US20050223146A1 - High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers - Google Patents
High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20050223146A1 US20050223146A1 US11/051,852 US5185205A US2005223146A1 US 20050223146 A1 US20050223146 A1 US 20050223146A1 US 5185205 A US5185205 A US 5185205A US 2005223146 A1 US2005223146 A1 US 2005223146A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- mass storage
- network
- module
- storage device
- server system
- 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
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/06—Digital input from, or digital output to, record carriers, e.g. RAID, emulated record carriers or networked record carriers
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/06—Digital input from, or digital output to, record carriers, e.g. RAID, emulated record carriers or networked record carriers
- G06F3/0601—Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems
- G06F3/0602—Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems specifically adapted to achieve a particular effect
- G06F3/061—Improving I/O performance
- G06F3/0613—Improving I/O performance in relation to throughput
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/06—Digital input from, or digital output to, record carriers, e.g. RAID, emulated record carriers or networked record carriers
- G06F3/0601—Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems
- G06F3/0628—Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems making use of a particular technique
- G06F3/0629—Configuration or reconfiguration of storage systems
- G06F3/0635—Configuration or reconfiguration of storage systems by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/06—Digital input from, or digital output to, record carriers, e.g. RAID, emulated record carriers or networked record carriers
- G06F3/0601—Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems
- G06F3/0668—Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems adopting a particular infrastructure
- G06F3/0671—In-line storage system
- G06F3/0683—Plurality of storage devices
- G06F3/0689—Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
- G06F11/07—Responding to the occurrence of a fault, e.g. fault tolerance
- G06F11/16—Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware
- G06F11/20—Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements
- G06F11/2002—Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements where interconnections or communication control functionality are redundant
- G06F11/2007—Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements where interconnections or communication control functionality are redundant using redundant communication media
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
- G06F11/07—Responding to the occurrence of a fault, e.g. fault tolerance
- G06F11/16—Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware
- G06F11/20—Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements
- G06F11/2002—Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements where interconnections or communication control functionality are redundant
- G06F11/2007—Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements where interconnections or communication control functionality are redundant using redundant communication media
- G06F11/201—Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements where interconnections or communication control functionality are redundant using redundant communication media between storage system components
Definitions
- This invention relates to a high speed, microcomputer based, Fibre Channel compatible and fault tolerant information processing and mass storage system especially suited for information servers and application servers.
- the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for information processing and storage involving a unique and extremely versatile system architecture, including a dual loop arbitrated, Fibre Channel capable, multiple-fault tolerant, hot-swappable mass storage disk array and including a method and apparatus for providing an enterprise-wide information or application server system using such disk array.
- the present invention further addresses some of the problems discussed in the referenced Dellacona applications, as well as others.
- the present invention further addresses the problem of scalability and customization in information processing and storage systems for different applications.
- Yet other applications may require storage expansion for existing information processing systems.
- This invention provides an architecture which will readily accommodate such needs.
- mass storage systems can create considerable heat, particularly where they are disk drive based. If the heat is not effectively removed, it can affect the reliability and life of the system. Often, it is difficult to remove the heat because of obstructions caused by the physical configuration of back planes and mid planes which act as barriers to air flow.
- all of the disk drives of a mass storage module or array are typically plugged into connectors on the face of a backplane or mid plane that extends across the entire module. Whether enclosed in a cabinet or other enclosure or rack mounted without an enclosure, air flow through the module is inhibited by this type of structural arrangement, and excessive heating can occur, particularly in the vicinity of the disk drives.
- the present invention obviates one or more of the foregoing problems and/or shortcomings of the prior art through the provision of an information processing and mass storage method and system, including a unique mass storage array, particularly suited for information servers or application servers, with a novel system architecture which permits the addition or replacement of storage devices without interrupting or seriously degrading the operation of the system and which is highly fault-tolerant and reliable.
- the invention obviates one or more of the foregoing problems by providing a novel physical layout that permits the effective removal of heat from a system module containing heat creating components.
- Certain information server configurations in accordance with the invention include one or more computers, each computer connected to communicate through a Fibre Channel controller with a mass storage array comprising a plurality of bypass circuit boards, at least some of which are connected to an information storage device.
- the controller provides a dual loop communications channel comprising two complete communication paths to each of bypass circuit boards and associated storage devices.
- the controller provides a single loop which traverses the bypass circuit boards and any associated storage devices twice.
- the Fibre Channel controller connected to each computer communicates with the mass storage array through a Fibre Channel controller bypass card.
- the computer is preferably a suitable conventional single board computer.
- the controller preferably is a conventional arbitrated dual channel Fibre Channel system through which the computer communicates with each of the storage device bypass circuit boards and the module bypass circuit board.
- the bypass circuit boards may be any suitable circuits which form a continuous loop for the Fiber Channel controller regardless of whether a disk drive is plugged into the drive bypass circuit board. The loop continues through other modules when they are connected to the module bypass circuit thereby readily permitting expansion while maintaining a unitary information processing and mass storage system.
- a high speed information processing and mass storage system includes two modules, each including a plurality of disk drives in a hot-swappable, disk drive array.
- Each disk drive array is connected to a module bypass circuit which includes an optical input/output connector, preferably an optoelectronic transceiver.
- the optical input/output connectors of the modules are connected by a fiber optic transmission medium such that signals are communicated between the modules in the form of light.
- a high speed information processing and/or mass storage system with disk drives for information storage includes at least one module with a plurality of drive bypass circuit boards, each including a drive bypass circuit board connector. At least one opening is provided between connectors to permit the flow of air between the connectors.
- Each drive bypass circuit board is a relatively flat circuit board with connectors on different edges of the board, wherein one of the connectors is the connector which receives the disk drive and the other connector connects to said drive bypass circuit board connector.
- the connectors, bypass circuit boards and drives are arranged such that when they are connected there is a path for air flow from outside the module alongside each bypass circuit board and its associated disk drive for cooling purposes without any backplane obstruction.
- at least one fan is mounted to force air from outside said enclosure through the spaces between said bypass boards and drives, preferably through the openings between the drive bypass circuit board connectors.
- the present invention provides a novel high speed information processing and/or mass storage system particularly suitable for information and application servers.
- the system is scalable, fault tolerant, and reliable both because of its novel system architecture and its physical layout.
- FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram generally illustrating an information or application server system according to the present invention using a high speed mass storage system of the invention
- FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2 C are diagrammatic representations illustrating various system configurations for different applications wherein different ratios of processing and storage are required;
- FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a mass storage module of FIG. 1 in greater detail
- FIG. 4A is a functional block diagram illustrating the dual loop communication path from the Fibre Channel controller of FIG. 3 connected so as to provide one logical Fibre Channel communication path traversing each of the storage device bypass circuit boards twice;
- FIG. 4B is a functional block diagram illustrating the dual loop communication path from the Fibre Channel controller of FIG. 3 connected so as to provide two logical Fibre Channel communication paths traversing each of the storage device bypass circuit boards once, thereby being independently available to communicate with each of the storage devices;
- FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating an information or application server system according to the present invention wherein two or more servers are connected to a mass storage array which may include one or more mass storage modules;
- FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a web server application configured in accordance with the architecture of the present invention
- FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a basic video streaming application configured in accordance with the architecture of the present invention.
- FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram illustrating another embodiment of a video streaming application configured in accordance with the architecture of the present invention and including a duplicated index server;
- FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating another embodiment of a video streaming application configured in accordance with the architecture of the present invention and including a distributed index server;
- FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a storage device bypass circuit board according to the present invention.
- FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a chassis bypass circuit board according to the present invention.
- FIGS. 12A and 12B are diagrammatic representations of the physical layout of a drive bypass circuit board and disk drive illustrating the preferred connector arrangement according to the present invention.
- FIGS. 13A and 13B are diagrammatic representations of a connector arrangement for connecting a single board computer (SBC) to various input/out devices according to the present invention.
- SBC single board computer
- the server designated generally by the reference numeral 100 , includes a computer 102 , a controller 104 , preferably a Fibre Channel controller, and a communications interface or access card 106 .
- the server 100 communicates via the Fibre Channel controller 104 with a mass storage array 200 which includes one or more mass storage modules 202 A . . . 202 n.
- the computer 102 may also communicate with a suitable diagnostic computer 110 as is described in the aforementioned Dellacona applications.
- the computer 102 preferably comprises single board high speed computer running a computer industry standard operating system software program such as, for example, Windows NT available from Microsoft Corporation.
- a computer industry standard operating system software program such as, for example, Windows NT available from Microsoft Corporation.
- An operating system like Windows NT may be stripped down to remove those elements of the program which are not needed, if desired to preserve memory or to increase operating speed.
- Suitable conventional drivers of the type used for similar applications may be provided as necessary to support the particular architecture being implemented.
- the computer may include a display such as a touch screen display, and various storage and peripheral devices (not shown) as required.
- the single board computer can include any of a wide number of suitable devices including, but not limited to, the Compact PCI CPU Board with Pentium Processor, Model No. ZT 5510, available from Ziatech Corporation. Modifications to enhance performance of the ZT 5510 can include an onboard 40 MB flash memory card for permanent storage of the non-reconfigurable portions of the Windows NT operating system software and an onboard, removable, PCMCIA 40 Mb flash memory card, “D2 FlashDisk” available from Sandisk Corporation for read/writeable storage of the reconfigurable portions of the Windows NT software.
- the Fibre Channel controller 104 may be any suitable design according to the Fibre Channel Consortium created as a separate board or incorporated into the single board computer design.
- the communications interface or access card 106 may be any suitable device made in accordance with well known T-1 communications architecture, and/or architecture adapted for compatibility with other network and telecommunications architectures, protocols and topologies including, but not limited to, T-3, DS-3, OC-3C, OC-12C, OC-192C, FDDI, SONET, SCSI, TCP/IP, HiPPI and ATM.
- the computers 102 and 110 may be networked together and with other computers through appropriate ethernet cards or other suitable networking techniques.
- FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2 C illustrate generally three types of system configurations which can be addressed in accordance with the architecture of the present invention.
- Each Figure is diagrammatically illustrative of a chassis 300 with a power supply section 302 and a diagnostics section 304 .
- the chassis includes a processing section 306 such one or more of the servers 100 of FIG. 1 , and/or a storage section 308 such as one or more of the mass storage modules 202 of FIG. 1 .
- the size of the processing and storage sections can be readily configured for a particular application.
- FIG. 2A illustrates an arrangement for a high volume server such as an application server, a movie server (e.g., for video streaming to multiple users) or communications in conjunction with a carrier-class switch.
- the processing section 306 includes ten slots, each preferably representing a single board computer.
- the storage section 308 has only five storage slots, each representing a high speed, high capacity storage device such as a disk drive.
- FIG. 2B illustrates an arrangement which might be suitable for a web-server or web-hosting.
- the processing section 306 comprises two slots of the chassis whereas the storage section 308 comprises fifteen slots.
- FIG. 2C illustrates a chassis arrangement suitable primarily for storage expansion. Here, there is no processing section and the chassis is devoted to storage.
- FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of the mass storage array 200 of FIG. 1 in greater detail as it could be configured with a single computer server 100 and one or more mass storage modules 202 .
- the mass storage array 200 includes one or more modules 202 A, 202 B . . . 202 n, each of which is preferably identical architecturally, although they may contain different numbers of storage devices and different types of storage devices.
- Each module 202 includes bypass circuit boards 210 A, 210 B . . . 210 n and at least some storage devices 212 A, 212 B . . . 212 n connected to the boards 210 .
- a each storage device is preferably provided with an associated read/write switch 214 A, 214 B . . . 214 n, respectively.
- Each module 202 has a module or chassis bypass circuit board 216 in the communication path of the Fibre Channel controller 104 .
- the chassis bypass circuit board 216 of module 202 A is provided with an optical input/output connector 218 for outputting electrical signals from the module 202 A as light signals and for inputting light signals into the module 202 A as electrical signals.
- the modules 202 B . . . 202 n have chassis bypass circuit boards 216 with associated input/output connectors 218 (not shown).
- the input/output connector 218 of the chassis bypass circuit board of module 202 A is adapted to be connected via a light transmission medium such as optical fibers 220 to the optical input/output connector 218 (not shown) of the chassis bypass circuit board of module 202 B.
- the controller 104 preferably is a conventional Fibre Channel Controller (FCC) which operates on a Fibre Channel protocol, and preferably is an arbitrated dual channel Fiber Channel Controller.
- FCC Fibre Channel Controller
- the controller 104 provides a dual channel communication path within each module 202 between the computer 102 and each of the operable storage devices 212 .
- the bypass circuit boards 210 ensure that the communication path is complete even if a storage device 212 is inoperable (i.e., is not operable at or above some minimum level as is hereinafter described in greater detail) or has been removed from the connector on the bypass circuit board.
- each of the storage devices 212 is preferably a high speed, high capacity, conventionally available disk drive which is removably connected to its associated bypass circuit board 210 .
- the disk drive plugs into a connector on the bypass circuit board 210 so that it can be readily removed and replaced or so that drives may be added to empty bypass circuit board positions, as needed to expand the storage capacity of the module.
- Each bypass circuit board 210 includes circuits which connect the controller 104 to the disk drive 212 when the disk drive is plugged in and is conveying to the bypass circuit board that it is operable at a certain minimum level.
- bypass circuit board 210 connects the controller 104 directly to the next bypass circuit board, bypassing the disk drive 212 , when the disk drive is not plugged in or is not operating at or above the minimum level.
- Any suitable, conventional disk drive of the type that runs self-diagnostics and provides a fault/no fault output signal may be used for this purpose.
