitable type of bus. Accordingly, the bus transceivers 410, 412, 414, 416 may be suitable time division multiplexed bus transceivers and/or frequency division multiplexed bus transceivers, for example. Communication link 440 may couple the first multiserver platform 402 to the second multiserver platform 422. The communication link 440 may be similar to the communication links that couple the multiserver platform #1, multiserver platform #2, . . . , multiserver platform #N referenced as 303, 304, . . . , 305 in the daisy-chain arrangement 302 of FIG. 3.
  • Each of the blade servers 406 and the switch blade 408 of the first multiserver platform 402 may include a bus transceiver that may be coupled to the bus 411. In this regard, blade server No. 1 includes a bus transceiver 410, server blade No. 2 includes a bus transceiver 412, and server blade No. N includes a bus transceiver 414. The switch blade 408 may also include a bus transceiver 416 and a bus controller 418. Although the bus controller 418 is illustrated as a separate entity within the switch blade 408, the invention is not so limited. Accordingly, one or more functions provided by the bus controller 418 may be provided by the switch blade 408. In a case where all of the functions offered by the bus controller 418 may be provided by the switch blade 408, this may eliminate a need for an additional bus processing entity such as the bus controller 418.
  • Notwithstanding, the bus controller 418 and/or the switch blade 408 of the first multiserver platform 402 may be adapted to control the transfer of messages between the blade servers 406 and the switch blade 408. In this regard, the bus controller 418 may handle functions such as bus access and bus arbitration. The bus controller 418 and/or the switch blade 408 may also provide a switching function that may permit messages to be transferred among the blade servers 406 via the switch blade 408 and from an external source such as the network 170 (FIG. 1) to any one or more of the blade servers 406. For example, one or more messages received from the network 170 may be steered by the switch blade 408 to one or more of the blade servers 406 based on a message type and a function provided by one or more of the blade servers 406. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/648,573 filed Aug. 26, 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a method and system for selective steering of data traffic of various data types to functionally dedicated blade servers.
  • The bus controller 418 and/or the switch blade 408 of the first multiserver platform 402 may include suitable hardware and/or software that may be adapted to control, for example, bus access, bus arbitration and/or switching among the blade servers 406 and the switch blade 408. The hardware and/or software may therefore control the manner in which messages may be received from a first blade server and transferred, routed or switched to a second blade server via the switch blade 408.
  • The second multiserver platform 422 may include a backplane 424, a plurality of n blade servers collectively referred to as 426, a switch blade 428 and a bus 431. Also shown are bus transceivers 430, 432, 434, 436 and a controller 438. Each of the bus transceivers 430, 432, 434, 436 may include at least one transmitter that may transmit electrical signals onto the bus 431 within the backplane 424. Each of the bus transceivers 430, 432, 434, 436 may also include at least one receiver that may receive electrical signals onto the bus 431 within the backplane 424. The bus 431 may be a time division multiplexed (TDM) bus, a frequency division multiplexed (FDM) bus, or any other suitable type of bus. Accordingly, the bus transceivers 430, 432, 434, 436 may be suitable time division multiplexed bus transceivers and/or frequency division multiplexed bus transceivers, for example.
  • Each of the blade servers 426 and the switch blade 428 of the second multiserver platform 422 may include a bus transceiver that may be coupled to the bus 431. In this regard, blade server No. 1 includes a bus transceiver 430, server blade No. 2 includes a bus transceiver 432, and server blade No. N includes a bus transceiver 434. The switch blade 428 may also include a bus transceiver 436 and a bus controller 438. Although the bus controller 438 is illustrated as a separate entity within the switch blade 438, the invention is not so limited. Accordingly, one or more functions provided by the bus controller 438 may provided by the switch blade 428. In a case where all of the functions offered by the bus controller 438 may be provided by the switch blade 428, this may eliminate a need for an additional bus processing entity such as the bus controller 438.
  • Notwithstanding, the bus controller 438 and/or the switch blade 428 of the second multiserver platform 422 may be adapted to control the transfer of messages between the blade servers 426 and the switch blade 428. In this regard, the bus controller 438 may handle functions such as bus access and bus arbitration. The bus controller 438 and/or the switch blade 428 may also provide a switching function that may permit messages to be transferred among the blade servers 426 via the switch blade 428 and from an external source such as the network 170 (FIG. 1) to any one or more of the blade servers 426. For example, one or more messages received from the network 170 may be steered by the switch blade 428 to one or more of the blade servers 426 based on a message type and a function provided by one or more of the blade servers 426.
  • The bus controller 438 and/or the switch blade 428 of the second multiserver platform 422 may include suitable hardware and/or software that may be adapted to control, for example, bus access, bus arbitration and/or switching among the blade servers 426 and the switch blade 428. The hardware and/or software may therefore control the manner in which messages may be received from a first blade server and transferred, routed or switched to a second blade server via the switch blade 428.
  • FIG. 5 is a flowchart 500 illustrating exemplary steps for providing communication within the daisy-chain configuration 302 of FIG. 3 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5, in step 501, a first multiserver platform may transmit a first packet of information to a second multiserver platform via a first high speed communication link. In step 502, the second multiserver platform may process the first packet and transmit a second packet of information to a third multiserver platform via a second high speed communication link. In step 503, the third multiserver platform may process the second packet and transmit a third packet of information to the second multiserver platform via the second high speed communication link. In step 504, the second multiserver platform may process the third packet and transmit a fourth packet of information to the first multiserver platform via the first high speed communication link. In step 505, the first multiserver platform may process the fourth packet and transmit a fifth packet of information over an external network via a third high speed communication link.
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram 600 illustrating an exemplary central switch configuration 602 for the multiserver platform of FIG. 1, in accordance with various aspects of the invention. The central switch configuration 602 may include a central switch, a switching element or a switch 603, a multiserver platform #1 604, a multiserver platform #2 605, up to and including a multiserver platform #N 606. The multiserver platform #1 604 may include a common switch blade or switch blade 607. The multiserver platform #2 605 may include a switch blade 608 and the multiserver platform #N 606 may include a switch blade 609.
