Patent Application
20100195289
Not applicable
Not applicable
The present invention relates generally to computer and telecommunications equipment, and housings for such equipment. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method of constructing housings, such as rack-mountable housings, for computer and telecommunications equipment, and arranging modules, circuit boards, and other components within such housings, thereby enabling integration of telecommunications and information technology (IT) application services for delivering next generation, converged, network and multimedia services.
For many years, housings for computer and telecommunications equipment have been configured as rack-mountable housings for making more efficient use of the available space for such equipment, and for facilitating quick installation and removal of modules, circuit boards, and/or other components associated with such equipment. For example, a rack-mountable housing for telecommunications equipment typically includes a frame having a front panel and a rear panel. The housing may contain one or more line interface boards that interface to particular types of media for connection to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), a motherboard with a processor that controls the operation of the line interface boards, and a backplane. The line interface boards are typically configured as “hot-swappable” modules, which can be installed from the front panel to mate with connectors on the backplane toward the rear panel. Interface connectors on the line interface boards can also be accessed from the front panel of the housing.
Like rack-mountable housings for telecommunications equipment, rack-mountable housings for computer equipment typically include frames having front and rear panels. Such computer equipment may comprise a server system including a motherboard and one or more daughter boards, a number of hard disk drives, and a backplane. For example,
In recent years, numerous business models and application services have been developed that involve bridging the infrastructures of multiple networks, such as the Internet protocol (IP) network and the public switched telephone network (PSTN), to deliver next generation, converged, network and multimedia services. While such business models and application services typically require the high level of computing power, advanced storage technology, and standard operating systems that are generally available in rack-mount server systems, such as the conventional rack-mount server system 100 of
Accordingly, there is a need for computer and telecommunications equipment and housings for such equipment that allow access to the high level of computing power, advanced storage technology, and standard operating systems of rack-mount server systems, while retaining the modularity and front-panel connectivity of conventional rack-mountable telecommunications equipment.
In accordance with the present invention, a system and method is provided for constructing a housing, such as a rack-mountable housing, for computer and telecommunications equipment, and for arranging modules, circuit boards, and other components within such a housing, to enable integration of telecommunications and information technology (IT) application services for delivering next generation, converged, network and multimedia services. The presently disclosed computer and telecommunications housing and equipment are configured to provide access to the high level of computing power, advanced storage technology, and standard operating systems of rack-mount server systems, while retaining the modularity and front-panel connectivity of conventional rack-mountable telecommunications equipment.
In one aspect, a housing for a rack-mount server system includes a frame having a front panel and a rear panel, and a front cage assembly. The rack-mount server system includes a motherboard, one or more daughter boards, one or more line interface modules, one or more optional data storage devices such as a hard disk drive module or a solid-state drive (SSD) module, and a backplane. The front cage assembly includes a plurality of predefined regions, each of which can be configured to receive either one of the line interface modules or, optionally, the hard disk drive or SSD module. In one aspect, the line interface modules, and the optional hard disk drive or SSD module, are configured as “hot-swappable” modules that can be installed from the front panel through respective regions of the front cage assembly to mate with connectors (the “front connectors”) on the side of the backplane facing the front panel. Interface connectors on the line interface modules are also accessible from the front panel of the housing. The backplane includes a switch fabric, which, when the line interface modules are mated with the front connectors on the backplane, communicably couples the line interface modules to the backplane.
In an exemplary aspect, at least one connector (the “rear connector”) is disposed on the opposite side of the backplane facing the rear panel for communicably coupling the switch fabric to the motherboard via at least one transmission medium such as a high speed serial cable. In one aspect, the line interface modules are implemented as interface boards in Advanced Mezzanine Card (AdvancedMC) form factor, the switch fabric is implemented as a PCIe compliant switch, and the high speed serial cable is contained internal to the housing and configured to use PCIe technology. Moreover, in one aspect, the connection from the rear connector on the backplane to the switch fabric conforms to PCI and PCIe architecture, allowing the motherboard, acting as a master or higher-level switch, to directly communicate with any of the line interface modules.
In another exemplary aspect, the daughter boards include a high speed serial interface board, and the motherboard includes at least one enhancement slot configured to receive the high speed serial interface board. In still another exemplary aspect, the rack-mount server system further includes a riser board connected to the motherboard, and an expansion board coupleable to the riser board. In this aspect, the high speed serial interface board is implemented on the expansion board, thereby obviating the need to open the system housing to insert or remove the serial interface board into/from an enhancement slot. The high speed serial cable is operatively connected to the high speed serial interface board to communicably couple the motherboard to the switch fabric of the backplane. In one aspect, the high speed serial interface board, the enhancement slot of the motherboard, and the riser board, are configured to comply with the PCIe standard.