- the bypass circuit board 210 A directs communications to the associated storage device 212 A and then to the next bypass circuit board 210 B when an operable storage device 212 A is connected to the bypass circuit board 210 A.
- the storage device 212 A is inoperable, i.e. not operating at some minimum satisfactory level, or when there is no storage device connected to the bypass circuit board 210 A, e.g., if the storage device is removed for replacement, the dual channel communication path proceeds through the bypass circuit board 210 A without interruption, i.e., bypasses the storage device connector.
- bypass circuit board to accomplish the foregoing connection and bypass functions is described hereinafter in greater detail, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that these functions can be accomplished in any suitable conventional manner by electronic switching circuits controlled by the fault/no fault signal from the storage device.
- the module or chassis bypass circuit board 216 provides functions similar to the storage or drive bypass circuit boards 210 in the sense that they either route communications back to the controller directly if there is no additional module 202 B connected to the module 202 A or they route communications to the next module 202 B if one is connected and signals are being received. In the case of a single module 202 , therefore, there is a dual channel communications loop entirely within the module by which the computer 102 communicates with each of the disk drives 212 . On the other hand, by virtue of the chassis bypass circuit board 216 , the dual channel communications loop extends to each of the disk drives 212 in the next module when one is connected.
- module bypass circuit board 216 communications from the computer 102 of module 202 A are directed by the module bypass circuit board 216 to the next module 202 B via connectors 218 and optical fibers 220 so that module 202 B is within and traversed by the dual Fibre Channel communication loop.
- individual mass storage device modules 202 of the mass storage array 200 may be expanded internally by adding disk drives or other suitable storage devices, and bad disk drives may be replaced without affecting the operation of the rest of the module or the system it is used in.
- This provides an extremely versatile hot swappable, hot expandable, mass storage device array.
- an additional module may be added, again without interrupting the operation of the rest of the array or its system.
- the Fibre Channel controller provides a dual path 10 through each module of the mass storage array 200 .
- the system can be configured so that the dual path is a single path which traverses the mass storage array twice or two independent paths as is illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B .
- the Fibre Channel controller (FCC) 104 includes two output paths A and B. Each path traverses the mass storage module 202 as illustrated, communicating with each of the present and operable storage devices 212 and returning to the FCC.
- the A path returning to the FCC is looped back to the B output path. Accordingly, a single continuous path traverses the mass storage module twice.
- the A return path is not looped back to the B output path. Accordingly, two paths traverse the mass storage module and can be used independently. This latter embodiment provides a second path in the event that one path fails.
- FIGS. 4A and 4B embodiments provide redundancy and fault tolerance.
- the FIG. 4A embodiment is somewhat simpler to implement because only one set of chips is necessary to provide the single Fibre Channel capability required for the single loop. Still, if one of the loops is broken or encounters some other fault, that loop can be bypassed within the controller, and the other loop is still available.
- the FIG. 4B embodiment may be more complex and expensive to implement, it provides two independently addressable loops for fault tolerance and redundancy, but also provides significantly greater communications bandwidth.
- FIG. 5 illustrates a further configuration which is made possible by the system architecture of the present invention.
- two servers are connected to a mass storage array, a first module of which is illustrated.
- the servers 100 A and 100 B are connected to Fibre Channel bypass boards 222 A and 222 B, respectively.
- the operation of the computers 102 A and 102 B may be sensed by the Fibre Channel bypass boards, for example by sensing signal flow as with the chassis bypass board, so that the computers 102 A and 102 B can operate together or, in the case of a fault, separately.
- each server may have flash memory, and in the embodiment of FIG. 5 , each computer 102 A and 102 B has its own flash memory with its operating system stored therein. In this fashion, the computers can boot independently from its associated flash memory rather than from the shared memory or other disk arrangement.
- FIG. 5 provides two servers and thus increased processing power.
- one server provides backup to the other in the event of failure, thereby providing increased fault tolerance and reliability.
- the architecture of FIG. 5 permits the two servers to communicate with each other at Fibre Channel speeds, higher than could be achieved with 100BaseT LAN, using IP protocol.
- FIG. 6 illustrates one configuration wherein two servers A and B are connected in a suitable local area network (LAN) configuration with access to the internet Server A has its own mass storage array 200 as does server B. It will be appreciated that several servers and storage arrays can be networked in this fashion to provide a very powerful information or application server system particularly suitable for web server applications. In addition, this configuration, permits full duplication of computer/mass storage systems rather than sharing a mass storage system as with the embodiment of FIG. 5 . Moreover, while the FIG.
- FIG. 6 embodiment illustrates communication over a LAN which typically may be a 100BaseT LAN, it will be appreciated that this may be a Fibre Channel LAN if rates in the gigabit range are desired. These features and advantages may be the ideal choice for critical processing applications such as web servers.
- FIG. 7 illustrates another configuration particularly useful for video streaming applications.
- the diagnostics computer 110 also has indexing functions for controlling access to content servers 1 , 2 and 3 .
- the content servers 100 provide access to video stored in their associated storage arrays 200 .
- Alternatives, also particularly suitable for video streaming applications, are shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 .
- duplicated index servers separate from the diagnostics computer are provided with their own storage arrays.
- the functions of the index servers are distributed among the content servers so that there are multiple index/content servers 1 - 5 .
- FIG. 8 approach uses an architecture where the index server or servers coordinate content streaming from the content servers whereas in FIG. 9 the index and content server functionality is distributed across all servers, providing extensive scalability.
- FIGS. 10 and 11 are functional block diagrams which generally illustrate the storage and chassis bypass circuit boards 210 and 216 , respectively, in greater detail.
- the storage bypass circuit board 210 includes a bypass board backplane connector 230 arranged to plug into a connector on the backplane generally indicated at 232 .
- the A and B signal paths coming from a previous bypass circuit or directly from the Fibre Channel controller are connected through the backplane to the bypass board via the backplane connector 230 .
- the A and B signal paths emerge from the bypass board 210 via the bypass board backplane connector 230 .
- the A signal path from the backplane connector 230 is connected to a suitable conventional electronic switch 234 .
- the B signal path from the backplane connector 230 likewise is connected to an electronic switch 236 .
- the A and B signal paths from electronic switches 234 and 236 are connected to a bypass board storage card or drive connector 238 where they are routed to the storage device (e.g., a disk drive) 212 .
- the return A signal path from the bypass board drive connector 238 is connected to the switch 234 , and the return B signal path from the connector 238 is connected to switch 236 .
- a fault signal produced by the storage device to indicate its presence and its level of operability as was described above is applied to each of the electronic switches 234 and 236 to control the switching thereof.
- the A and B return paths from the switches 234 and 236 are connected to the bypass board backplane connector 230 where they are routed through the backplane 232 to the next bypass circuit board or to the Fibre Channel controller.
- the A signal path enters the bypass circuit board and is connected to the switch 234 . If the fault signal is not present (i.e., there is no fault and the signal is in a low or negative signal state) indicating that the storage device is not present or is inoperable, the switch 234 returns the A signal path to the bypass board backplane connector 230 thus bypassing the storage device 212 .
- the B signal path similarly is looped back to the backplane connector 230 by the electronic switch 236 if the fault signal is low.
- the A and B signal paths are routed through the switches 234 and 236 to the storage device and then back through the switches when the fault signal is high or positive indicating the storage device is present and operable.
- the chassis bypass circuit board is essentially the same as the storage bypass circuit board except the selection made by the electronic switches 234 and 236 is between acting as a bypass or connecting the A and B to the I/O connector 238 .
- the I/O connector is preferably a conventional optical fiber transceiver for use in bidirectional communication applications over multimode optical fiber, particularly in multimode or single mode Fibre Channel applications.
- the transceiver may be a model MLC-25-6-X-T optical fibre channel small factor (SFF) transceiver available from Methode Electronics, Inc. of Chicago, Ill.
- SFF optical fibre channel small factor
- Such transceivers include a light transmitter and receiver as well as a standard receptacle for receiving an industry standard optical fiber connector.
- the transceiver provides a signal detect output (the fault signal in FIG. 11 ) which indicates whether or not the transceiver is receiving a light signal. If it is not, the fault signal causes the electronic switches 234 A and 236 A to loop the A and B paths back to the chassis bypass board connector 230 A. If, on the other hand, the fault signal indicates that a light signal is being received by the transceiver 218 , the electrical signals on the A and B paths are passed through the switches 234 A and 236 A to the transceiver 218 where they are converted to light signals and transmitted over the optical fibers forming the A and B paths to the next chassis.
- the fault signal indicates that a light signal is being received by the transceiver 218 .
- light signals returned from the next chassis on the A and B paths are converted back to electrical signals by the transceiver 218 and returned along the A and B paths through the switches 234 A and 236 A to the connector 230 A and onto the next bypass circuit or the Fibre Channel controller.
- each of the modules 202 of a mass storage device array such as the one shown in FIG. 3 is enclosed in a housing or, if mounted in a rack, may be surrounded by other structures and/or other circuit boards.
- the server components such as the computers 102 and 110 , the touch screen display 112 , the Fibre Channel controller, and other system components such as communication access cards, ethernet cards, LAN components and the like may also be mounted within the same housing or on the same rack. Heating may therefore be a problem, particularly where the storage devices used in the modules are disk drives driven by motors.
- the preferred embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in FIGS. 12A and 12B includes a physical structure and arrangement of the various bypass circuit boards and storage devices that accommodates the circulation of cooling air throughout the module without minimal obstruction.
- each of the drive bypass circuit boards 210 is a relatively thin circuit board.
- the circuit board is, however, unlike typical circuit boards built to receive a disk drive or other mass storage device.
- the connector or plug which receives the plug-in disk drive typically is positioned so that the disk drive extends perpendicular to the plane of the board.
- the bypass circuits and/or the communications paths between them on a backplane or midplane circuit board which extends across the module in a fashion similar to a computer motherboard which extends across the computer chassis and has connectors to receive various plug-in cards or boards. That arrangement creates an obstruction which makes it more difficult to effectively cool heat producing storage devices such as disk drives.
- the present invention does not use either a circuit board midplane or a backplane structure.
- the connector on the drive bypass board which receives the disk drive e.g., the connector 238 in FIG. 10
- the drive bypass circuit board itself is not plugged into a backplane circuit board.
- a connector is provided on the edge of the board, preferably opposite the disk drive connector as illustrated at 239 in FIG. 10 , and that connector plugs into an individual connector which is mounted on a frame or other structural member of the chassis and which is wired or otherwise connected to similar connectors for the other disk bypass circuit boards.
- FIGS. 12A shows a side view of the disk drive 212 plugged into the drive bypass circuit board 210 via connector 238 , with the drive bypass circuit board plugged into connector 240 suitably mounted on structural members 242 of the chassis or rack containing the mass storage module and/or server and its associated components.
- FIG. 12B is an end view illustrating several bypass circuit boards 21 plugged into the connectors 240 which are in turn connected by screws or other suitable means to the structural members 242 . Since there is no backplane which would normally make the connections between adjacent components, electrical or light connections generally indicated at 246 are suitably provided between the connectors 240 to provide the communications required, as illustrated, for example, in FIGS. 3 and 5 .
- each connector 240 there is a space 244 through which air can readily be drawn or forced by a fan or other air circulation means as is necessary. Even if the structural members are part of a housing that surrounds the components, screening or other suitable openings can be provided so that the areas 244 permit sufficient air flow. It can also be seen that because the disk drive is plugged into the bypass circuit board so that their planes are parallel and not perpendicular, there is no obstruction of air flow.
- connection arrangement is particularly suited for field service of the unit and is readily upgradeable. Connectors can be readily replaced in the field without the need to change a complete backplane or midplane board, and in some instances repairs of this sort can be carried out with little or no down time.
- the illustrated connection arrangement permits expansion without the limitations encountered when using a backplane or midplane with a fixed number of expansion slots and without the other physical and electrical limitations encountered with backplanes or midplanes.
- a single board computer of the type previously described in connection with the description of the server 100 may connect to the communications card 106 through a mini compactPCI (CPCI) backplane.
- the single board computer SBC may incorporate the Fibre Channel controller FCC.
- the SBC may connect to an input/output unit I/O at the left rear connector of the CPCI backplane.
- the I/O may include the FCC functions.
Abstract
A high speed, microcomputer based, Fibre Channel compatible and fault tolerant information processing and mass storage system especially suited for information servers and application servers. A unique and extremely versatile system architecture, including a dual loop arbitrated, Fibre Channel capable, multiple-fault tolerant, hot-swappable mass storage disk array, permits combinations of servers and mass storage arrays which can be tailored for a wide variety of applications and which can be configured with emphasis on the system characteristics such as redundancy, speed, processing capability, storage capability, and the like, as desired. A unique backplane and/or midplane arrangement for connecting the system components allows for easy and, in most cases, on-line field upgrading and/or service and at the same time provides for the very effective cooling of components, particularly those such as disk drives which tend to produce a lot of heat.
Description
- This application is related to Patent Application No. PCT/US99/05231 of Richard Dellacona filed Mar. 10, 1999, which is based upon Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/077,643, filed Mar. 10, 1998, and to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/071282 of Richard Dellacona filed May 1, 1998, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
- 1. Field of the Invention
- This invention relates to a high speed, microcomputer based, Fibre Channel compatible and fault tolerant information processing and mass storage system especially suited for information servers and application servers. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for information processing and storage involving a unique and extremely versatile system architecture, including a dual loop arbitrated, Fibre Channel capable, multiple-fault tolerant, hot-swappable mass storage disk array and including a method and apparatus for providing an enterprise-wide information or application server system using such disk array.