  • The external network 601 may interface with the switch blade 607 of the multiserver platform #1 604 via a high speed communication link 610. The multiserver platform #1 604 may be coupled to the central switch 603 via a high speed communication link 611. The multiserver platform #2 605 may be coupled to the central switch 603 via the high speed link 612 and in a similar manner, the multiserver platform #N 606 may be coupled to the central switch 603 via the high speed communication link 613. In this regard, the switch blade 607 of the multiserver platform #1 604 may interface with the central switch 603 via the high speed communication link 611. The switch blade 608 of the multiserver platform #2 605 may connect with the central switch 603 via the high speed communication link 612. In a similar manner, the switch blade 609 of the multiserver platform #N 606 may connect to the central switch 603 via the high speed communication link 613.
  • In operation, the central switch may coordinate the high speed switching or routing of packets among the various multiserver platforms 604, 605, . . . , 606. One advantage of the central switch configuration of FIG. 6 over the daisy-chain configuration 302 of FIG. 3 is that, in the central switch configuration of FIG. 6, a packet may be transmitted from any given multiserver platform 604, 605, . . . , 606, through the central switch 603, to any other multiserver platform. In the daisy-chain configuration or arrangement, a packet of data may have to be passed through a plurality of intermediate multiserver platforms in order to be transferred to from a source platform to a destination platform.
  • The high speed communication links 610, 611, 612, 613 may be bi-directional communication links. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the high speed communication links may be links of the order of 1-10 Gigabits per second. Notwithstanding, these links may be Ethernet links or fibre channel links. Also, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the switch blades 607, 608, 609 of the multiserver platforms 604, 605, 606 may have the capability to simultaneously communicate with the central switch 603 via the high speed communication links 611, 612, . . . , 613. Similarly, the switch blade 607 may also have the capability to communicate with the external network 601 and the central switch 603 at the same time over the high speed communication links 610 and 611. The data communication rate between any of the multiserver platforms 604, 605, . . . , 606 and the central switch 603 may be any standard or non-standard data rate, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a flowchart 700 illustrating exemplary steps for providing communication in the central switch configuration of FIG. 6 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 7, in step 701, a first multiserver platform may transmit a first packet of information to a central switch via a first high speed communication link. In step 702, the central switch may transmit the first packet to a second multiserver platform via a second high speed communication link. In step 703, the second multiserver platform may process the first packet and may transmit a second packet of information to the central switch via the second high speed communication link. In step 704, the central switch may transmit the second packet to the first multiserver platform via the first high speed communication link. In step 705, the first multiserver platform may process the second packet and may transmit a third packet of information over an external network via a third high speed communication link.
  • In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, the multiserver platforms may communicate data and/or control information among each other via one or more high speed communication links that may be coupled to the switch blades of the multiserver platforms and/or the central switch where present. The control information may include pertinent information related the multiserver platforms. For example, some control information may indicate the blade server associated with a particular multiserver platform from which a particular packet may have originated. Other exemplary information may include synchronization information, security information, and provisioning and security.
  • In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, any one or more of the multiserver platforms may each provide a plurality of server functions. Alternatively, each of the multiserver platforms may be dedicated to providing a different, specific server function. Notwithstanding, the configurations of FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 may provide blade server scalability by utilizing at least two multiserver platforms to increase server performance and/or system capacity, for example. In this regard, multiserver platforms may be added or removed to facilitate increased and decreased traffic, respectively.
  • Aspects of the invention provide a method and system for inter-platform blade server integration using a plurality of multiserver platforms. The configurations of FIG. 3 and FIG. 6, for example, may provide blade server scalability using a plurality of multiserver platforms to increase server performance and/or system capacity. In this regard, by integrating a plurality of multiserver platforms, a larger virtual server platform is effectively created.
  • In particular, for example, aspects of the system for processing information in a server platform may include a first multiserver platform 303 (FIG. 3) having at least one network interface 309 and/or a first switch blade 306. At least a second multiserver platform 304 comprising a second switch blade 307 may be coupled to the first switch blade 306 of the first multiserver platform 303. A third multiserver platform 305 comprising a third switch blade 308 may be coupled to the second switch blade 304 of the second multiserver platform 307 and/or the first switch blade 306 of the first multiserver platform 303. The first multiserver platform 303, the second multiserver platform 304 and the third multiserver platform 305 may be coupled in a daisy-chain configuration. In this regard, the first multiserver platform 303 and the third multiserver platform 305 may communicate via the second multiserver platform 304.
  • In another embodiment of the invention, for example, at least one central switch 603 (FIG. 6) may be coupled to the first switch blade 607 of the first multiserver platform 604 and the second switch blade 608 of the second multiserver platform 605. At least a third switch blade 609 of a third multiserver platform 606 may also be coupled to the central switch 603. The first multiserver platform 604, second multiserver platform 605 and third multiserver platform 606 may communicate via the central switch 603.
  • Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. The present invention may be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software may be a general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein.
  • The present invention may also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form.
  • While the present invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (20)