By providing a rack-mount server system that includes one or more line interface modules accessible from the front panel of the system housing, and a motherboard communicably coupled to a backplane with a switch fabric for allowing the motherboard to directly communicate with any of the line interface modules, access to the high level of computing power, advanced storage technology, and standard operating systems of rack-mount server platforms can be provided, while retaining the modularity and front-panel connectivity of conventional rack-mountable telecommunications equipment. Moreover, because it can be manufactured using standard motherboard hardware and substantially the same housing, power supplies, and cooling system as in conventional rack-mount server systems, which are generally produced in high volume, the presently disclosed rack-mount server system can be provided at reduced cost, typically less than the cost of proprietary rack-mount systems such as those used in the telecommunications industry.
Other features, functions, and aspects of the invention will be evident from the Detailed Description of the Invention that follows.
The invention will be more fully understood with reference to the following Detailed Description of the Invention in conjunction with the drawings of which:
A system and method is disclosed for constructing a housing, including but not limited to a rack-mountable housing for computer and telecommunications equipment, and for arranging modules, circuit boards, and other components within such a housing, to enable integration of telecommunications and information technology (IT) application services for delivering next generation, converged, network and multimedia services. In one embodiment, the disclosed system and method provides a rack-mount server system including one or more line interface modules accessible from the front panel of the system housing, and a motherboard communicably coupled to a backplane with a switch fabric for allowing the motherboard to directly communicate with any of the line interface modules. The rack-mount server system provides access to the high level of computing power, advanced storage technology, and standard operating systems of rack-mount server platforms, while retaining the modularity and front-panel connectivity of conventional rack-mountable telecommunications equipment.
In the rack-mount server system 200, the front cage assembly 203 includes a plurality of regions 213a, 213b, 213c, at least one of which can be configured with slide rails (not shown) to allow the SSD module 208 to be easily pulled out of the housing 201 from the front panel 205, and to be slid back into the housing 201, causing a connector 266 on the SSD module 208 to mate with a connector 260 on the side of the backplane 209 facing the front panel 205. In one embodiment, multiple data storage devices like the SSD module 208 are configured to be “hot-swappable” so that each module 208 can be pulled out of and slid back into the housing 201 without having to turn-off the system power, thereby avoiding disruption to the other data storage devices and any other components of the rack-mount server system 200. The motherboard 214 is provided with at least one controller, such as controller 217, at least one processor, such as processor 216, and at least one network interface, such as network interface 211. The controller 217 is operative to control the SSD module 208, which is communicably coupled to the controller 217 via a connector 262 on the side of the backplane 209 facing the rear panel 207, and a cable 264 interconnecting the connector 262 and the motherboard 214. For example, the cable 264 may comply with the serial attached SCSI (SAS) standard or any other suitable type of cable, and the connector 262 may be an SAS connector or any other suitable type of connector. Further, the processor 216 is operative to host one or more applications running on standard operating systems, such as WINDOWS Server 2003, LINUX or other UNIX variant, or any other suitable operating system. Moreover, the network interface 211 may be a Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) interface, or any other suitable type of network interface, for communicating over a private or public network (not shown), such as the Internet.
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The high speed serial interface board 250 is operative to provide a high speed serial interface between the switch fabric 224 of the backplane 209 and the motherboard 214. In the presently disclosed embodiment, the high speed serial interface board 250 is received in the enhancement slot 218a on the motherboard 214, and the high speed serial cable 274 connects the serial interface board 250 to the connector 272 on the backplane 209. In an alternative embodiment, the circuitry of the high speed serial interface board 250 can be implemented on an expansion board 221 coupleable to the riser board 220, which is communicably connected to the motherboard 214. In one embodiment, the switch fabric 224, the high speed serial cable 274, the high speed serial interface board 250, the enhancement slots 218a, 218b, and the riser board 220, are designed using PCI and PCIe technology, providing sufficient bandwidth to transport data, such as multimedia data including but not limited to voice data, from the line interface modules 230a, 230b to the motherboard 214 for subsequent processing.
As described above, the regions 213a, 213b within the front cage assembly 203 can be configured to receive the line interface modules 230a, 230b, respectively, thereby allowing each line interface module 230a, 230b to be installed and removed from the front of the system housing 201. In one embodiment, the housing 201 and the front cage assembly 203 of the rack-mount server system 200 are like the housing 150 and front cage assembly 104 of the conventional rack-mount server system 100 (see
It is noted that when one or more of the regions within the front cage assembly 203 are reconfigured to receive the line interface modules 230a, 230b, there may no longer be enough space available in the front cage assembly 203 to accommodate multiple hard disk drives, which are typically implemented as redundant data storage devices. For this reason, in one embodiment, the rack-mount server system 200 is provided with the single SSD module 208, which may not require a redundant configuration due to no moving mechanical parts. In an alternative embodiment, the SSD module 208 may be omitted from the rack-mount server system 200 and replaced with one or more memory chips, such as Flash memory chips, on the motherboard 214, thereby freeing up space in the front cage assembly 203 for another line interface module or any other suitable module. In still another embodiment, the rack-mount server system 200 may access one or more remote data storage devices, such as network attached storage (NAS) devices, over a network (not shown) via the GbE interface 211.