- 2. State of the Art
- Efforts have been made in the past to provide a mass storage file server capable of delivering information throughout an enterprise with high speed data throughput, scalable data storage capability in a convenient, easily configurable enclosure using well known, industry standard operating software and hardware. However, such systems have typically experienced many shortcomings and problems associated with equipment incompatibility as well as with the inability of presently available computer and communications hardware to sustain performance and service failure of component devices. Such shortcomings have included the lack of capability to add storage devices to accommodate increased storage requirements or to replace failed storage devices without the need to completely power down the information server. Some of the compatibility problems have involved, for example, bottlenecks in sharing information among the equipment components of various vendors. The above-referenced Dellacona patent applications address some of these problems and others, and provide unique solutions which are described and claimed therein.
- The present invention further addresses some of the problems discussed in the referenced Dellacona applications, as well as others. For example, the present invention further addresses the problem of scalability and customization in information processing and storage systems for different applications. In some applications, there may be a greater need for processing capability rather than storage capacity, while other applications may require just the opposite. Yet other applications may require storage expansion for existing information processing systems. This invention provides an architecture which will readily accommodate such needs.
- In addition, mass storage systems can create considerable heat, particularly where they are disk drive based. If the heat is not effectively removed, it can affect the reliability and life of the system. Often, it is difficult to remove the heat because of obstructions caused by the physical configuration of back planes and mid planes which act as barriers to air flow. Typically, for example, all of the disk drives of a mass storage module or array are typically plugged into connectors on the face of a backplane or mid plane that extends across the entire module. Whether enclosed in a cabinet or other enclosure or rack mounted without an enclosure, air flow through the module is inhibited by this type of structural arrangement, and excessive heating can occur, particularly in the vicinity of the disk drives.
- Also, it is desirable to be able to hot swap individual disk drives of a mass storage module to accommodate the need for more storage capacity, but the system storage requirements may outgrow the capacity of the module and it may also be desirable to have the capability of adding modules without powering down the system. Of course, this capability must be provided without disturbing the operation of the existing module and with a minimum of signal degradation as modules are added.
- The present invention obviates one or more of the foregoing problems and/or shortcomings of the prior art through the provision of an information processing and mass storage method and system, including a unique mass storage array, particularly suited for information servers or application servers, with a novel system architecture which permits the addition or replacement of storage devices without interrupting or seriously degrading the operation of the system and which is highly fault-tolerant and reliable. In addition, the invention obviates one or more of the foregoing problems by providing a novel physical layout that permits the effective removal of heat from a system module containing heat creating components.
- In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, an information processing and mass storage system adapted to be readily expandable to increase its storage capacity while the system is in operation comprises at least one module containing (a) at least one computer, (b) a plurality of plug-in storage devices such as disk drives for storing information, (c) a storage device bypass circuit board associated with each storage device, with each storage device being plugged into a connector on the bypass circuit board, (d) a module bypass circuit board including an optical input/output connector for outputting electrical signals from the module as light signals and for inputting light signals into the module as electrical signals and (e) a controller connecting the computer with each of the storage devices through its associated storage device bypass circuit board and through the module bypass circuit board.
- Certain information server configurations in accordance with the invention include one or more computers, each computer connected to communicate through a Fibre Channel controller with a mass storage array comprising a plurality of bypass circuit boards, at least some of which are connected to an information storage device. In one embodiment, the controller provides a dual loop communications channel comprising two complete communication paths to each of bypass circuit boards and associated storage devices. In another embodiment, the controller provides a single loop which traverses the bypass circuit boards and any associated storage devices twice. In a one configuration with two or more computers, the Fibre Channel controller connected to each computer communicates with the mass storage array through a Fibre Channel controller bypass card.
- In a preferred embodiment the computer is preferably a suitable conventional single board computer. The controller preferably is a conventional arbitrated dual channel Fibre Channel system through which the computer communicates with each of the storage device bypass circuit boards and the module bypass circuit board. The bypass circuit boards may be any suitable circuits which form a continuous loop for the Fiber Channel controller regardless of whether a disk drive is plugged into the drive bypass circuit board. The loop continues through other modules when they are connected to the module bypass circuit thereby readily permitting expansion while maintaining a unitary information processing and mass storage system.
- In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a high speed information processing and mass storage system includes two modules, each including a plurality of disk drives in a hot-swappable, disk drive array. Each disk drive array is connected to a module bypass circuit which includes an optical input/output connector, preferably an optoelectronic transceiver. The optical input/output connectors of the modules are connected by a fiber optic transmission medium such that signals are communicated between the modules in the form of light. With this configuration, modules may be added to increase storage capacity without interrupting the operation of each other and without serious signal degradation.
- In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a high speed information processing and/or mass storage system with disk drives for information storage includes at least one module with a plurality of drive bypass circuit boards, each including a drive bypass circuit board connector. At least one opening is provided between connectors to permit the flow of air between the connectors. Each drive bypass circuit board is a relatively flat circuit board with connectors on different edges of the board, wherein one of the connectors is the connector which receives the disk drive and the other connector connects to said drive bypass circuit board connector. The connectors, bypass circuit boards and drives are arranged such that when they are connected there is a path for air flow from outside the module alongside each bypass circuit board and its associated disk drive for cooling purposes without any backplane obstruction. Where the mass storage system is housed in an enclosure, at least one fan is mounted to force air from outside said enclosure through the spaces between said bypass boards and drives, preferably through the openings between the drive bypass circuit board connectors.
- It will be appreciated that the present invention provides a novel high speed information processing and/or mass storage system particularly suitable for information and application servers. The system is scalable, fault tolerant, and reliable both because of its novel system architecture and its physical layout. Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary and preferred embodiments when read in conjunction with the drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
-
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram generally illustrating an information or application server system according to the present invention using a high speed mass storage system of the invention; -
FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C are diagrammatic representations illustrating various system configurations for different applications wherein different ratios of processing and storage are required; -
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a mass storage module ofFIG. 1 in greater detail; -
FIG. 4A is a functional block diagram illustrating the dual loop communication path from the Fibre Channel controller ofFIG. 3 connected so as to provide one logical Fibre Channel communication path traversing each of the storage device bypass circuit boards twice; -
FIG. 4B is a functional block diagram illustrating the dual loop communication path from the Fibre Channel controller ofFIG. 3 connected so as to provide two logical Fibre Channel communication paths traversing each of the storage device bypass circuit boards once, thereby being independently available to communicate with each of the storage devices; -
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating an information or application server system according to the present invention wherein two or more servers are connected to a mass storage array which may include one or more mass storage modules; -
FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a web server application configured in accordance with the architecture of the present invention; -
FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a basic video streaming application configured in accordance with the architecture of the present invention; -
FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram illustrating another embodiment of a video streaming application configured in accordance with the architecture of the present invention and including a duplicated index server; -
FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating another embodiment of a video streaming application configured in accordance with the architecture of the present invention and including a distributed index server; -
FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a storage device bypass circuit board according to the present invention; -
FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a chassis bypass circuit board according to the present invention; -
FIGS. 12A and 12B are diagrammatic representations of the physical layout of a drive bypass circuit board and disk drive illustrating the preferred connector arrangement according to the present invention; and -
FIGS. 13A and 13B are diagrammatic representations of a connector arrangement for connecting a single board computer (SBC) to various input/out devices according to the present invention. - One embodiment of an information or application server system in accordance with the present invention using the high speed information processing and mass storage system of the invention is illustrated in
FIG. 1 . Referring toFIG. 1 , the server, designated generally by thereference numeral 100, includes acomputer 102, acontroller 104, preferably a Fibre Channel controller, and a communications interface oraccess card 106. Theserver 100 communicates via theFibre Channel controller 104 with amass storage array 200 which includes one or moremass storage modules 202A . . . 202 n. As illustrated, thecomputer 102 may also communicate with a suitablediagnostic computer 110 as is described in the aforementioned Dellacona applications. - The
computer 102 preferably comprises single board high speed computer running a computer industry standard operating system software program such as, for example, Windows NT available from Microsoft Corporation. An operating system like Windows NT may be stripped down to remove those elements of the program which are not needed, if desired to preserve memory or to increase operating speed. Suitable conventional drivers of the type used for similar applications may be provided as necessary to support the particular architecture being implemented. - The computer may include a display such as a touch screen display, and various storage and peripheral devices (not shown) as required. The single board computer can include any of a wide number of suitable devices including, but not limited to, the Compact PCI CPU Board with Pentium Processor, Model No. ZT 5510, available from Ziatech Corporation. Modifications to enhance performance of the ZT 5510 can include an onboard 40 MB flash memory card for permanent storage of the non-reconfigurable portions of the Windows NT operating system software and an onboard, removable, PCMCIA 40 Mb flash memory card, “D2 FlashDisk” available from Sandisk Corporation for read/writeable storage of the reconfigurable portions of the Windows NT software.
- The
Fibre Channel controller 104 may be any suitable design according to the Fibre Channel Consortium created as a separate board or incorporated into the single board computer design. The communications interface oraccess card 106 may be any suitable device made in accordance with well known T-1 communications architecture, and/or architecture adapted for compatibility with other network and telecommunications architectures, protocols and topologies including, but not limited to, T-3, DS-3, OC-3C, OC-12C, OC-192C, FDDI, SONET, SCSI, TCP/IP, HiPPI and ATM. In addition, thecomputers -
FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C illustrate generally three types of system configurations which can be addressed in accordance with the architecture of the present invention. Each Figure is diagrammatically illustrative of achassis 300 with apower supply section 302 and adiagnostics section 304. In addition, the chassis includes aprocessing section 306 such one or more of theservers 100 ofFIG. 1 , and/or astorage section 308 such as one or more of themass storage modules 202 ofFIG. 1 . The size of the processing and storage sections can be readily configured for a particular application. - For example,
FIG. 2A illustrates an arrangement for a high volume server such as an application server, a movie server (e.g., for video streaming to multiple users) or communications in conjunction with a carrier-class switch. It can be seen that theprocessing section 306 includes ten slots, each preferably representing a single board computer. In contrast, thestorage section 308 has only five storage slots, each representing a high speed, high capacity storage device such as a disk drive. Thus, the processing function is stressed over the storage function. On the other hand,FIG. 2B illustrates an arrangement which might be suitable for a web-server or web-hosting. Here, theprocessing section 306 comprises two slots of the chassis whereas thestorage section 308 comprises fifteen slots.FIG. 2C illustrates a chassis arrangement suitable primarily for storage expansion. Here, there is no processing section and the chassis is devoted to storage. -
FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of themass storage array 200 ofFIG. 1 in greater detail as it could be configured with asingle computer server 100 and one or moremass storage modules 202. Referring toFIG. 2 , themass storage array 200 includes one ormore modules module 202 includesbypass circuit boards storage devices boards 210. In addition, a each storage device is preferably provided with an associated read/write switch - Each
module 202 has a module or chassisbypass circuit board 216 in the communication path of theFibre Channel controller 104. The chassisbypass circuit board 216 ofmodule 202A is provided with an optical input/output connector 218 for outputting electrical signals from themodule 202A as light signals and for inputting light signals into themodule 202A as electrical signals. Likewise, themodules 202B . . . 202 n have chassisbypass circuit boards 216 with associated input/output connectors 218 (not shown). As illustrated, the input/output connector 218 of the chassis bypass circuit board ofmodule 202A is adapted to be connected via a light transmission medium such asoptical fibers 220 to the optical input/output connector 218 (not shown) of the chassis bypass circuit board ofmodule 202B. - As was previously noted, the
controller 104 preferably is a conventional Fibre Channel Controller (FCC) which operates on a Fibre Channel protocol, and preferably is an arbitrated dual channel Fiber Channel Controller. Thecontroller 104 provides a dual channel communication path within eachmodule 202 between thecomputer 102 and each of theoperable storage devices 212. As is described hereinafter in greater detail, thebypass circuit boards 210 ensure that the communication path is complete even if astorage device 212 is inoperable (i.e., is not operable at or above some minimum level as is hereinafter described in greater detail) or has been removed from the connector on the bypass circuit board. - In that regard, each of the
storage devices 212 is preferably a high speed, high capacity, conventionally available disk drive which is removably connected to its associatedbypass circuit board 210. Preferably, the disk drive plugs into a connector on thebypass circuit board 210 so that it can be readily removed and replaced or so that drives may be added to empty bypass circuit board positions, as needed to expand the storage capacity of the module. Eachbypass circuit board 210 includes circuits which connect thecontroller 104 to thedisk drive 212 when the disk drive is plugged in and is conveying to the bypass circuit board that it is operable at a certain minimum level. On the other hand, thebypass circuit board 210 connects thecontroller 104 directly to the next bypass circuit board, bypassing thedisk drive 212, when the disk drive is not plugged in or is not operating at or above the minimum level. Any suitable, conventional disk drive of the type that runs self-diagnostics and provides a fault/no fault output signal may be used for this purpose. - With further reference to
FIG. 3 , by way of example, thebypass circuit board 210A directs communications to the associatedstorage device 212A and then to the nextbypass circuit board 210B when anoperable storage device 212A is connected to thebypass circuit board 210A. When thestorage device 212A is inoperable, i.e. not operating at some minimum satisfactory level, or when there is no storage device connected to thebypass circuit board 210A, e.g., if the storage device is removed for replacement, the dual channel communication path proceeds through thebypass circuit board 210A without interruption, i.e., bypasses the storage device connector. While one embodiment of a bypass circuit board to accomplish the foregoing connection and bypass functions is described hereinafter in greater detail, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that these functions can be accomplished in any suitable conventional manner by electronic switching circuits controlled by the fault/no fault signal from the storage device. - With continued reference to
FIG. 3 , the module or chassisbypass circuit board 216 provides functions similar to the storage or drivebypass circuit boards 210 in the sense that they either route communications back to the controller directly if there is noadditional module 202B connected to themodule 202A or they route communications to thenext module 202B if one is connected and signals are being received. In the case of asingle module 202, therefore, there is a dual channel communications loop entirely within the module by which thecomputer 102 communicates with each of the disk drives 212. On the other hand, by virtue of the chassisbypass circuit board 216, the dual channel communications loop extends to each of the disk drives 212 in the next module when one is connected. Specifically, if there is anadditional module 202B connected tomodule 202A as illustrated, then communications from thecomputer 102 ofmodule 202A are directed by the modulebypass circuit board 216 to thenext module 202B viaconnectors 218 andoptical fibers 220 so thatmodule 202B is within and traversed by the dual Fibre Channel communication loop. - It will be appreciated that with the above described architecture, individual mass
storage device modules 202 of themass storage array 200 may be expanded internally by adding disk drives or other suitable storage devices, and bad disk drives may be replaced without affecting the operation of the rest of the module or the system it is used in. This provides an extremely versatile hot swappable, hot expandable, mass storage device array. In addition, when the demands of the system exceed the capacity of a single module, an additional module may be added, again without interrupting the operation of the rest of the array or its system. - As was explained above, the Fibre Channel controller provides a dual path 10 through each module of the
mass storage array 200. In accordance with the present invention, the system can be configured so that the dual path is a single path which traverses the mass storage array twice or two independent paths as is illustrated inFIGS. 4A and 4B . - Referring now to
FIGS. 4A and 4B , the Fibre Channel controller (FCC) 104 includes two output paths A and B. Each path traverses themass storage module 202 as illustrated, communicating with each of the present andoperable storage devices 212 and returning to the FCC. In theFIG. 4A embodiment, the A path returning to the FCC is looped back to the B output path. Accordingly, a single continuous path traverses the mass storage module twice. In theFIG. 4B embodiment, the A return path is not looped back to the B output path. Accordingly, two paths traverse the mass storage module and can be used independently. This latter embodiment provides a second path in the event that one path fails. - It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the
FIGS. 4A and 4B embodiments provide redundancy and fault tolerance. TheFIG. 4A embodiment is somewhat simpler to implement because only one set of chips is necessary to provide the single Fibre Channel capability required for the single loop. Still, if one of the loops is broken or encounters some other fault, that loop can be bypassed within the controller, and the other loop is still available. Similarly, while theFIG. 4B embodiment may be more complex and expensive to implement, it provides two independently addressable loops for fault tolerance and redundancy, but also provides significantly greater communications bandwidth. -
FIG. 5 illustrates a further configuration which is made possible by the system architecture of the present invention. In theFIG. 5 embodiment, two servers are connected to a mass storage array, a first module of which is illustrated. Theservers Channel bypass boards computers computers FIG. 5 , eachcomputer - It will be appreciated that the system configuration illustrated in
FIG. 5 provides two servers and thus increased processing power. In addition, one server provides backup to the other in the event of failure, thereby providing increased fault tolerance and reliability. In addition, the architecture ofFIG. 5 permits the two servers to communicate with each other at Fibre Channel speeds, higher than could be achieved with 100BaseT LAN, using IP protocol. - It can be seen that system architecture according to the present invention lends itself to a wide variety of configurations to accommodate a variety of applications.