What is claimed is:
1. A system, comprising:
a first multiserver platform that comprises:
a first plurality of servers; and
a first switch in communication with an external network and the first plurality of servers, wherein the first plurality of servers communicate with the external network via the first switch in the first multiserver platform, wherein the first switch comprises:
processing circuitry that receives a packet from the external network; and
processing circuitry that transmits the packet to a central switch to forward the packet to a second switch, wherein the second switch is in a second multiserver platform that comprises a second plurality of servers.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first switch in the first multiserver platform comprises:
processing circuitry that receives a second packet from the external network; and
processing circuitry that transmits the second packet to at least one of the first plurality of servers in the first multiserver platform.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first switch in the first multiserver platform further comprises:
processing circuitry that receives a second packet from the central switch; and
processing circuitry that transmits the second packet to the external network.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein the second packet originates from at least one of the second plurality of servers in the second multiserver platform.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the central switch communicates with the external network via the first switch in the first multiserver platform.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the second switch in the second multiserver platform communicates with the external network via the central switch and the first switch in the first multiserver platform.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first switch is a switch blade, and wherein at least one of the first plurality of servers is a blade server.
8. A method, comprising:
receiving, in a first switch, a packet from an external network, wherein the first switch is in a first multiserver platform that comprises a first plurality of servers, wherein the first plurality of servers communicates with the external network via the first switch; and
transmitting, using the first switch, the packet to a central switch to forward the packet to a second switch, wherein the second switch is in a second multiserver platform that comprises a second plurality of servers, and wherein the central switch communicates with the external network via the first switch in the first multiserver platform.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:
receiving, in the first switch, a second packet from the external network; and
transmitting, using the first switch, the second packet to at least one of the first plurality of servers in the first multiserver platform.
10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:
receiving, in the first switch, a second packet from the central switch; and
transmitting, using the first switch, the second packet to the external network.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second packet originates from at least one of the second plurality of servers in the second multiserver platform.
12. The method of claim 8, wherein the packet is received from the external network on a first communication link, and wherein the packet is transmitted to the central switch on a second communication link.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second communication link is bi-directional.
14. The method of claim 8, wherein the first switch communicates with the external network and the central switch simultaneously.
15. The method of claim 8, wherein the first switch is a switch blade, and wherein the plurality of servers are a plurality of blade servers coupled to the switch blade via a single backplane.
16. A non-transitory machine-readable medium embodying a program executable by a first switch in a first multiserver platform, the program comprising:
code that causes a first packet from an external network to be received in the first switch;
code that causes a second packet from the external network to be received in the first switch;
code that causes the first packet to be transmitted by the first switch to at least one of a first plurality of servers in the first multiserver platform, wherein the first plurality of servers communicate with the external network via the first switch; and
code that causes the second packet to be transmitted by the first switch to a central switch to forward the packet to a second switch, wherein the second switch is in a second multiserver platform that comprises a second plurality of servers, wherein the second plurality of servers communicate with the external network via the first switch in the first multiserver platform.
17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the program further comprises:
code that causes a third packet from the central switch to be received in the first switch; and
code that causes the third packet to be transmitted by the first switch to the external network.
18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the code that causes the first packet to be received is configured to be executed simultaneously with the code that causes the third packet to be received.
19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the third packet originates from the second switch in the second multiserver platform.
20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the third packet originates from a third switch in a third multiserver platform.
US14/153,179 2003-02-18 2014-01-13 Integrated Multiserver Platforms Abandoned US20140129732A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US14/153,179 US20140129732A1 (en) 2003-02-18 2014-01-13 Integrated Multiserver Platforms