The presently disclosed rack-mount server system 200 will be better understood with reference to the following illustrative example. In this example, the housing 201 and the front cage assembly 203 of the rack-mount server system 200 (see
In this illustrative example, the switch fabric 224 communicably coupling the line interface modules 230a, 230b to the backplane 209 complies with the PCI and PCIe standard, and the internal high speed serial cable 274 communicably coupling the switch fabric 224 to the high speed serial interface of the motherboard 214 uses PCIe technology. Moreover, the motherboard 214 is communicably coupleable to the line interface modules 230a, 230b via the connector 272 and the switch fabric 224, which are interconnected to conform to PCI and PCIe architecture. Because, in this configuration, the line interface modules 230a, 230b appear to the motherboard 214 as PCIe compatible devices, the motherboard 214, acting as a master or higher level switch, can directly communicate with any of the line interface modules 230a, 230b to receive multimedia data, such as voice data, from the respective modules for subsequent processing. It is noted that the line interface modules 230a, 230b can also communicate via the switch fabric 224 to exchange data, such as voice data, with each other.
A method of the rack-mount server system 200 is illustrated by reference to
Having described the above illustrative embodiments, other variations to and modifications of the rack-mount server system 200 may be made. For example, it was described that the respective regions within the front cage assembly 203 can be configured to receive the line interface modules 230a, 230b, and that, during installation of the modules 230a, 230b, the connectors 276a, 276b on the line interface modules can mate with the connectors 270a, 270b, respectively, on the backplane 209. In an alternative embodiment, one or more of these regions within the front cage assembly 203 may be configured to receive either one of the line interface modules 230a, 230b, or a hard disk drive or SSD module, and one or more additional connectors may be provided on the backplane 209 for mating with a corresponding connector on the hard disk drive or SSD module during installation.
In addition, it was described that the line interface modules 230a, 230b can be designed to be hot-swappable in compliance with the PCI or PCIe standard. In an alternative embodiment, the line interface modules 230a, 230b may be designed to be hot-swappable in compliance with the Ethernet standard, the Serial RapidIO standard, or any other suitable standard. The Ethernet standard is described in IEEE Std. 802.3, 2005; and the Serial RapidIO standard is described in the Serial RapidIO Specification, Revision 1.3, 2005.
In addition, it was described that the enhancement slot 218a on the motherboard 214 can be configured to receive the high speed serial interface board 250 for interfacing the motherboard 214 with the switch fabric 224 of the backplane 209. In an alternative embodiment, one or more additional enhancement slots, such as the enhancement slot 218b, may be provided on the motherboard to receive one or more additional daughter boards 240, such as the Dialogic® Multimedia Accelerator Board for PCIe provided in connection with the Dialogic® Multimedia Kit for PCIe sold by Dialogic Corporation for providing accelerated media processing, or any other suitable board.
In addition, it was described that the high speed serial interface board 250 can be received in the enhancement slot 218a on the motherboard 214, or implemented on the expansion board 221 coupled to the riser board 220. In an alternative embodiment, the circuitry of the high speed serial interface board 250 can be implemented either directly on the riser board 220 or directly on the motherboard 214, and the transmission medium 274, such as a high speed serial cable, may be configured to interconnect the high speed serial interface circuitry on the riser board or on the motherboard with the switch fabric 224 of the backplane 209.
In addition, it was described that the transmission medium 274, such as a high speed serial cable, connects the high speed serial interface board 250 to the connector 272 on the backplane 209, thereby communicably connecting, through the serial interface board 250, the motherboard 214 to the switch fabric 224 of the backplane 209. In an alternative embodiment, the high speed serial interface board 250 may include a high speed switch that branches the high speed connection from the serial interface board 250 to the motherboard 214 into two connections, namely, a first high speed connection from the serial interface board 250 to the backplane 209 of the rack-mount server system 200, and a second high speed connection that is externally accessible for connecting, via an additional high speed serial cable, the serial interface board 250 to the backplane of a second rack-mount system.
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It is noted that, like the rack mount server system 400a, the expansion box 400b can be manufactured using substantially the same housing frame, substantially the same cooling system, and substantially the same power supply components as in conventional rack mount server systems, which are generally produced in high volume. The expansion box 400b can therefore be provided at reduced cost, typically less that the cost of proprietary, low volume expansion boxes.
In addition, it was described that the housing 201 of the server system 200 is a rack-mountable housing. In an alternative embodiment, the housing 201 may be a non-rack-mountable housing or any other suitable type of housing.
It will be further appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifications to and variations of the above-described modular front-panel connectivity on standard architecture server appliances may be made without departing from the inventive concepts disclosed herein. Accordingly, the invention should not be viewed as limited except as by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.