FIG. 6 illustrates one configuration wherein two servers A and B are connected in a suitable local area network (LAN) configuration with access to the internet Server A has its ownmass storage array 200 as does server B. It will be appreciated that several servers and storage arrays can be networked in this fashion to provide a very powerful information or application server system particularly suitable for web server applications. In addition, this configuration, permits full duplication of computer/mass storage systems rather than sharing a mass storage system as with the embodiment ofFIG. 5 . Moreover, while theFIG. 6 embodiment illustrates communication over a LAN which typically may be a 100BaseT LAN, it will be appreciated that this may be a Fibre Channel LAN if rates in the gigabit range are desired. These features and advantages may be the ideal choice for critical processing applications such as web servers. -
FIG. 7 illustrates another configuration particularly useful for video streaming applications. In this embodiment, thediagnostics computer 110 also has indexing functions for controlling access tocontent servers content servers 100 provide access to video stored in their associatedstorage arrays 200. Alternatives, also particularly suitable for video streaming applications, are shown inFIGS. 8 and 9 . In theFIG. 8 embodiment duplicated index servers separate from the diagnostics computer are provided with their own storage arrays. In the illustrated embodiment there are twoindex servers content servers FIG. 9 embodiment, the functions of the index servers are distributed among the content servers so that there are multiple index/content servers 1-5. One skilled in the art will appreciate that theFIG. 8 approach uses an architecture where the index server or servers coordinate content streaming from the content servers whereas inFIG. 9 the index and content server functionality is distributed across all servers, providing extensive scalability. -
FIGS. 10 and 11 are functional block diagrams which generally illustrate the storage and chassisbypass circuit boards FIG. 10 , the storagebypass circuit board 210 includes a bypassboard backplane connector 230 arranged to plug into a connector on the backplane generally indicated at 232. The A and B signal paths coming from a previous bypass circuit or directly from the Fibre Channel controller are connected through the backplane to the bypass board via thebackplane connector 230. Similarly, the A and B signal paths emerge from thebypass board 210 via the bypassboard backplane connector 230. - The A signal path from the
backplane connector 230 is connected to a suitable conventionalelectronic switch 234. The B signal path from thebackplane connector 230 likewise is connected to anelectronic switch 236. The A and B signal paths fromelectronic switches connector 238 where they are routed to the storage device (e.g., a disk drive) 212. - The return A signal path from the bypass
board drive connector 238 is connected to theswitch 234, and the return B signal path from theconnector 238 is connected to switch 236. A fault signal produced by the storage device to indicate its presence and its level of operability as was described above is applied to each of theelectronic switches switches board backplane connector 230 where they are routed through thebackplane 232 to the next bypass circuit board or to the Fibre Channel controller. - In operation, the A signal path enters the bypass circuit board and is connected to the
switch 234. If the fault signal is not present (i.e., there is no fault and the signal is in a low or negative signal state) indicating that the storage device is not present or is inoperable, theswitch 234 returns the A signal path to the bypassboard backplane connector 230 thus bypassing thestorage device 212. The B signal path similarly is looped back to thebackplane connector 230 by theelectronic switch 236 if the fault signal is low. On the other hand, the A and B signal paths are routed through theswitches - Referring now to
FIG. 11 , the chassis bypass circuit board is essentially the same as the storage bypass circuit board except the selection made by theelectronic switches O connector 238. In this regard, the I/O connector is preferably a conventional optical fiber transceiver for use in bidirectional communication applications over multimode optical fiber, particularly in multimode or single mode Fibre Channel applications. For example, the transceiver may be a model MLC-25-6-X-T optical fibre channel small factor (SFF) transceiver available from Methode Electronics, Inc. of Chicago, Ill. Such transceivers include a light transmitter and receiver as well as a standard receptacle for receiving an industry standard optical fiber connector. In addition, the transceiver provides a signal detect output (the fault signal inFIG. 11 ) which indicates whether or not the transceiver is receiving a light signal. If it is not, the fault signal causes theelectronic switches bypass board connector 230A. If, on the other hand, the fault signal indicates that a light signal is being received by thetransceiver 218, the electrical signals on the A and B paths are passed through theswitches transceiver 218 where they are converted to light signals and transmitted over the optical fibers forming the A and B paths to the next chassis. Similarly, light signals returned from the next chassis on the A and B paths are converted back to electrical signals by thetransceiver 218 and returned along the A and B paths through theswitches connector 230A and onto the next bypass circuit or the Fibre Channel controller. - Typically, each of the
modules 202 of a mass storage device array such as the one shown inFIG. 3 is enclosed in a housing or, if mounted in a rack, may be surrounded by other structures and/or other circuit boards. The server components such as thecomputers touch screen display 112, the Fibre Channel controller, and other system components such as communication access cards, ethernet cards, LAN components and the like may also be mounted within the same housing or on the same rack. Heating may therefore be a problem, particularly where the storage devices used in the modules are disk drives driven by motors. Accordingly, the preferred embodiment of the present invention as illustrated inFIGS. 12A and 12B includes a physical structure and arrangement of the various bypass circuit boards and storage devices that accommodates the circulation of cooling air throughout the module without minimal obstruction. - In accordance with one aspect of this physical structure of the invention, each of the drive
bypass circuit boards 210 is a relatively thin circuit board. The circuit board is, however, unlike typical circuit boards built to receive a disk drive or other mass storage device. In such conventional circuit boards, the connector or plug which receives the plug-in disk drive typically is positioned so that the disk drive extends perpendicular to the plane of the board. For example, it is usual to have the bypass circuits and/or the communications paths between them on a backplane or midplane circuit board which extends across the module in a fashion similar to a computer motherboard which extends across the computer chassis and has connectors to receive various plug-in cards or boards. That arrangement creates an obstruction which makes it more difficult to effectively cool heat producing storage devices such as disk drives. - As is illustrated in
FIGS. 12A and 12B , the present invention does not use either a circuit board midplane or a backplane structure. Instead, the connector on the drive bypass board which receives the disk drive (e.g., theconnector 238 inFIG. 10 ) is at the edge of the board so that the drive, when plugged in, extends parallel to the circuit board. In addition, the drive bypass circuit board itself is not plugged into a backplane circuit board. Rather, a connector is provided on the edge of the board, preferably opposite the disk drive connector as illustrated at 239 inFIG. 10 , and that connector plugs into an individual connector which is mounted on a frame or other structural member of the chassis and which is wired or otherwise connected to similar connectors for the other disk bypass circuit boards. -
FIGS. 12A shows a side view of thedisk drive 212 plugged into the drivebypass circuit board 210 viaconnector 238, with the drive bypass circuit board plugged intoconnector 240 suitably mounted onstructural members 242 of the chassis or rack containing the mass storage module and/or server and its associated components.FIG. 12B is an end view illustrating several bypass circuit boards 21 plugged into theconnectors 240 which are in turn connected by screws or other suitable means to thestructural members 242. Since there is no backplane which would normally make the connections between adjacent components, electrical or light connections generally indicated at 246 are suitably provided between theconnectors 240 to provide the communications required, as illustrated, for example, inFIGS. 3 and 5 . - It can be seen that between each
connector 240 there is aspace 244 through which air can readily be drawn or forced by a fan or other air circulation means as is necessary. Even if the structural members are part of a housing that surrounds the components, screening or other suitable openings can be provided so that theareas 244 permit sufficient air flow. It can also be seen that because the disk drive is plugged into the bypass circuit board so that their planes are parallel and not perpendicular, there is no obstruction of air flow. - It will also be appreciated that this arrangement is particularly suited for field service of the unit and is readily upgradeable. Connectors can be readily replaced in the field without the need to change a complete backplane or midplane board, and in some instances repairs of this sort can be carried out with little or no down time. In addition, the illustrated connection arrangement permits expansion without the limitations encountered when using a backplane or midplane with a fixed number of expansion slots and without the other physical and electrical limitations encountered with backplanes or midplanes.
- Similar physical arrangements may be used to connect computers to their associated components to create the desired server configuration. For example, as illustrated in
FIG. 13A , a single board computer of the type previously described in connection with the description of theserver 100 may connect to thecommunications card 106 through a mini compactPCI (CPCI) backplane. In this case, the single board computer SBC may incorporate the Fibre Channel controller FCC. Likewise, inFIG. 13B , the SBC may connect to an input/output unit I/O at the left rear connector of the CPCI backplane. In this case, the I/O may include the FCC functions. Again, it will be appreciated that the foregoing advantages are achieved with this sort of simple backplane or midplane structure which does not extend across the cabinet or rack. - The above-described exemplary embodiments are intended to be illustrative in all respects, rather than restrictive, of the present invention. Thus the present invention is capable of many variations in detailed implementation that can be derived from the description contained herein by a person skilled in the art. All such variations and modifications are considered to be within the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the following claims.
Claims (43)
1-36. (canceled)
37. A method for transferring data in a network server system, the network server system being connected to a network for providing subscribers on a network with access to data from the network server system, comprising:
providing at least one mass storage device;
providing first and second controllers, at least one of the first and second controllers being connected to the network for receiving input signals from the network and for outputting signals from the network server system to the network, and at least one of the first and second controllers being connected to said at least one mass storage device for controlling input and output of said at least one mass storage device;
providing at least one central processing unit connected to the first and second controllers, said at least one central processing unit establishing direct communication between the first controller and the second controller; and
maintaining the direct communication between the first and second controllers independently of said at least one central processing unit, freeing said at least one central processing unit.
38. The method of claim 37 , wherein the first and second controllers operate with a Fibre Channel protocol.
39. The method of claim 37 , wherein the first and second controllers comprise arbitrated loop dual channel Fibre Channel controllers.
40. The method of claim 37 , wherein said at least one of the first and second controllers is connected to an optical input/output connector which is connected to the at least one mass storage device, the optical input/output connector outputting electrical signals as output light signals and inputting light signals to the first controller as input electrical signals.