Applications Claiming Priority (6)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US44865603P 2003-02-18 2003-02-18
US45683103P 2003-03-21 2003-03-21
US45871903P 2003-03-28 2003-03-28
US46301403P 2003-04-15 2003-04-15
US10/647,963 US20040199567A1 (en) 2003-02-18 2003-08-26 System and method for integrating multiserver platforms
US14/153,179 US20140129732A1 (en) 2003-02-18 2014-01-13 Integrated Multiserver Platforms

Related Parent Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US10/647,963 Continuation US20040199567A1 (en) 2003-02-18 2003-08-26 System and method for integrating multiserver platforms

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20140129732A1 true US20140129732A1 (en) 2014-05-08

Family

ID=32738907

Family Applications (6)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US10/647,962 Expired - Fee Related US7519057B2 (en) 2003-02-18 2003-08-26 System and method for communicating using a multiserver platform
US10/647,963 Abandoned US20040199567A1 (en) 2003-02-18 2003-08-26 System and method for integrating multiserver platforms
US10/648,004 Expired - Fee Related US7966422B2 (en) 2003-02-18 2003-08-26 System and method for communicating between servers using a multi-server platform
US10/648,573 Abandoned US20040199569A1 (en) 2003-02-18 2003-08-26 Method and system for handling traffic for server systems
US12/423,333 Expired - Fee Related US8089899B2 (en) 2003-02-18 2009-04-14 System and method for communicating using a multiserver platform
US14/153,179 Abandoned US20140129732A1 (en) 2003-02-18 2014-01-13 Integrated Multiserver Platforms

Family Applications Before (5)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US10/647,962 Expired - Fee Related US7519057B2 (en) 2003-02-18 2003-08-26 System and method for communicating using a multiserver platform
US10/647,963 Abandoned US20040199567A1 (en) 2003-02-18 2003-08-26 System and method for integrating multiserver platforms
US10/648,004 Expired - Fee Related US7966422B2 (en) 2003-02-18 2003-08-26 System and method for communicating between servers using a multi-server platform
US10/648,573 Abandoned US20040199569A1 (en) 2003-02-18 2003-08-26 Method and system for handling traffic for server systems
US12/423,333 Expired - Fee Related US8089899B2 (en) 2003-02-18 2009-04-14 System and method for communicating using a multiserver platform

Country Status (3)

Country Link
US (6) US7519057B2 (en)
EP (3) EP1450539B1 (en)
DE (2) DE602004011413T2 (en)

