Infrastructure management system
An infrastructure management (IM) system including first and second communication modules. A user device is communicatively coupled to the first communication module and a target server is communicatively coupled to the second communication module via a USB port. One or more first messages may be communicated over the USB port to the target server using a first communication protocol. One or more second messages may be communicated over the USB port to the target server using a second communication protocol.
1 . An infrastructure management system, comprising:
a first communication module communicatively coupled to a user device, wherein the user device provides access by a user to a target server communicatively coupled to the infrastructure management device, wherein the user device and the target server are external to the infrastructure management system;
a second communication module including a second communication module universal serial bus (USB) port, wherein the second communication module USB port is communicatively coupled to the target server;
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media for storing computer-readable program code; and
a processor in communication with the second communication module USB port and the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, wherein the processor is operative with the computer-readable program code to perform operations including
communicating one or more first messages over the second communication module USB port to the target server using an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) bus protocol,
communicating one or more second messages over the second communication module USB port to the target server using a universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) protocol, and
communicating one or more third messages over the second communication module USB port to the target server using a USB 2.0 protocol.
2 . The infrastructure management system of claim 1 wherein the first communication module is directly communicatively coupled to the user device.
3 . The infrastructure management system of claim 1 wherein the first communication module is indirectly communicatively coupled to the user device via a network for remote access of the target server.
4 . The infrastructure management system of claim 1 wherein the second communication module comprises multiple second communication module USB ports communicatively coupled to multiple target servers.
5 . The infrastructure management system of claim 1 wherein the first and second communication modules are removably inserted into a housing.
6 . The infrastructure management system of claim 5 wherein the second communication module comprises a storage expansion board located within the housing to accommodate one or more USB storage devices.
7 . The infrastructure management system of claim 6 wherein the one or more USB storage devices are removably disposed in one or more USB ports on the storage expansion board.
8 . The infrastructure management system of claim 6 wherein the one or more USB storage devices are non-removably disposed on the storage expansion board.
9 . The infrastructure management system of claim 6 wherein the one or more USB storage devices comprises one or more USB 2.0 storage devices.
10 . A method, comprising:
providing access to a target server from a user device via a universal serial bus (USB) port of an infrastructure management (IM) system, wherein the IM system includes first and second communication modules, wherein the user device is communicatively coupled to the first communication module and the target server is communicatively coupled to the second communication module via the USB port, which comprises a second communication module USB port of the second communication module;
communicating one or more first messages over the second communication module USB port to the target server using a first communication protocol; and
communicating one or more second messages over the second communication module USB port to the target server using a second communication protocol, wherein the first and second communication protocols are different protocols.
11 . The method of claim 10 wherein the first communication protocol comprises an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) bus protocol.
12 . The method of claim 10 wherein the second communication protocol comprises a universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) protocol.
13 . The method of claim 10 further comprising communicating one or more third messages over the USB port to the target server using a third communication protocol.
14 . The method of claim 13 wherein the third communication protocol comprises a USB 2.0 protocol.
15 . The method of claim 13 wherein communicating the one or more third messages over the USB port to the target server using the third communication protocol comprises communicating one or more USB 2.0 messages from an internal storage device to the target server, wherein the internal storage device is located in the second communication module within a housing of the IM system.
16 . The method of claim 10 wherein providing access to the target server from the user device comprises providing remote access to the target server via a cloud-computing platform.
17 . The method of claim 10 wherein providing access of the target server from the user device comprises providing a user interface at the user device for user input.
18 . The method of claim 10 further comprising mapping the USB port to a unique logical device name.
19 . The method of claim 10 further comprising communicating one or more third messages from the user device to an internal USB 2.0 storage device located in the second communication module within a housing of the IM system.
20 . One or more non-transitory tangible machine-readable media comprising instructions configured to cause at least one processor on at least one infrastructure management system to perform a process comprising:
providing access to a target server from a user device via a USB port of an IM system, wherein the IM system includes first and second communication modules, wherein the user device is communicatively coupled to the first communication module and the target server is communicatively coupled to the second communication module via the USB port, which comprises a second communication module USB port of the second communication module;
communicating one or more first messages over the second communication module USB port to the target server using a first communication protocol; and communicating one or more second messages over the second communication module USB port to the target server using a second communication protocol, wherein the first and second communication protocols are different protocols.