41. A method for transferring data in a network server system, the network server system being connected to a network for providing subscribers on a network with access to data from the network server system, comprising:
providing a high speed mass storage system;
providing first and second Fibre Channel controllers, at least one of the first and second controllers being connected to the network for receiving input signals from the network and for outputting signals from the network server system to the network, and at least one of the first and second controllers being connected to the high speed mass storage system for controlling input and output from the mass storage system;
providing at least one central processing unit connected to the first and second Fibre Channel controllers, said at least one central processing unit establishing direct communication between the first Fibre Channel controller and the second Fibre Channel controller; and
maintaining the direct communication between the first and second controllers independently of said at least one central processing unit, freeing said at least one central processing unit.
42. The method of claim 41 , wherein the first and second Fibre Channel controllers comprise arbitrated loop dual channel Fibre Channel controllers.
43. The method of claim 41 , wherein said at least one of the first and second Fibre Channel controllers is connected to an optical input/output connector which is connected to the high speed mass storage system, the optical input/output connector outputting electrical signals as output light signals and inputting light signals to the first controller as input electrical signals.
44. A method for transferring data in a network server system, the network server system being connected to a network for providing subscribers on a network with access to data from the network server system, the method comprising:
providing a mass storage system which is readily expandable to increase its storage capacity while the system is in operation, said mass storage system including at least one mass storage module with a plurality of plug-in storage devices for storing information;
providing at least one central processing unit;
providing a plurality of storage device bypass circuit boards associated with each of said storage devices, respectively, each storage device being plugged into a connector on the storage device bypass circuit board;
providing a module bypass circuit board including an optical input/output connector for outputting electrical signals from said at least one mass storage module as light signals and for inputting light signals into said at least one mass storage module as electrical signals; and
providing at least one controller providing a communication path between said at least one central processing unit with said plurality of storage devices through said storage device bypass circuit boards, respectively, and through the module bypass circuit board.
45. The method of claim 44 wherein each storage device bypass circuit board includes a circuit which completes the connection of the CPU with the other storage device bypass circuits and their associated storage devices whether or not the storage device is present.
46. The method of claim 44 wherein said at least one mass storage module comprises a first mass storage module and at least one additional mass storage module, and the module bypass circuit board connects to said at least one additional mass storage module by outputting electrical signals from said first mass storage module to said at least one additional mass storage module via the optical input/output connector when light signals are received from said at least one additional mass storage module by said optical input/output connector.
47. The method of claim 44 wherein said at least one mass storage module comprises first and second mass storage modules each including one said Module bypass circuit board including one said optical input/output connector, and wherein the optical input/output connectors of the first and second mass storage modules are connected by a fiber optic transmission medium such that signals are communicated between the first and second mass storage modules in the form of light.
48. The method of claim 47 wherein the module bypass circuit board of the first mass storage module connects to the second mass storage module by outputting electrical signals from the first mass storage module to the second mass storage module via the optical input/output connectors when light signals are received from the second mass storage module by said optical input/output connector of said first mass storage module.
49. The method of claim 44 wherein the controller operates with a Fibre Channel protocol.
50. The method of claim 44 wherein the controller is an arbitrated loop dual channel Fibre Channel controller.
51. The method of claim 44 wherein each storage device is a disk drive and wherein each storage device bypass circuit board comprises a disk drive bypass circuit board including a circuit which completes the connection of the CPU with the other drive bypass circuits and their associated disk drives whether or not the disk drive is present.
52. The method of claim 51 wherein said at least one mass storage module comprises a first mass storage module and at least one additional mass storage module, and the module bypass circuit board connects to said at least one additional mass storage module by outputting electrical signals from said first mass storage module to said at least one additional mass storage module via the optical input/output connector when light signals are received from said at least one additional mass storage module by said optical input/output connector.
53. The method of claim 50 including first and second mass storage modules each including one said module bypass circuit board including one said optical input/output connector, wherein the optical input/output connectors of the first and second mass storage modules are connected by a fiber optic transmission medium such that signals are communicated between the first and second mass storage modules in the form of light.
54. The method of claim 53 wherein the module bypass circuit board of the first mass storage module connects to the second mass storage module by outputting electrical signals from the first mass storage module to the second mass storage module via the optical input/output connectors when light signals are received from the second mass storage module by said optical input/output connector of said first mass storage module.
55. A network server system, comprising:
a central processing unit;
a first controller communicatively coupled to the central processing unit;
a mass storage device communicatively coupled to the first controller, the first controller configured to control communications to and from the mass storage device; and
a second controller communicatively coupled to the central processing unit and the first controller, the second controller configured to communicate with a network, the central processing unit being operative to establish direct communication between the first and second controllers, and said first and second controllers being operative to maintain the direct communication independent of the central processing unit.
56. The network server system of claim 55 , wherein the first controller communicates with the mass storage device over a high speed optical network.
57. A server system, comprising:
a central processing unit;
a first controller communicatively coupled to the central processing unit and configured to control communications to and from at least one mass storage device over an optical communication path; and
a second controller communicatively coupled to the central processing unit and the first controller, the second controller configured to communicate with a network, the central processing unit being operative to establish direct communication between the first and second controllers, and said first and second controllers being operative to maintain the direct communication independent of the central processing unit.
58. In a network server system, the improvement in the network server system comprising:
a first controller communicatively coupled to the network server system;
a mass storage device communicatively coupled to the first controller, the first controller configured to control communications to and from the mass storage device; and
a second controller communicatively coupled to the network server system and the first controller, the second controller configured to communicate with a network, the network server system being operative to establish direct communication between the first and second controllers, and said first and second controllers being operative to maintain the direct communication with each other once the direct communication is established.
59. A network server system, comprising:
a network communications interface;
a mass storage device; and
a storage device controller communicatively coupled to the network communications interface and to the mass storage device to control communications between the network communications interface and the mass storage device, said network communications interface being operative to establish direct communications between the mass storage device and the network communications interface via the storage device controller.
60. The network server system of claim 59 , further comprising:
a central processing unit communicatively coupled to the network communications interface to receive data requests from the network communications interface.
61. The network server system of claim 60 , wherein the central processing unit is bypassed by establishing direct communications between the mass storage device and the network communications interface via the storage controller.
62. A method for transferring data in a network server system, the network server system being connected to a network for providing subscribers on a network with access to data from the network server system, the method comprising:
providing a network communications interface;
providing a mass storage device;
providing a storage device controller communicatively coupled to the network communications interface and to the mass storage device to control communications between network communications interface and the mass storage device; and
establishing direct communications between the mass storage device and the network communications interface via the storage device controller.
63. A network server system, comprising:
a network communications interface;
a mass storage device;
a storage device controller communicatively coupled to the network communications interface and to the mass storage device to control communications between network communications interface and the mass storage device; and
means for establishing direct communications between the mass storage device and the network communications interface via the storage device controller.
64. A mass storage server, comprising:
a plurality of interface cards, each interface card configured to automatically detect whether a storage device is coupled to the interface card; and
a mid-plane connector board having two opposing sides and a plurality of sockets for connecting the interface cards on each opposing side of the mid-plane connector board.
65. The mass storage server of claim 64 , wherein the plurality of interface cards are bypass cards that can be sequentially connected together to interconnect a plurality of storage devices.
66. A mass storage server, comprising:
a plurality of hot-swappable storage devices interconnected in a loop; and
a mid-plane connector board having two opposing sides and a plurality of sockets for connecting the hot-swappable storage devices on each opposing side of the mid-plane connector board.
67. The mass storage server of claim 66 , wherein each of said hot-swappable storage devices is coupled to the mid-plane connector board via a bypass card.
68. An information server system having a scalable, modular, fault tolerant, hot swappable architecture of a plurality of components for interfacing with a computer network, comprising:
a central processing unit;
means for interfacing with a computer network connected to the central processing unit;
a mass storage subsystem connected to the central processing unit; and
a mid-plane connector board having two opposing sides and means for connecting the interface cards for the components on each said opposing side of the mid-plane connector board.
69. Apparatus for increasing the throughput rates of a user computer having a communications interface via a network with a host server system, the user computer communications interface including a modem of the type utilizing a database hash table for decryption of encrypted data received from the host server system, the apparatus comprising:
means for installing a supplementary database hash table in the user computer to replace the function of the hash table in the modem;
means for accessing the supplementary hash table installed in the computer for decryption of encrypted data received from the host server system; and
means for synchronizing the modem with the transmission speed of the host server system by gradually increasing the setting of the throughput rate of the modem along with that of data transmission from the host server system.
70. A system for increasing the throughput rates of a user computer, comprising:
a user computer having a communications interface, the communications interface including a modem of the type utilizing a database hash table for decryption of encrypted data received;
a host server system; and
a network communicatively coupling the host server system and the user computer, wherein a supplementary database hash table is installed in the user computer to replace the function of the hash table in the modem, the supplementary hash table installed in the computer is accessed by the user computer to decrypt encrypted data received from the host server system, and the modem is synchronized with the transmission speed of the host server system by gradually increasing the setting of the throughput rate of the modem along with that of data transmission from the host server system.
71. A high speed mass storage system which is readily expandable to increase its storage capacity while the system is in operation, comprising:
first and second mass storage modules, each mass storage module having at least one hot-swappable storage device;
a module bypass circuit board including an optical input/output connector for outputting electrical signals from the module as light signals and for inputting light signals into the module as electrical signals, and wherein the first and second mass storage modules are connected to the module bypass circuit board by a fiber optic transmission medium such that signals are communicated between the first and second mass storage modules in the form of light; and
a controller managing a communication path between the first and second mass storage modules through the module bypass circuit board.
72. A high speed mass storage system which is readily expandable to increase its storage capacity while the system is in operation, comprising:
first and second mass storage modules, each mass storage module including at least one storage device and at least one bypass circuit board associated with each storage device;
a module bypass circuit board including an optical input/output connector for outputting electrical signals from the module bypass circuit board as light signals and for inputting light signals into the module bypass circuit board as electrical signals, and wherein the first and second mass storage modules are connected to the module bypass circuit board by a fiber optic transmission medium such that signals are communicated between the first and second mass storage modules in the form of light; and
a controller managing a communication path between the first and second mass storage modules through the module bypass circuit board.
73. A high speed mass storage system which is readily expandable to increase its storage capacity while the system is in operation, comprising:
a plurality of mass storage modules;
a module bypass circuit board including an optical input/output connector for outputting electrical signals from the module bypass circuit board as light signals and for inputting light signals into the module bypass circuit board as electrical signals, and wherein the plurality of mass storage modules are connected to the module bypass circuit board by a fiber optic transmission medium such that signals are communicated between the plurality of mass storage modules in the form of light.
74. The high speed mass storage system of claim 73 , wherein said optical input/output connector comprises an optoelectronic transceiver.
75. A high speed mass storage system which is readily expandable to increase its storage capacity while the system is in operation, comprising:
first and second mass storage modules, each mass storage module including at least one storage device and at least one bypass circuit board associated with each storage device;
means for inputting and outputting light signals, said means for inputting and outputting light signals outputting electrical signals as light signals and for inputting light signals as electrical signals, and wherein the first and second mass storage modules are connected to the means for inputting and outputting light signals by a fiber optic transmission medium such that signals are communicated between the first and second mass storage modules in the form of light; and
means for managing a communication path between the first and second mass storage modules through the means for inputting and outputting light signals.
76. The high speed mass storage system of claim 75 , wherein said means for inputting and outputting light signals comprises an optoelectronic transceiver.
77. A high speed mass storage system which is readily expandable to increase its storage capacity while the system is in operation, comprising:
a plurality of mass storage modules;
means for inputting and outputting light signals, said means for inputting and outputting light signals outputting electrical signals as light signals and inputting light signals as electrical signals, wherein the plurality of mass storage modules are connected to the means for inputting and outputting light signals by a fiber optic transmission medium such that signals are communicated between the plurality of mass storage modules in the form of light.