Families Citing this family (54)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8250357B2 (en) 2000-09-13 2012-08-21 Fortinet, Inc. Tunnel interface for securing traffic over a network
US7487232B1 (en) * 2000-09-13 2009-02-03 Fortinet, Inc. Switch management system and method
US7574495B1 (en) 2000-09-13 2009-08-11 Fortinet, Inc. System and method for managing interworking communications protocols
US7444398B1 (en) * 2000-09-13 2008-10-28 Fortinet, Inc. System and method for delivering security services
US7389358B1 (en) 2000-09-13 2008-06-17 Fortinet, Inc. Distributed virtual system to support managed, network-based services
US7111072B1 (en) 2000-09-13 2006-09-19 Cosine Communications, Inc. Packet routing system and method
US7272643B1 (en) 2000-09-13 2007-09-18 Fortinet, Inc. System and method for managing and provisioning virtual routers
US7181547B1 (en) 2001-06-28 2007-02-20 Fortinet, Inc. Identifying nodes in a ring network
US7124171B1 (en) * 2002-05-23 2006-10-17 Emc Corporation In a networked computing cluster storage system and plurality of servers sharing files, in the event of server unavailability, transferring a floating IP network address from first server to second server to access area of data
US7376125B1 (en) 2002-06-04 2008-05-20 Fortinet, Inc. Service processing switch
US7177311B1 (en) 2002-06-04 2007-02-13 Fortinet, Inc. System and method for routing traffic through a virtual router-based network switch
US7203192B2 (en) * 2002-06-04 2007-04-10 Fortinet, Inc. Network packet steering
US7161904B2 (en) 2002-06-04 2007-01-09 Fortinet, Inc. System and method for hierarchical metering in a virtual router based network switch
US7096383B2 (en) 2002-08-29 2006-08-22 Cosine Communications, Inc. System and method for virtual router failover in a network routing system
US7266120B2 (en) * 2002-11-18 2007-09-04 Fortinet, Inc. System and method for hardware accelerated packet multicast in a virtual routing system
US7835363B2 (en) * 2003-02-12 2010-11-16 Broadcom Corporation Method and system to provide blade server load balancing using spare link bandwidth
US7519057B2 (en) 2003-02-18 2009-04-14 Broadcom Corporation System and method for communicating using a multiserver platform
US20040181601A1 (en) * 2003-03-14 2004-09-16 Palsamy Sakthikumar Peripheral device sharing
US7720095B2 (en) 2003-08-27 2010-05-18 Fortinet, Inc. Heterogeneous media packet bridging
US7738242B2 (en) * 2004-01-08 2010-06-15 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. System and method for displaying chassis component information
US20060048163A1 (en) * 2004-08-27 2006-03-02 Thierry Bessis Method for routing messages between servers located on the same board
US7499419B2 (en) * 2004-09-24 2009-03-03 Fortinet, Inc. Scalable IP-services enabled multicast forwarding with efficient resource utilization
US7808904B2 (en) * 2004-11-18 2010-10-05 Fortinet, Inc. Method and apparatus for managing subscriber profiles
US7519693B2 (en) * 2004-11-18 2009-04-14 International Business Machines Corporation Apparatus, system, and method for integrating an enclosure
EP1854250B1 (en) * 2005-02-28 2011-09-21 International Business Machines Corporation Blade server system with at least one rack-switch having multiple switches interconnected and configured for management and operation as a single virtual switch
