U.S. patent application number 10/647963 was filed with the patent office on 2004-10-07 for system and method for integrating multiserver platforms.
Invention is credited to Lund, Martin.
Application Number | 20040199567 10/647963 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32738907 |
Filed Date | 2004-10-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040199567 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lund, Martin |
October 7, 2004 |
System and method for integrating multiserver platforms
Abstract
Aspects of the invention may include a first multiserver
platform comprising a network interface and/or a first switch
blade. A second multiserver platform comprising a second switch
blade may be coupled to the first switch blade. 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, second multiserver platform and third
multiserver may be coupled in a daisy-chain configuration.
Accordingly, 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. A third switch
blade of a third multiserver platform may be coupled to the central
switch.
Inventors: |
Lund, Martin; (Menlo Park,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MCANDREWS HELD & MALLOY, LTD
500 WEST MADISON STREET
SUITE 3400
CHICAGO
IL
60661
|
Family ID: |
32738907 |
Appl. No.: |
10/647963 |
Filed: |
August 26, 2003 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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60458719 |
Mar 28, 2003 |
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60448656 |
Feb 18, 2003 |
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60456831 |
Mar 21, 2003 |
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60463014 |
Apr 15, 2003 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/201 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 45/00 20130101;
H04L 69/40 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/201 |
International
Class: |
G06F 015/16 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for communicating information in a server platform, the
method comprising: receiving at least one packet from at least one
of a first switch blade associated with a first multiserver
platform; determining at least a second server blade associated
with a second multiserver platform for receiving at least a portion
of said received at least one packet; and routing at least a
portion of said at least one received packet to at least said
second server blade.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said receiving further
comprises receiving said at least one packet by at least one of a
third switch blade and a central switch.
3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising if said at
least one packet is received by said central switch, communicating
said at least a portion of said at least one received packet to at
least said second switch blade via at least one communication link
that couples said central switch directly to said at least said
second switch blade.
4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising processing
said routed at least a portion of said at least one received packet
by said at least said second blade server.
5. 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
being executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform
steps comprising: receiving at least one packet from at least one
of a first switch blade associated with a first multiserver
platform; determining at least a second server blade associated
with a second multiserver platform for receiving at least a portion
of said received at least one packet; and routing at least a
portion of said at least one received packet to at least said
second server blade.
6. The machine-readable storage according to claim 5, further
comprising code for receiving said at least one packet by at least
one of a third switch blade and a central switch.
7. The machine-readable storage according to claim 6, further
comprising code for communicating said at least a portion of said
at least one received packet to at least said second switch blade
via at least one communication link that couples said central
switch directly to said at least said second switch blade, if said
at least one packet is received by said central switch.
8. The machine-readable storage according to claim 5, further
comprising code for processing said routed at least a portion of
said at least one received packet by said at least said second
blade server.
9. A system for communicating information in a server platform, the
system comprising: a first multiserver platform comprising at least
one of a network interface and a first switch blade; and at least a
second multiserver platform comprising a second switch blade
coupled said first switch blade of said first multiserver
platform.
10. The system according to claim 9, further comprising at least a
third multiserver platform comprising a third switch blade coupled
to at least one of said second switch blade of said second
multiserver platform and said first switch blade of said first
multiserver platform.
11. The system according to claim 10, wherein said first
multiserver platform, said second multiserver platform and said
third multiserver are coupled in a daisy-chain configuration.
12. The system according to claim 10, wherein said first
multiserver platform, and said third multiserver platform
communicate via said second multiserver platform.
13. The system according to claim 9, further comprising at least
one central switch coupled to at least said first switch blade of
said first multiserver platform and said second switch blade of
said second multiserver platform.
14. The system according to claim 13, further comprising at least a
third switch blade of a third multiserver platform coupled to said
at least one central switch.
15. The system according to claim 14, wherein said first
multiserver platform, said second multiserver platform and said
third multiserver platform communicate via said central switch.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY
REFERENCE
[0001] This application makes reference to, and/or claims priority
to and/or claims benefit to:
[0002] U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/458,719,
entitled "Method and System to Provide Inter-Chassis Blade Server
Integration for Scalability" and filed on Mar. 28, 2003;
[0003] U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial 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;
[0004] U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial 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
[0005] U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial 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.
[0006] The above stated applications are hereby incorporated herein
by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0007] 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
[0008] 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.
[0009] 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.
[0010] 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.
[0011] 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).
[0012] 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
[0013] 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.
[0014] 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.
[0015] 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.
[0016] 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.
[0017] 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
[0018] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a multiserver
platform in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
[0019] 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.
[0020] 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.
[0021] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the coupling of two
switch blades in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention.
[0022] 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.
[0023] 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.
[0024] 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
[0025] 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.
[0026] 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.
[0027] 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.
[0028] 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.
[0029] 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.
[0030] 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.
[0031] 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.
[0032] 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.
[0033] 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.
[0034] 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.
[0035] 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.
[0036] 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 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.
[0037] 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 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.
[0038] 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 blade server 202 may
facilitate the simultaneous transfer of information between any of
the blade servers 203, 204, 205.
[0039] 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 in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The daisy-chain
configuration 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.
[0040] 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 #3 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.
[0041] 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 may be of the
order of 1-10 Gigabit per second or higher and may be Ethernet
links. Notwithstanding, the high speed communication links 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. 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 30. 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.
[0042] 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. As
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 of FIG. 3.
[0043] 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 may be provided by the
switch blade, this may eliminate a need for an additional bus
processing entity such as the bus controller 418.
[0044] 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 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. ______ (Attorney Docket No. 14221US02)
filed Aug. 26, 2003, discloses a method and system for selective
steering of data traffic of various data types to functionally
dedicated blade servers which application is incorporated herein by
reference in its entirety.
[0045] 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.
[0046] 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.
[0047] 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 may be provided by the switch blade,
this may eliminate a need for an additional bus processing entity
such as the bus controller 438.
[0048] 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 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.
[0049] 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.
[0050] 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.
[0051] 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.
[0052] 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 #1 404 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
404 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.
[0053] 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
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.
[0054] 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 403 may be
any standard or non-standard data rate, in accordance with various
embodiments of the invention.
[0055] 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.
[0056] 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.
[0057] 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.
[0058] 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.
[0059] 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.
[0060] 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.
[0061] 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.
[0062] 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.
[0063] 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.
* * * * *