78. The high speed mass storage system of claim 77 , wherein said means for inputting and outputting light signals comprises an optoelectronic transceiver.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US11/051,852 US20050223146A1 (en) | 2000-06-12 | 2005-02-04 | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US09/592,572 US7263476B1 (en) | 2000-06-12 | 2000-06-12 | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
US11/051,852 US20050223146A1 (en) | 2000-06-12 | 2005-02-04 | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/592,572 Division US7263476B1 (en) | 2000-06-12 | 2000-06-12 | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20050223146A1 true US20050223146A1 (en) | 2005-10-06 |
Family
ID=24371224
Family Applications (4)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/592,572 Expired - Fee Related US7263476B1 (en) | 2000-06-12 | 2000-06-12 | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
US11/051,852 Abandoned US20050223146A1 (en) | 2000-06-12 | 2005-02-04 | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
US11/125,568 Abandoned US20050203989A1 (en) | 2000-06-12 | 2005-05-09 | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
US11/780,368 Abandoned US20070266074A1 (en) | 2000-06-12 | 2007-07-19 | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
Family Applications Before (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/592,572 Expired - Fee Related US7263476B1 (en) | 2000-06-12 | 2000-06-12 | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
Family Applications After (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US11/125,568 Abandoned US20050203989A1 (en) | 2000-06-12 | 2005-05-09 | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
US11/780,368 Abandoned US20070266074A1 (en) | 2000-06-12 | 2007-07-19 | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
Country Status (8)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (4) | US7263476B1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP1311939A2 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2004503858A (en) |
KR (1) | KR20030031495A (en) |
CN (1) | CN1265272C (en) |
AU (2) | AU6706701A (en) |
CA (1) | CA2416196A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2001097003A2 (en) |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20030005368A1 (en) * | 2001-06-29 | 2003-01-02 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for recovery from faults in a loop network |
US9225695B1 (en) * | 2014-06-10 | 2015-12-29 | Lockheed Martin Corporation | Storing and transmitting sensitive data |
US20180167495A1 (en) * | 2016-12-12 | 2018-06-14 | Inventec (Pudong) Technology Corp. | Server system |
US10430789B1 (en) | 2014-06-10 | 2019-10-01 | Lockheed Martin Corporation | System, method and computer program product for secure retail transactions (SRT) |
Families Citing this family (26)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7263476B1 (en) * | 2000-06-12 | 2007-08-28 | Quad Research | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
US7240154B2 (en) * | 2004-06-28 | 2007-07-03 | Emc Corporation | Low cost flexible network accessed storage architecture |
JP2006293863A (en) * | 2005-04-13 | 2006-10-26 | Hitachi Ltd | Disk array device and control method thereof |
JP2007011583A (en) * | 2005-06-29 | 2007-01-18 | Toshiba Corp | Information processing apparatus, and operation control method for the apparatus |
CN1329809C (en) * | 2005-10-25 | 2007-08-01 | 威盛电子股份有限公司 | Controller of magnetic disk array and its working method |
US20080010513A1 (en) * | 2006-06-27 | 2008-01-10 | International Business Machines Corporation | Controlling computer storage systems |
US8280011B2 (en) | 2006-12-08 | 2012-10-02 | Verint Americas, Inc. | Recording in a distributed environment |
US8130925B2 (en) | 2006-12-08 | 2012-03-06 | Verint Americas, Inc. | Systems and methods for recording |
US8130926B2 (en) | 2006-12-08 | 2012-03-06 | Verint Americas, Inc. | Systems and methods for recording data |
US7661017B2 (en) * | 2007-01-30 | 2010-02-09 | International Business Machines Corporaion | Diagnostic operations within a switched fibre channel arbitrated loop system |
US7929865B2 (en) * | 2007-07-27 | 2011-04-19 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Free space WDM signal detector |
CN101364213B (en) * | 2007-08-06 | 2010-12-08 | 普诚科技股份有限公司 | Data access system |
JP5034790B2 (en) * | 2007-08-31 | 2012-09-26 | 富士ゼロックス株式会社 | Data processing system |
US8335776B2 (en) | 2008-07-02 | 2012-12-18 | Commvault Systems, Inc. | Distributed indexing system for data storage |
US10236032B2 (en) | 2008-09-18 | 2019-03-19 | Novachips Canada Inc. | Mass data storage system with non-volatile memory modules |
JP5171602B2 (en) * | 2008-12-25 | 2013-03-27 | 京セラドキュメントソリューションズ株式会社 | RAID driver, electronic device including the same, and access request arbitration method for RAID |
US8301822B2 (en) * | 2009-09-23 | 2012-10-30 | Sandisk Il Ltd. | Multi-protocol storage device bridge |
US8164936B2 (en) * | 2009-10-14 | 2012-04-24 | Seagate Technology Llc | Switched memory devices |
US8358660B2 (en) * | 2009-11-16 | 2013-01-22 | Verizon Patent And Licensing Inc. | Method and system for providing integrated content delivery |
CN101702114A (en) * | 2009-11-18 | 2010-05-05 | 成都市华为赛门铁克科技有限公司 | Memory module, memory device, memory system and data-processing method |
CN102624556B (en) * | 2012-03-07 | 2015-07-08 | 深圳华北工控股份有限公司 | Environmentally-friendly intelligent optical BYPASS system |
US8720626B2 (en) * | 2012-08-28 | 2014-05-13 | Caterpillar Global Mining Llc | Motor drive system |
CN103793180A (en) * | 2012-10-30 | 2014-05-14 | 英业达科技有限公司 | Disk collocation method and server rack system |
US8941348B2 (en) | 2012-12-18 | 2015-01-27 | Caterpillar Global Mining Llc | Motor protection system |
CN104461381A (en) * | 2014-11-19 | 2015-03-25 | 华为技术有限公司 | Memory system, memory controller and information processing method |
CN115562566B (en) * | 2022-01-06 | 2024-01-26 | 澜起电子科技(上海)有限公司 | Modular storage device |
Citations (94)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4347563A (en) * | 1980-06-16 | 1982-08-31 | Forney Engineering Company | Industrial control system |
US4590554A (en) * | 1982-11-23 | 1986-05-20 | Parallel Computers Systems, Inc. | Backup fault tolerant computer system |
US4773313A (en) * | 1988-01-20 | 1988-09-27 | Bunn-O-Matic Corporation | Iced tea brewer with portable server |
US4819159A (en) * | 1986-08-29 | 1989-04-04 | Tolerant Systems, Inc. | Distributed multiprocess transaction processing system and method |
US4871324A (en) * | 1987-03-20 | 1989-10-03 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | Backplane for supporting removable modular |
US5005122A (en) * | 1987-09-08 | 1991-04-02 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Arrangement with cooperating management server node and network service node |
US5134619A (en) * | 1990-04-06 | 1992-07-28 | Sf2 Corporation | Failure-tolerant mass storage system |
US5140689A (en) * | 1989-05-25 | 1992-08-18 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Data recovery system and method of distributed transaction processing system |
US5151989A (en) * | 1987-02-13 | 1992-09-29 | International Business Machines Corporation | Directory cache management in a distributed data processing system |
US5155729A (en) * | 1990-05-02 | 1992-10-13 | Rolm Systems | Fault recovery in systems utilizing redundant processor arrangements |
US5157663A (en) * | 1990-09-24 | 1992-10-20 | Novell, Inc. | Fault tolerant computer system |
US5157771A (en) * | 1988-06-08 | 1992-10-20 | Bull Hn Information Systems Inc. | Apparatus for hot removal from/insertion to a connection bus of a non removable media magnetic recording unit |
US5185693A (en) * | 1989-11-27 | 1993-02-09 | Olin Corporation | Method and apparatus for providing backup process control |
US5210855A (en) * | 1989-06-09 | 1993-05-11 | International Business Machines Corporation | System for computer peripheral bus for allowing hot extraction on insertion without disrupting adjacent devices |
US5210866A (en) * | 1990-09-12 | 1993-05-11 | Storage Technology Corporation | Incremental disk backup system for a dynamically mapped data storage subsystem |
US5218697A (en) * | 1990-04-18 | 1993-06-08 | Microsoft Corporation | Method and system for networking computers having varying file architectures |
US5227778A (en) * | 1991-04-05 | 1993-07-13 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Service name to network address translation in communications network |
US5249293A (en) * | 1989-06-27 | 1993-09-28 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Computer network providing transparent operation on a compute server and associated method |
US5255367A (en) * | 1987-09-04 | 1993-10-19 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Fault tolerant, synchronized twin computer system with error checking of I/O communication |
US5277615A (en) * | 1992-09-24 | 1994-01-11 | Compaq Computer Corporation | Apparatus for removably supporting a plurality of hot plug-connected hard disk drives |
US5287461A (en) * | 1991-10-31 | 1994-02-15 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Method and apparatus for remotely accessing a plurality of server consoles |
US5297067A (en) * | 1991-10-16 | 1994-03-22 | Quantum Corporation | Electronic hot connection of disk drive module to computer peripheral bus |
US5311873A (en) * | 1992-08-28 | 1994-05-17 | Ecole Polytechnique | Comparative analysis of body surface potential distribution during cardiac pacing |
US5343358A (en) * | 1993-04-26 | 1994-08-30 | Ncr Corporation | Apparatus for cooling electronic devices |
US5343477A (en) * | 1990-09-17 | 1994-08-30 | Omron Corporation | Data processing system with data transmission failure recovery measures |
US5386567A (en) * | 1992-01-20 | 1995-01-31 | International Business Machines Corp. | Hot removable and insertion of attachments on fully initialized computer systems |
US5390326A (en) * | 1993-04-30 | 1995-02-14 | The Foxboro Company | Local area network with fault detection and recovery |
US5394526A (en) * | 1993-02-01 | 1995-02-28 | Lsc, Inc. | Data server for transferring selected blocks of remote file to a distributed computer network involving only single data transfer operation |
US5408649A (en) * | 1993-04-30 | 1995-04-18 | Quotron Systems, Inc. | Distributed data access system including a plurality of database access processors with one-for-N redundancy |
US5410691A (en) * | 1990-05-07 | 1995-04-25 | Next Computer, Inc. | Method and apparatus for providing a network configuration database |
US5412723A (en) * | 1994-03-01 | 1995-05-02 | International Business Machines Corporation | Mechanism for keeping a key secret from mobile eavesdroppers |
US5423042A (en) * | 1992-10-23 | 1995-06-06 | International Business Machines Corporation | Remote procedure execution |
US5430876A (en) * | 1989-06-27 | 1995-07-04 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Remote procedure callback system and method |
US5434994A (en) * | 1994-05-23 | 1995-07-18 | International Business Machines Corporation | System and method for maintaining replicated data coherency in a data processing system |
US5442749A (en) * | 1991-08-22 | 1995-08-15 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Network video server system receiving requests from clients for specific formatted data through a default channel and establishing communication through separate control and data channels |
US5446736A (en) * | 1993-10-07 | 1995-08-29 | Ast Research, Inc. | Method and apparatus for connecting a node to a wireless network using a standard protocol |
US5450578A (en) * | 1993-12-23 | 1995-09-12 | Unisys Corporation | Method and apparatus for automatically routing around faults within an interconnect system |
US5450583A (en) * | 1991-06-20 | 1995-09-12 | Fujitsu Limited | Object-oriented language processing system |
US5452448A (en) * | 1992-03-16 | 1995-09-19 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Method of replicate file updating by monitoring file accesses and system therefor |
US5454080A (en) * | 1992-02-10 | 1995-09-26 | International Business Machines Corporation | Removable hard disk drive system with circuit for hot insertion and removal responsive to contacts of zero-insertion-force connector on the lateral side of the drive |
US5455953A (en) * | 1993-11-03 | 1995-10-03 | Wang Laboratories, Inc. | Authorization system for obtaining in single step both identification and access rights of client to server directly from encrypted authorization ticket |
US5488716A (en) * | 1991-10-28 | 1996-01-30 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Fault tolerant computer system with shadow virtual processor |
US5502836A (en) * | 1991-11-21 | 1996-03-26 | Ast Research, Inc. | Method for disk restriping during system operation |
US5504882A (en) * | 1994-06-20 | 1996-04-02 | International Business Machines Corporation | Fault tolerant data storage subsystem employing hierarchically arranged controllers |
US5513314A (en) * | 1995-01-27 | 1996-04-30 | Auspex Systems, Inc. | Fault tolerant NFS server system and mirroring protocol |
US5517632A (en) * | 1992-08-26 | 1996-05-14 | Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha | Redundant array of disks with improved storage and recovery speed |
US5518418A (en) * | 1994-02-14 | 1996-05-21 | Hjs & E Engineering | SCSI ID connector assembly |
US5522031A (en) * | 1993-06-29 | 1996-05-28 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Method and apparatus for the on-line restoration of a disk in a RAID-4 or RAID-5 array with concurrent access by applications |
US5530905A (en) * | 1988-05-26 | 1996-06-25 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Temporary state preservation for a distributed file service which purges virtual circuit control information after expiration of time limit of inactivity |
US5537642A (en) * | 1991-10-02 | 1996-07-16 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method for authenticating messages passed between tasks |
US5542087A (en) * | 1993-10-15 | 1996-07-30 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Linear hashing for distributed records |
US5544339A (en) * | 1992-01-07 | 1996-08-06 | Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha | Array of disk drives with redundant channels |
US5546583A (en) * | 1994-04-05 | 1996-08-13 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and system for providing a client/server interface in a programming language |
US5548724A (en) * | 1993-03-22 | 1996-08-20 | Hitachi, Ltd. | File server system and file access control method of the same |
US5548712A (en) * | 1995-01-19 | 1996-08-20 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Data storage system and method for managing asynchronous attachment and detachment of storage disks |
US5548711A (en) * | 1993-08-26 | 1996-08-20 | Emc Corporation | Method and apparatus for fault tolerant fast writes through buffer dumping |
US5564040A (en) * | 1994-11-08 | 1996-10-08 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for providing a server function in a logically partitioned hardware machine |
US5566297A (en) * | 1994-06-16 | 1996-10-15 | International Business Machines Corporation | Non-disruptive recovery from file server failure in a highly available file system for clustered computing environments |
US5592611A (en) * | 1995-03-14 | 1997-01-07 | Network Integrity, Inc. | Stand-in computer server |
