Fault tolerant computer system

Details Fault tolerant computer system Fault tolerant computer system

1997-10-01

2001-01-16

Picard, Leo P. (Department: 2835)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C312S223200, C361S727000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06175490

ABSTRACT:

RELATED APPLICATIONS
The subject matter of U.S. patent application entitled “METHOD FOR HOT SWAPPING OF NETWORK COMPONENTS”, filed on Oct. 1, 1997, Application No. 08/943,044, and having attorney Docket No. MNFRAME.047A is related to this application.
U.S. application
Title
Ser. No.
Filing Date
“Hardware and Software Architecture
60/047,016
May 13, 1997
for Inter-Connecting an Environ-
mental Management System with a
Remote Interface”
“Self Management Protocol for a
60/046,416
May 13, 1997
Fly-By-Wire Service Processor”
“Isolated Interrupt Structure for
60/047,003
May 13, 1997
Input/Output Architecture”
“Three Bus Server Architecture with
60/046,490
May 13, 1997
a Legacy PCI Bus and Mirrored I/O
PCI Buses”
“Computer System Hardware Infra-
60/046,398
May 13, 1997
structure for Hot Plugging Single
and Multi-Function PC Cards
Without Embedded Bridges”
“Computer System Hardware Infra-
60/046,312
May 13, 1997
structure for Hot Plugging Multi-
Function PCI Cards With Embedded
Bridges”
APPENDICES
Appendix A, which forms a part of this disclosure, is a list of commonly owned copending U.S. patent applications. Each one of the applications listed in Appendix A is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto.
COPYRIGHT RIGHTS
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Network servers and the accompanying local area networks (LANs) have expanded the power and increased the productivity of the work force. It was just a few years ago that every work station had a standalone personal computer incapable of communicating with any other computers in the office. Data had to be carried from person to person by diskette. Applications had to be purchased for each standalone personal computer at great expense. Capital intensive hardware such as printers were duplicated for each standalone personal computer. Security and backing up the data were immensely difficult without centralization.
Network servers and their LANs addressed many of these issues. Network servers allow for resource sharing such as sharing equipment, applications, data, and the means for handling data. Centralized backup and security were seen as definite advantages. Furthermore, networks offered new services such as electronic mail. However, it soon became clear that the network servers could have their disadvantages as well.
Centralization, hailed as a solution, developed its own problems. A predicament that might shut down a single standalone personal computer would, in a centralized network, shut down all the networked work stations. Small difficulties easily get magnified with centralization, as is the case with the failure of a network server interface card (NIC), a common dilemma. A NIC may be a card configured for Ethernet, LAN, or Token-Ring to name but a few. These cards fail occasionally requiring examination, repair, or even replacement. Unfortunately, the entire network has to be powered down in order to remove, replace or examine a NIC. Since it is not uncommon for modem network servers to have sixteen or more NICs, the frequency of the problem compounds along with the consequences. When the network server is down, none of the workstations in the office network system will be able to access the centralized data and centralized applications. Moreover, even if only the data or only the application is centralized, a work station will suffer decreased performance.
Frequent down times can be extremely expensive in many ways. When the network server is down, worker productivity comes to a stand still. There is no sharing of data, applications or equipment such as spread sheets, word processors, and printers. Bills cannot go out and orders cannot be entered. Sales and customer service representatives are unable to obtain product information or pull up invoices. Customers browsing or hoping to browse through a network server supported commercial web page are abruptly cut off or are unable to access the web pages. Such frustrations may manifest themselves in the permanent loss of customers, or at the least, in the lowering of consumer opinion with regard to a vendor, a vendor's product, or a vendor's service. Certainly, down time for a vendor's network server will reflect badly upon the vendor's reliability. Furthermore, the vendor will have to pay for more service calls. Rebooting a network server, after all, does require a certain amount of expertise. Overall, whenever the network server has to shut down, it costs the owner both time and money, and each server shut down may have ramifications far into the future. The magnitude of this problem is evidenced by the great cost that owners of network servers are willing to absorb in order to avoid down time through the purchase of uninterruptible power supplies, surge protects, and redundant hard drives.
What is needed to address these problems is an apparatus that can localize and isolate the problem module from the rest of the network server and allow for the removal and replacement of the problem module without powering down the network server.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes a network server which includes a chassis and an interconnection assembly module mounted on the chassis. The chassis further mounts a central processing unit (CPU) module which is connected to the interconnection assembly module. The network server may also include a plurality of network interface modules mounted on the chassis, wherein at least one of the network interface modules includes a plurality of interface cards mounted inside and which are removable therefrom when the network interface module is removed from the chassis. The network interface module may also include a connector which electrically connects the network interface module to the interconnection assembly module when the network interface module is mounted on the chassis.
The network interface modules of the server may comprise a canister containing a printed circuit board secured inside the canister comprising an I/O bus, electrical hardware attached to the I/O bus, a plurality of interface card slots attached to the I/O bus, and a connector attached to the I/O bus extending externally from the canister and configured to connect to a central processor. A plurality of interface cards may be mounted in the interface card slots, the interface cards being removable from the canister when it is opened.


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