US8107822B2 (en) * 2005-05-20 2012-01-31 Finisar Corporation Protocols for out-of-band communication
US20060264178A1 (en) * 2005-05-20 2006-11-23 Noble Gayle L Wireless diagnostic systems
US7899057B2 (en) 2006-04-28 2011-03-01 Jds Uniphase Corporation Systems for ordering network packets
US7822127B1 (en) * 2006-05-15 2010-10-26 Super Micro Computer, Inc. Method and apparatus for minimizing signal loss in transit
US8437352B2 (en) * 2006-05-30 2013-05-07 Broadcom Corporation Method and system for power control based on application awareness in a packet network switch
US8213333B2 (en) * 2006-07-12 2012-07-03 Chip Greel Identifying and resolving problems in wireless device configurations
US7584325B2 (en) * 2006-07-26 2009-09-01 International Business Machines Corporation Apparatus, system, and method for providing a RAID storage system in a processor blade enclosure
CN101227355B (en) * 2006-08-16 2010-06-09 环达电脑(上海)有限公司 Clustering system and system management architecture thereof
US8526821B2 (en) 2006-12-29 2013-09-03 Finisar Corporation Transceivers for testing networks and adapting to device changes
CN101669380B (en) * 2007-04-02 2013-11-27 艾利森电话股份有限公司 Scalability and redundancy in MSC-server blade cluster
US8139036B2 (en) * 2007-10-07 2012-03-20 International Business Machines Corporation Non-intrusive capture and display of objects based on contact locality
US8625592B2 (en) * 2008-02-26 2014-01-07 Cisco Technology, Inc. Blade switch with scalable interfaces
US8151273B2 (en) * 2008-08-28 2012-04-03 Microsoft Corporation Environment wide configuration system
CN101853185B (en) 2009-03-30 2015-07-08 华为技术有限公司 Blade server and service dispatching method thereof
US8139492B1 (en) * 2009-06-09 2012-03-20 Juniper Networks, Inc. Local forwarding bias in a multi-chassis router
US8429316B1 (en) 2009-07-31 2013-04-23 Marvell International Ltd. Switch low power state in a blade server system
US8817614B1 (en) * 2010-09-16 2014-08-26 Vasona Networks Inc. Policy enforcer having load balancing capabilities
JP5687959B2 (en) * 2011-06-20 2015-03-25 株式会社日立製作所 I / O device sharing method and apparatus
US9014215B2 (en) * 2011-09-22 2015-04-21 Aviat U.S., Inc. Systems and methods for synchronization of clock signals
CN103186409A (en) * 2011-12-30 2013-07-03 英业达集团(天津)电子技术有限公司 Virtual machine deployment system
DE102012200042A1 (en) * 2012-01-03 2013-07-04 Airbus Operations Gmbh SERVER SYSTEM, AIR OR ROOM VEHICLE AND METHOD
CN103685382B (en) * 2012-09-12 2017-01-25 中兴通讯股份有限公司 Calling method and system of inter-clerk cross-blade server
US9591015B1 (en) 2014-03-28 2017-03-07 Fireeye, Inc. System and method for offloading packet processing and static analysis operations
US10805340B1 (en) 2014-06-26 2020-10-13 Fireeye, Inc. Infection vector and malware tracking with an interactive user display
US9690933B1 (en) 2014-12-22 2017-06-27 Fireeye, Inc. Framework for classifying an object as malicious with machine learning for deploying updated predictive models
US9838417B1 (en) 2014-12-30 2017-12-05 Fireeye, Inc. Intelligent context aware user interaction for malware detection
US10148693B2 (en) 2015-03-25 2018-12-04 Fireeye, Inc. Exploit detection system
DE112015006975T5 (en) * 2015-09-25 2019-05-09 Intel Corporation Microelectronic package with wireless interconnection
US10496291B2 (en) 2015-12-18 2019-12-03 Sap Se Maintaining data integrity during data migration

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6266335B1 (en) * 1997-12-19 2001-07-24 Cyberiq Systems Cross-platform server clustering using a network flow switch
US20020085567A1 (en) * 2000-12-28 2002-07-04 Maple Optical Systems, Inc. Metro switch and method for transporting data configured according to multiple different formats
US6510164B1 (en) * 1998-11-16 2003-01-21 Sun Microsystems, Inc. User-level dedicated interface for IP applications in a data packet switching and load balancing system
US20030035426A1 (en) * 2001-05-07 2003-02-20 Tagore-Brage Jens P. Data switching system
US20030061382A1 (en) * 2001-09-21 2003-03-27 Dell Products L.P. System and method for naming hosts in a distributed data processing system
US6597693B1 (en) * 1999-05-21 2003-07-22 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Common scalable queuing and dequeuing architecture and method relative to network switch data rate
US7188209B2 (en) * 2003-04-18 2007-03-06 Nextio, Inc. Apparatus and method for sharing I/O endpoints within a load store fabric by encapsulation of domain information in transaction layer packets

Family Cites Families (46)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5920566A (en) * 1997-06-30 1999-07-06 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Routing in a multi-layer distributed network element
US6188571B1 (en) * 1997-11-03 2001-02-13 Aiwa Raid Technology, Inc. High density RAID subsystem with highly integrated controller
US8516055B2 (en) * 1998-05-29 2013-08-20 Research In Motion Limited System and method for pushing information from a host system to a mobile data communication device in a wireless data network
US6208647B1 (en) * 1999-04-14 2001-03-27 Verizon Laboratories Inc. Multicast extension to data link layer protocols
US6735169B1 (en) * 1999-07-02 2004-05-11 Cisco Technology, Inc. Cascading multiple services on a forwarding agent
US6650641B1 (en) * 1999-07-02 2003-11-18 Cisco Technology, Inc. Network address translation using a forwarding agent
US6574240B1 (en) * 2000-01-19 2003-06-03 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Apparatus and method for implementing distributed layer 3 learning in a network switch
CA2401324A1 (en) * 2000-03-03 2001-09-13 Qualcomm Incorporated Method and apparatus for participating in group communication services in an existing communication system
US8380854B2 (en) * 2000-03-21 2013-02-19 F5 Networks, Inc. Simplified method for processing multiple connections from the same client
US7111076B2 (en) * 2000-04-13 2006-09-19 Intel Corporation System using transform template and XML document type definition for transforming message and its reply
US7079537B1 (en) * 2000-04-25 2006-07-18 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Layer 3 switching logic architecture in an integrated network switch
US6816905B1 (en) * 2000-11-10 2004-11-09 Galactic Computing Corporation Bvi/Bc Method and system for providing dynamic hosted service management across disparate accounts/sites
US20020107971A1 (en) * 2000-11-07 2002-08-08 Bailey Brian W. Network transport accelerator
US7236490B2 (en) * 2000-11-17 2007-06-26 Foundry Networks, Inc. Backplane interface adapter
US7984147B2 (en) * 2000-12-29 2011-07-19 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Apparatus and method for identifying a requested level of service for a transaction
US7339786B2 (en) 2001-03-05 2008-03-04 Intel Corporation Modular server architecture with Ethernet routed across a backplane utilizing an integrated Ethernet switch module
US7133869B2 (en) * 2001-03-06 2006-11-07 Knowledge Vector, Inc. Methods and systems for and defining and distributing information alerts
AU2002306749A1 (en) * 2001-03-13 2002-09-24 Shiv Balakrishnan An architecture and protocol for a wireless communication network to provide scalable web services to mobile access devices
US20020188718A1 (en) * 2001-05-04 2002-12-12 Rlx Technologies, Inc. Console information storage system and method
US8004971B1 (en) * 2001-05-24 2011-08-23 F5 Networks, Inc. Method and system for scaling network traffic managers using connection keys
US7102996B1 (en) * 2001-05-24 2006-09-05 F5 Networks, Inc. Method and system for scaling network traffic managers
US6950895B2 (en) * 2001-06-13 2005-09-27 Intel Corporation Modular server architecture
US7245632B2 (en) * 2001-08-10 2007-07-17 Sun Microsystems, Inc. External storage for modular computer systems
US7003563B2 (en) * 2001-11-02 2006-02-21 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Remote management system for multiple servers
US6904482B2 (en) * 2001-11-20 2005-06-07 Intel Corporation Common boot environment for a modular server system
JP4153201B2 (en) * 2001-12-19 2008-09-24 富士通株式会社 Communication control method, communication system, and computer program
US6983303B2 (en) * 2002-01-31 2006-01-03 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, Lp. Storage aggregator for enhancing virtualization in data storage networks
US7321926B1 (en) * 2002-02-11 2008-01-22 Extreme Networks Method of and system for allocating resources to resource requests
US7584262B1 (en) * 2002-02-11 2009-09-01 Extreme Networks Method of and system for allocating resources to resource requests based on application of persistence policies
US7194619B2 (en) * 2002-03-26 2007-03-20 International Business Machines Corporation Remotely booting devices in a dense server environment without manually installing authentication parameters on the devices to be booted
US7127058B2 (en) * 2002-03-27 2006-10-24 Nortel Networks Limited Managing communications in a call center
US6931568B2 (en) * 2002-03-29 2005-08-16 International Business Machines Corporation Fail-over control in a computer system having redundant service processors
US6848034B2 (en) * 2002-04-04 2005-01-25 International Business Machines Corporation Dense server environment that shares an IDE drive
US7171479B2 (en) * 2002-04-26 2007-01-30 International Business Machines Corporation Efficient delivery of boot code images from a network server
US7490162B1 (en) * 2002-05-15 2009-02-10 F5 Networks, Inc. Method and system for forwarding messages received at a traffic manager
US7124163B2 (en) * 2002-05-24 2006-10-17 Convedia Corporation Data server
US7487264B2 (en) * 2002-06-11 2009-02-03 Pandya Ashish A High performance IP processor
US7408957B2 (en) * 2002-06-13 2008-08-05 International Business Machines Corporation Selective header field dispatch in a network processing system
US7139381B2 (en) * 2002-06-25 2006-11-21 Nortel Networks Limited Method and apparatus for initiating telephony contact
US20040030766A1 (en) * 2002-08-12 2004-02-12 Michael Witkowski Method and apparatus for switch fabric configuration
US7225247B2 (en) * 2002-10-17 2007-05-29 Intel Corporation Serial port redirection using a management controller
WO2003045041A1 (en) * 2002-10-18 2003-05-30 Nokia Corporation Selectively recalling sent messages
US6931475B2 (en) * 2002-11-18 2005-08-16 Quanta Computer Inc. Blade server system with KVM switches
TWM242781U (en) * 2002-11-25 2004-09-01 Quanta Comp Inc Blade server management system with auxiliary management structure
US7519057B2 (en) * 2003-02-18 2009-04-14 Broadcom Corporation System and method for communicating using a multiserver platform
US8565088B1 (en) * 2006-02-01 2013-10-22 F5 Networks, Inc. Selectively enabling packet concatenation based on a transaction boundary

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6266335B1 (en) * 1997-12-19 2001-07-24 Cyberiq Systems Cross-platform server clustering using a network flow switch
US6510164B1 (en) * 1998-11-16 2003-01-21 Sun Microsystems, Inc. User-level dedicated interface for IP applications in a data packet switching and load balancing system
US6597693B1 (en) * 1999-05-21 2003-07-22 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Common scalable queuing and dequeuing architecture and method relative to network switch data rate
US20020085567A1 (en) * 2000-12-28 2002-07-04 Maple Optical Systems, Inc. Metro switch and method for transporting data configured according to multiple different formats
US20030035426A1 (en) * 2001-05-07 2003-02-20 Tagore-Brage Jens P. Data switching system
US20030061382A1 (en) * 2001-09-21 2003-03-27 Dell Products L.P. System and method for naming hosts in a distributed data processing system
US7188209B2 (en) * 2003-04-18 2007-03-06 Nextio, Inc. Apparatus and method for sharing I/O endpoints within a load store fabric by encapsulation of domain information in transaction layer packets

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1450539A2 (en) 2004-08-25
US20040199567A1 (en) 2004-10-07
EP1450539B1 (en) 2013-03-13
EP1450537A3 (en) 2005-03-23
US7519057B2 (en) 2009-04-14
EP1450538A3 (en) 2005-03-23
DE602004012633D1 (en) 2008-05-08
EP1450537A2 (en) 2004-08-25
EP1450538B1 (en) 2008-01-23
US20040199568A1 (en) 2004-10-07
DE602004011413T2 (en) 2009-01-29
US20040160900A1 (en) 2004-08-19
US20090201927A1 (en) 2009-08-13
US7966422B2 (en) 2011-06-21
DE602004012633T2 (en) 2009-05-14
DE602004011413D1 (en) 2008-03-13
EP1450537B1 (en) 2008-03-26
EP1450538A2 (en) 2004-08-25
US20040199569A1 (en) 2004-10-07
US8089899B2 (en) 2012-01-03
EP1450539A3 (en) 2005-03-23

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US20140129732A1 (en) Integrated Multiserver Platforms
EP1484888B1 (en) Method and system to provide blade server load balancing using spare link bandwidth
EP1981206B1 (en) An exchange system and method for increasing exchange bandwidth
US6662254B1 (en) System architecture
US8135806B2 (en) Virtual system configuration
CN101150413B (en) A multi-frame cascading system and method for ATCA knife server
US20110231513A1 (en) Application distribution control network apparatus
US20020049862A1 (en) Method and apparatus for providing optical internetworking to wide area networks, metropolitan area networks, and local area networks using modular components
RU2513918C1 (en) Cluster router and cluster routing method
CN1937782B (en) Frame device and its message transmitting method
US5982744A (en) High density unit shelf and method
US6608812B1 (en) Trunk arrangement in a computer network with intra trunk switch connections
US7801122B2 (en) Method and apparatus for extending synchronous optical networks
KR100560929B1 (en) The Ethernet Switching Board System And Method For Duplexing That Board
Cisco Overview
JPS61196643A (en) Data communication circuit network
US7716498B1 (en) Power control in a data storage system
KR100912819B1 (en) Protection apparatus and method of MSxP at ATCA platform based Optical Transport HierarchyOTH
CN103248585A (en) High efficient server relay interchanging chip
CN115134215A (en) Server BMC dynamic network linkage management method and management system
EP1460819A2 (en) Method and system for handling traffic for server systems
JPS61210470A (en) Composite type information communication system
KR20050054004A (en) Interface module for implementing single high speed interface by aggregating plurality of low speed interfaces and communication device including the same

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AS Assignment

Owner name: BROADCOM CORPORATION, CALIFORNIA

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:LUND, MARTIN;REEL/FRAME:032006/0408

Effective date: 20030805

AS Assignment

Owner name: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT, NORTH CAROLINA

Free format text: PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT;ASSIGNOR:BROADCOM CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:037806/0001

Effective date: 20160201

Owner name: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT, NORTH

Free format text: PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT;ASSIGNOR:BROADCOM CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:037806/0001

Effective date: 20160201

STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION

AS Assignment

Owner name: AVAGO TECHNOLOGIES GENERAL IP (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD., SINGAPORE

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:BROADCOM CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:041706/0001

Effective date: 20170120

Owner name: AVAGO TECHNOLOGIES GENERAL IP (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:BROADCOM CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:041706/0001

Effective date: 20170120

AS Assignment

Owner name: BROADCOM CORPORATION, CALIFORNIA

Free format text: TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS;ASSIGNOR:BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT;REEL/FRAME:041712/0001

Effective date: 20170119