US5600644A (en) * | 1995-03-10 | 1997-02-04 | At&T | Method and apparatus for interconnecting LANs |
US5602852A (en) * | 1989-07-13 | 1997-02-11 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Data communications system using a fiber distributed data exchange interface |
US5603029A (en) * | 1995-06-07 | 1997-02-11 | International Business Machines Corporation | System of assigning work requests based on classifying into an eligible class where the criteria is goal oriented and capacity information is available |
US5604803A (en) * | 1994-06-03 | 1997-02-18 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Method and apparatus for secure remote authentication in a public network |
US5608865A (en) * | 1995-03-14 | 1997-03-04 | Network Integrity, Inc. | Stand-in Computer file server providing fast recovery from computer file server failures |
US5617540A (en) * | 1995-07-31 | 1997-04-01 | At&T | System for binding host name of servers and address of available server in cache within client and for clearing cache prior to client establishes connection |
US5621795A (en) * | 1994-12-27 | 1997-04-15 | Pitney Bowes Inc. | System and method for fault tolerant key management |
US5630007A (en) * | 1995-03-30 | 1997-05-13 | Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha | Client-server system with parity storage |
US5642515A (en) * | 1992-04-17 | 1997-06-24 | International Business Machines Corporation | Network server for local and remote resources |
US5644698A (en) * | 1996-05-30 | 1997-07-01 | International Business Machines Corporation | Configurable reuse delay criterion for storage volumes |
US5655152A (en) * | 1992-12-10 | 1997-08-05 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. | System for allocating data output requests to output units having different output formats in accordance with data output format compatibility and priority characteristic |
US5664119A (en) * | 1994-07-07 | 1997-09-02 | Dell Usa, L.P. | Local proactive hot swap request/acknowledge system |
US5664106A (en) * | 1993-06-04 | 1997-09-02 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Phase-space surface representation of server computer performance in a computer network |
US5675723A (en) * | 1995-05-19 | 1997-10-07 | Compaq Computer Corporation | Multi-server fault tolerance using in-band signalling |
US5680538A (en) * | 1995-08-10 | 1997-10-21 | Dell Usa, L.P. | System and method for maintaining a minimum quality of service during read operations on disk arrays |
US5682509A (en) * | 1995-12-13 | 1997-10-28 | Ast Research, Inc. | Bus interface to a RAID architecture |
US5706458A (en) * | 1996-03-05 | 1998-01-06 | Microsoft Corporation | Method and system for merging menus of application programs |
US5729763A (en) * | 1995-08-15 | 1998-03-17 | Emc Corporation | Data storage system |
US5734898A (en) * | 1994-06-24 | 1998-03-31 | International Business Machines Corporation | Client-server computer system and method for updating the client, server, and objects |
US5734831A (en) * | 1996-04-26 | 1998-03-31 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | System for configuring and remotely administering a unix computer over a network |
US5737747A (en) * | 1995-10-27 | 1998-04-07 | Emc Corporation | Prefetching to service multiple video streams from an integrated cached disk array |
US5737549A (en) * | 1994-01-31 | 1998-04-07 | Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne | Method and apparatus for a parallel data storage and processing server |
US5740423A (en) * | 1995-12-28 | 1998-04-14 | Csg Systems, Inc. | System and method for accessing distributed data on a plurality of databases |
US5740371A (en) * | 1995-09-30 | 1998-04-14 | International Business Machines Corporation | Load balancing of connections to parallel servers |
US5784576A (en) * | 1996-10-31 | 1998-07-21 | International Business Machines Corp. | Method and apparatus for adding and removing components of a data processing system without powering down |
US5796580A (en) * | 1993-04-13 | 1998-08-18 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Air-cooled information processing apparatus having cooling air fan, sub-fan, and plural separated cooling air flow channels |
US5893140A (en) * | 1996-08-14 | 1999-04-06 | Emc Corporation | File server having a file system cache and protocol for truly safe asynchronous writes |
US6055228A (en) * | 1996-12-23 | 2000-04-25 | Lsi Logic Corporation | Methods and apparatus for dynamic topology configuration in a daisy-chained communication environment |
US6065087A (en) * | 1998-05-21 | 2000-05-16 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Architecture for a high-performance network/bus multiplexer interconnecting a network and a bus that transport data using multiple protocols |
US6112276A (en) * | 1997-10-10 | 2000-08-29 | Signatec, Inc. | Modular disk memory apparatus with high transfer rate |
US6260155B1 (en) * | 1998-05-01 | 2001-07-10 | Quad Research | Network information server |
US6580531B1 (en) * | 1999-12-30 | 2003-06-17 | Sycamore Networks, Inc. | Method and apparatus for in circuit biasing and testing of a modulated laser and optical receiver in a wavelength division multiplexing optical transceiver board |
US6615315B1 (en) * | 1999-12-29 | 2003-09-02 | Emc Corporation | Fibre channel data storage system having improved fro-end I/O adapted hub |
US20050193059A1 (en) * | 1998-03-10 | 2005-09-01 | Richard Dellacona | High speed fault tolerant mass storage network information server |
US7263476B1 (en) * | 2000-06-12 | 2007-08-28 | Quad Research | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
Family Cites Families (29)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4710926A (en) | 1985-12-27 | 1987-12-01 | American Telephone And Telegraph Company, At&T Bell Laboratories | Fault recovery in a distributed processing system |
CA1293819C (en) * | 1986-08-29 | 1991-12-31 | Thinking Machines Corporation | Very large scale computer |
US5271013A (en) | 1990-05-09 | 1993-12-14 | Unisys Corporation | Fault tolerant computer system |
US5265098A (en) | 1990-08-03 | 1993-11-23 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and means for managing DASD array accesses when operating in degraded mode |
US5414591A (en) * | 1991-04-15 | 1995-05-09 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Magnetic disk storage system |
US5369757A (en) | 1991-06-18 | 1994-11-29 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Recovery logging in the presence of snapshot files by ordering of buffer pool flushing |
US5499337A (en) * | 1991-09-27 | 1996-03-12 | Emc Corporation | Storage device array architecture with solid-state redundancy unit |
WO1993011480A1 (en) | 1991-11-27 | 1993-06-10 | Intergraph Corporation | System and method for network license administration |
US5471099A (en) | 1992-11-16 | 1995-11-28 | Hjs&E Engineering | Modular enclosure apparatus |
US5838894A (en) * | 1992-12-17 | 1998-11-17 | Tandem Computers Incorporated | Logical, fail-functional, dual central processor units formed from three processor units |
US5692128A (en) | 1993-06-23 | 1997-11-25 | Microtest, Inc. | Computer network with reliable and efficient removable media services |
US5694581A (en) | 1993-09-07 | 1997-12-02 | Industrial Technology Research Institute | Concurrent disk array management system implemented with CPU executable extension |
US5471634A (en) | 1994-03-29 | 1995-11-28 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy | Network file server with automatic sensing means |
US5479653A (en) | 1994-07-14 | 1995-12-26 | Dellusa, L.P. | Disk array apparatus and method which supports compound raid configurations and spareless hot sparing |
US5475813A (en) | 1994-07-18 | 1995-12-12 | International Business Machines Corporation | Routing transactions in the presence of failing servers |
US5696965A (en) | 1994-11-03 | 1997-12-09 | Intel Corporation | Electronic information appraisal agent |
US5757642A (en) * | 1995-01-20 | 1998-05-26 | Dell Usa L.P. | Multi-function server input/output subsystem and method |
US5581552A (en) | 1995-05-23 | 1996-12-03 | At&T | Multimedia server |
US5828475A (en) * | 1995-10-25 | 1998-10-27 | Mcdata Corporation | Bypass switching and messaging mechanism for providing intermix data transfer for a fiber optic switch using a bypass bus and buffer |
US6240471B1 (en) * | 1996-09-10 | 2001-05-29 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force | Data transfer interfacing |
DE69724649T2 (en) * | 1996-11-14 | 2004-07-01 | Emc Corp., Hopkinton | DYNAMICALLY EXTENDABLE DISK ARRANGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD |
US5986880A (en) * | 1997-06-16 | 1999-11-16 | Compaq Computer Corporation | Electronic apparatus having I/O board with cable-free redundant adapter cards thereon |
US5831525A (en) * | 1997-09-18 | 1998-11-03 | Harvey; James C. | Filtered air, temperature controlled removable computer cartridge devices |
US6119169A (en) * | 1998-01-09 | 2000-09-12 | International Business Machines Corporation | Network system having a secondary disk drive bypass circuit activated when all primary disk drive bypass circuits are activated |
US6061750A (en) * | 1998-02-20 | 2000-05-09 | International Business Machines Corporation | Failover system for a DASD storage controller reconfiguring a first processor, a bridge, a second host adaptor, and a second device adaptor upon a second processor failure |
AU3075899A (en) * | 1998-03-10 | 1999-09-27 | Quad Research | High speed fault tolerant mass storage network information server |
US6192027B1 (en) * | 1998-09-04 | 2001-02-20 | International Business Machines Corporation | Apparatus, system, and method for dual-active fibre channel loop resiliency during controller failure |
US6636934B1 (en) * | 1999-06-30 | 2003-10-21 | Emc Corporation | Fiber channel port by-pass selector section for dual ported disk drives |
US6671789B1 (en) * | 2000-05-04 | 2003-12-30 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for determining unknown relationships between storage devices and storage device enclosures |
-
2000
- 2000-06-12 US US09/592,572 patent/US7263476B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
2001
- 2001-06-11 AU AU6706701A patent/AU6706701A/en active Pending
- 2001-06-11 WO PCT/US2001/040923 patent/WO2001097003A2/en active Application Filing
- 2001-06-11 JP JP2002511063A patent/JP2004503858A/en active Pending
- 2001-06-11 KR KR1020027016953A patent/KR20030031495A/en active IP Right Grant
- 2001-06-11 CA CA002416196A patent/CA2416196A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2001-06-11 EP EP01944682A patent/EP1311939A2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2001-06-11 AU AU2001267067A patent/AU2001267067B2/en not_active Ceased
- 2001-06-11 CN CNB018130240A patent/CN1265272C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
2005
- 2005-02-04 US US11/051,852 patent/US20050223146A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2005-05-09 US US11/125,568 patent/US20050203989A1/en not_active Abandoned
-
2007
- 2007-07-19 US US11/780,368 patent/US20070266074A1/en not_active Abandoned
Patent Citations (99)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4347563A (en) * | 1980-06-16 | 1982-08-31 | Forney Engineering Company | Industrial control system |
US4590554A (en) * | 1982-11-23 | 1986-05-20 | Parallel Computers Systems, Inc. | Backup fault tolerant computer system |
US4819159A (en) * | 1986-08-29 | 1989-04-04 | Tolerant Systems, Inc. | Distributed multiprocess transaction processing system and method |
US5151989A (en) * | 1987-02-13 | 1992-09-29 | International Business Machines Corporation | Directory cache management in a distributed data processing system |
US4871324A (en) * | 1987-03-20 | 1989-10-03 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | Backplane for supporting removable modular |
US5255367A (en) * | 1987-09-04 | 1993-10-19 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Fault tolerant, synchronized twin computer system with error checking of I/O communication |
US5005122A (en) * | 1987-09-08 | 1991-04-02 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Arrangement with cooperating management server node and network service node |
US4773313A (en) * | 1988-01-20 | 1988-09-27 | Bunn-O-Matic Corporation | Iced tea brewer with portable server |
US5530905A (en) * | 1988-05-26 | 1996-06-25 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Temporary state preservation for a distributed file service which purges virtual circuit control information after expiration of time limit of inactivity |
US5606719A (en) * | 1988-05-26 | 1997-02-25 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Temporary state preservation for a distributed file service |
US5157771A (en) * | 1988-06-08 | 1992-10-20 | Bull Hn Information Systems Inc. | Apparatus for hot removal from/insertion to a connection bus of a non removable media magnetic recording unit |
US5140689A (en) * | 1989-05-25 | 1992-08-18 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Data recovery system and method of distributed transaction processing system |
US5210855A (en) * | 1989-06-09 | 1993-05-11 | International Business Machines Corporation | System for computer peripheral bus for allowing hot extraction on insertion without disrupting adjacent devices |
US5430876A (en) * | 1989-06-27 | 1995-07-04 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Remote procedure callback system and method |
US5249293A (en) * | 1989-06-27 | 1993-09-28 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Computer network providing transparent operation on a compute server and associated method |
US5602852A (en) * | 1989-07-13 | 1997-02-11 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Data communications system using a fiber distributed data exchange interface |
US5185693A (en) * | 1989-11-27 | 1993-02-09 | Olin Corporation | Method and apparatus for providing backup process control |
US5134619A (en) * | 1990-04-06 | 1992-07-28 | Sf2 Corporation | Failure-tolerant mass storage system |
US5218697A (en) * | 1990-04-18 | 1993-06-08 | Microsoft Corporation | Method and system for networking computers having varying file architectures |
US5155729A (en) * | 1990-05-02 | 1992-10-13 | Rolm Systems | Fault recovery in systems utilizing redundant processor arrangements |
US5459863A (en) * | 1990-05-07 | 1995-10-17 | Next Computer, Inc. | Method of maintaining data integrity in a network database |
US5410691A (en) * | 1990-05-07 | 1995-04-25 | Next Computer, Inc. | Method and apparatus for providing a network configuration database |
US5210866A (en) * | 1990-09-12 | 1993-05-11 | Storage Technology Corporation | Incremental disk backup system for a dynamically mapped data storage subsystem |
US5343477A (en) * | 1990-09-17 | 1994-08-30 | Omron Corporation | Data processing system with data transmission failure recovery measures |
US5157663A (en) * | 1990-09-24 | 1992-10-20 | Novell, Inc. | Fault tolerant computer system |
US5227778A (en) * | 1991-04-05 | 1993-07-13 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Service name to network address translation in communications network |
US5450583A (en) * | 1991-06-20 | 1995-09-12 | Fujitsu Limited | Object-oriented language processing system |
US5442749A (en) * | 1991-08-22 | 1995-08-15 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Network video server system receiving requests from clients for specific formatted data through a default channel and establishing communication through separate control and data channels |
US5652908A (en) * | 1991-10-02 | 1997-07-29 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for establishing communications sessions in a remote resource control environment |
US5537642A (en) * | 1991-10-02 | 1996-07-16 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method for authenticating messages passed between tasks |
US5297067A (en) * | 1991-10-16 | 1994-03-22 | Quantum Corporation | Electronic hot connection of disk drive module to computer peripheral bus |
US5488716A (en) * | 1991-10-28 | 1996-01-30 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Fault tolerant computer system with shadow virtual processor |
US5287461A (en) * | 1991-10-31 | 1994-02-15 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Method and apparatus for remotely accessing a plurality of server consoles |
US5502836A (en) * | 1991-11-21 | 1996-03-26 | Ast Research, Inc. | Method for disk restriping during system operation |
US5544339A (en) * | 1992-01-07 | 1996-08-06 | Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha | Array of disk drives with redundant channels |
US5386567A (en) * | 1992-01-20 | 1995-01-31 | International Business Machines Corp. | Hot removable and insertion of attachments on fully initialized computer systems |
US5454080A (en) * | 1992-02-10 | 1995-09-26 | International Business Machines Corporation | Removable hard disk drive system with circuit for hot insertion and removal responsive to contacts of zero-insertion-force connector on the lateral side of the drive |
US5452448A (en) * | 1992-03-16 | 1995-09-19 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Method of replicate file updating by monitoring file accesses and system therefor |
US5642515A (en) * | 1992-04-17 | 1997-06-24 | International Business Machines Corporation | Network server for local and remote resources |
US5517632A (en) * | 1992-08-26 | 1996-05-14 | Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha | Redundant array of disks with improved storage and recovery speed |
US5311873A (en) * | 1992-08-28 | 1994-05-17 | Ecole Polytechnique | Comparative analysis of body surface potential distribution during cardiac pacing |
US5277615A (en) * | 1992-09-24 | 1994-01-11 | Compaq Computer Corporation | Apparatus for removably supporting a plurality of hot plug-connected hard disk drives |
US5423042A (en) * | 1992-10-23 | 1995-06-06 | International Business Machines Corporation | Remote procedure execution |
US5655152A (en) * | 1992-12-10 | 1997-08-05 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. | System for allocating data output requests to output units having different output formats in accordance with data output format compatibility and priority characteristic |
US5394526A (en) * | 1993-02-01 | 1995-02-28 | Lsc, Inc. | Data server for transferring selected blocks of remote file to a distributed computer network involving only single data transfer operation |
US5548724A (en) * | 1993-03-22 | 1996-08-20 | Hitachi, Ltd. | File server system and file access control method of the same |
US5796580A (en) * | 1993-04-13 | 1998-08-18 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Air-cooled information processing apparatus having cooling air fan, sub-fan, and plural separated cooling air flow channels |
US5343358A (en) * | 1993-04-26 | 1994-08-30 | Ncr Corporation | Apparatus for cooling electronic devices |
US5408649A (en) * | 1993-04-30 | 1995-04-18 | Quotron Systems, Inc. | Distributed data access system including a plurality of database access processors with one-for-N redundancy |
US5390326A (en) * | 1993-04-30 | 1995-02-14 | The Foxboro Company | Local area network with fault detection and recovery |
US5664106A (en) * | 1993-06-04 | 1997-09-02 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Phase-space surface representation of server computer performance in a computer network |
US5732240A (en) * | 1993-06-04 | 1998-03-24 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Real-time data cache size adjustment in a server computer |
US5522031A (en) * | 1993-06-29 | 1996-05-28 | Digital Equipment Corporation | Method and apparatus for the on-line restoration of a disk in a RAID-4 or RAID-5 array with concurrent access by applications |
US5548711A (en) * | 1993-08-26 | 1996-08-20 | Emc Corporation | Method and apparatus for fault tolerant fast writes through buffer dumping |
US5446736A (en) * | 1993-10-07 | 1995-08-29 | Ast Research, Inc. | Method and apparatus for connecting a node to a wireless network using a standard protocol |
US5542087A (en) * | 1993-10-15 | 1996-07-30 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Linear hashing for distributed records |
US5455953A (en) * | 1993-11-03 | 1995-10-03 | Wang Laboratories, Inc. | Authorization system for obtaining in single step both identification and access rights of client to server directly from encrypted authorization ticket |
US5450578A (en) * | 1993-12-23 | 1995-09-12 | Unisys Corporation | Method and apparatus for automatically routing around faults within an interconnect system |
US5737549A (en) * | 1994-01-31 | 1998-04-07 | Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne | Method and apparatus for a parallel data storage and processing server |
US5518418A (en) * | 1994-02-14 | 1996-05-21 | Hjs & E Engineering | SCSI ID connector assembly |
US5412723A (en) * | 1994-03-01 | 1995-05-02 | International Business Machines Corporation | Mechanism for keeping a key secret from mobile eavesdroppers |
US5546583A (en) * | 1994-04-05 | 1996-08-13 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and system for providing a client/server interface in a programming language |
US5434994A (en) * | 1994-05-23 | 1995-07-18 | International Business Machines Corporation | System and method for maintaining replicated data coherency in a data processing system |
US5732137A (en) * | 1994-06-03 | 1998-03-24 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Method and apparatus for secure remote authentication in a public network |
US5604803A (en) * | 1994-06-03 | 1997-02-18 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Method and apparatus for secure remote authentication in a public network |
US5566297A (en) * | 1994-06-16 | 1996-10-15 | International Business Machines Corporation | Non-disruptive recovery from file server failure in a highly available file system for clustered computing environments |
US5504882A (en) * | 1994-06-20 | 1996-04-02 | International Business Machines Corporation | Fault tolerant data storage subsystem employing hierarchically arranged controllers |
US5734898A (en) * | 1994-06-24 | 1998-03-31 | International Business Machines Corporation | Client-server computer system and method for updating the client, server, and objects |
US5664119A (en) * | 1994-07-07 | 1997-09-02 | Dell Usa, L.P. | Local proactive hot swap request/acknowledge system |
US5564040A (en) * | 1994-11-08 | 1996-10-08 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for providing a server function in a logically partitioned hardware machine |
US5621795A (en) * | 1994-12-27 | 1997-04-15 | Pitney Bowes Inc. | System and method for fault tolerant key management |
US5548712A (en) * | 1995-01-19 | 1996-08-20 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Data storage system and method for managing asynchronous attachment and detachment of storage disks |
US5513314A (en) * | 1995-01-27 | 1996-04-30 | Auspex Systems, Inc. | Fault tolerant NFS server system and mirroring protocol |
US5600644A (en) * | 1995-03-10 | 1997-02-04 | At&T | Method and apparatus for interconnecting LANs |
US5592611A (en) * | 1995-03-14 | 1997-01-07 | Network Integrity, Inc. | Stand-in computer server |
US5608865A (en) * | 1995-03-14 | 1997-03-04 | Network Integrity, Inc. | Stand-in Computer file server providing fast recovery from computer file server failures |
US5630007A (en) * | 1995-03-30 | 1997-05-13 | Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha | Client-server system with parity storage |
US5675723A (en) * | 1995-05-19 | 1997-10-07 | Compaq Computer Corporation | Multi-server fault tolerance using in-band signalling |
US5603029A (en) * | 1995-06-07 | 1997-02-11 | International Business Machines Corporation | System of assigning work requests based on classifying into an eligible class where the criteria is goal oriented and capacity information is available |
US5617540A (en) * | 1995-07-31 | 1997-04-01 | At&T | System for binding host name of servers and address of available server in cache within client and for clearing cache prior to client establishes connection |
US5680538A (en) * | 1995-08-10 | 1997-10-21 | Dell Usa, L.P. | System and method for maintaining a minimum quality of service during read operations on disk arrays |
US5729763A (en) * | 1995-08-15 | 1998-03-17 | Emc Corporation | Data storage system |
US5740371A (en) * | 1995-09-30 | 1998-04-14 | International Business Machines Corporation | Load balancing of connections to parallel servers |
US5737747A (en) * | 1995-10-27 | 1998-04-07 | Emc Corporation | Prefetching to service multiple video streams from an integrated cached disk array |
US5682509A (en) * | 1995-12-13 | 1997-10-28 | Ast Research, Inc. | Bus interface to a RAID architecture |
US5740423A (en) * | 1995-12-28 | 1998-04-14 | Csg Systems, Inc. | System and method for accessing distributed data on a plurality of databases |
US5706458A (en) * | 1996-03-05 | 1998-01-06 | Microsoft Corporation | Method and system for merging menus of application programs |
US5734831A (en) * | 1996-04-26 | 1998-03-31 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | System for configuring and remotely administering a unix computer over a network |
US5644698A (en) * | 1996-05-30 | 1997-07-01 | International Business Machines Corporation | Configurable reuse delay criterion for storage volumes |
US5893140A (en) * | 1996-08-14 | 1999-04-06 | Emc Corporation | File server having a file system cache and protocol for truly safe asynchronous writes |
US5784576A (en) * | 1996-10-31 | 1998-07-21 | International Business Machines Corp. | Method and apparatus for adding and removing components of a data processing system without powering down |
US6055228A (en) * | 1996-12-23 | 2000-04-25 | Lsi Logic Corporation | Methods and apparatus for dynamic topology configuration in a daisy-chained communication environment |
US6112276A (en) * | 1997-10-10 | 2000-08-29 | Signatec, Inc. | Modular disk memory apparatus with high transfer rate |
US20050193059A1 (en) * | 1998-03-10 | 2005-09-01 | Richard Dellacona | High speed fault tolerant mass storage network information server |
US6260155B1 (en) * | 1998-05-01 | 2001-07-10 | Quad Research | Network information server |
US6065087A (en) * | 1998-05-21 | 2000-05-16 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Architecture for a high-performance network/bus multiplexer interconnecting a network and a bus that transport data using multiple protocols |
US6615315B1 (en) * | 1999-12-29 | 2003-09-02 | Emc Corporation | Fibre channel data storage system having improved fro-end I/O adapted hub |
US6580531B1 (en) * | 1999-12-30 | 2003-06-17 | Sycamore Networks, Inc. | Method and apparatus for in circuit biasing and testing of a modulated laser and optical receiver in a wavelength division multiplexing optical transceiver board |
US7263476B1 (en) * | 2000-06-12 | 2007-08-28 | Quad Research | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers |
Cited By (10)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20030005368A1 (en) * | 2001-06-29 | 2003-01-02 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for recovery from faults in a loop network |
US20070053285A1 (en) * | 2001-06-29 | 2007-03-08 | Reginald Beer | Method And Apparatus For Recovery From Faults In A Loop Network |
US7203161B2 (en) * | 2001-06-29 | 2007-04-10 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for recovery from faults in a loop network |
US7518989B2 (en) | 2001-06-29 | 2009-04-14 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for recovery from faults in a loop network |
US9225695B1 (en) * | 2014-06-10 | 2015-12-29 | Lockheed Martin Corporation | Storing and transmitting sensitive data |
US9311506B1 (en) | 2014-06-10 | 2016-04-12 | Lockheed Martin Corporation | Storing and transmitting sensitive data |
US9419954B1 (en) | 2014-06-10 | 2016-08-16 | Lockheed Martin Corporation | Storing and transmitting sensitive data |
US9760738B1 (en) | 2014-06-10 | 2017-09-12 | Lockheed Martin Corporation | Storing and transmitting sensitive data |
US10430789B1 (en) | 2014-06-10 | 2019-10-01 | Lockheed Martin Corporation | System, method and computer program product for secure retail transactions (SRT) |
US20180167495A1 (en) * | 2016-12-12 | 2018-06-14 | Inventec (Pudong) Technology Corp. | Server system |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
AU6706701A (en) | 2001-12-24 |
CA2416196A1 (en) | 2001-12-10 |
US7263476B1 (en) | 2007-08-28 |
KR20030031495A (en) | 2003-04-21 |
WO2001097003A2 (en) | 2001-12-20 |
CN1265272C (en) | 2006-07-19 |
EP1311939A2 (en) | 2003-05-21 |
US20050203989A1 (en) | 2005-09-15 |
CN1589428A (en) | 2005-03-02 |
AU2001267067B2 (en) | 2006-11-02 |
JP2004503858A (en) | 2004-02-05 |
WO2001097003A3 (en) | 2003-02-13 |
US20070266074A1 (en) | 2007-11-15 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US20050223146A1 (en) | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers | |
AU2001267067A1 (en) | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers | |
US6981078B2 (en) | Fiber channel architecture | |
US6799224B1 (en) | High speed fault tolerant mass storage network information server | |
US5812754A (en) | Raid system with fibre channel arbitrated loop | |
US6658504B1 (en) | Storage apparatus | |
US7320051B2 (en) | Storage device control apparatus and control method for the storage device control apparatus | |
US6628513B1 (en) | Mass storage device mounting system | |
US6600703B1 (en) | Magazine for a plurality of removable hard disk drives | |
US7549018B2 (en) | Configurable blade enclosure | |
US7516537B1 (en) | Method for converting a standalone network storage system into a disk drive storage enclosure | |
IES20010783A2 (en) | Data storage apparatus | |
WO2006012357A2 (en) | Low cost flexible network accessed storage architecture | |
US20040122911A1 (en) | Apparatuses and methods of physically restricting access to a connecting device for use with a data processing system | |
EP0858036A2 (en) | Fibre channel attached storage architecture | |
WO1999046671A1 (en) | High speed fault tolerant mass storage network information server | |
US7506127B2 (en) | Reconfiguration of storage system including multiple mass storage devices | |
US7010620B1 (en) | Network adapter having integrated switching capabilities and port circuitry that may be used in remote mirroring | |
US6549979B1 (en) | Address mapping in mass storage device mounting system | |
AU2007200468A1 (en) | High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers | |
US6881078B1 (en) | Interconnecting device that allows for connections in small space | |
US7346674B1 (en) | Configurable fibre channel loop system | |
Guide | QLogic 4Gb Fibre Channel Expansion Card (CFFv) for IBM BladeCenter | |
GB2343313A (en) | Data storage array using optical data interconnection |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |