Method of organising servers

1. A device comprising:

a receiver;

a transmitter; and

a controller operatively coupled to the receiver and the transmitter and configured to:

generate a discovery message after a boot-up procedure;

send the discovery message on a multicast channel between a plurality of cards;

determine if a response to the discovery message is received from a root high availability server;

if the response is received, receive an identity from the root high availability server, wherein the identity represents a position in a hierarchy of the plurality of cards, assign the identity to the device, and determine if the root high availability server fails; and

if the response is not received at the device or the root high availability server fails, assign a root identity to the device.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the multicast channel is a layer 2 or a layer 3 communication channel.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the discovery message is broadcast.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to receive a broadcast message from a second card, wherein the broadcast message indicates that the root identity has switched to the second card.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive a second discovery message from a second card; and

send a second response to the second card, wherein the second response indicates the root identity is assigned to the device.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to establish a transport level connection between the device and the second card.

7. The device of claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine a second identity for the second card and to send a first indication of the second identity to the second card.

8. The device of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive a third discovery message from a third card,

determine a third identity for the third card, and

send a second indication of the third identity to the second card and to the third card.

9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the second card is identified as a backup root card.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein there is a hardware redundancy mechanism between the root high availability server and the second card.

11. The device of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to establish a transport level connection between the root high availability server and the third card.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to establish a second transport level connection between the second card and the third card.

13. The device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to receive an update from a second card if the root identity is assigned to the device, wherein the update indicates a state change at the second card.

14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to communicate the state change to a third card.

15. A method of organizing a plurality of cards, the method comprising:

generating a discovery message at a first card after a boot-up procedure;

sending the discovery message on a multicast channel from the first card to the plurality of cards;

determining if a response to the discovery message is received from a root high availability server;

if the response to the discovery message is received at the first card, receiving an identity from the root high availability server, wherein the identity represents a position in a hierarchy of the plurality of cards, assigning the identity to the first card, and determining if the root high availability server fails; and

if the response to the discovery message is not received at the first card or the root high availability server fails, assigning a root identity to the first card at the first card.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the multicast channel is a layer 2 or a layer 3 communication channel.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the discovery message is broadcast.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising, after receiving the identity, receiving a broadcast message at the first card from a third card, wherein the broadcast message indicates that the root identity has switched to the third card.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

if the first card is assigned the root identity, receiving a second discovery message at the first card from a second card and

sending a second response to the second card from the first card, wherein the second response indicates that the first card is assigned the root identity.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising establishing a transport level connection between the first card and the second card.

21. The method of claim 19 , further comprising determining a second identity for the second card at the first card and sending a first indication of the second identity to the second card from the first card.

22. The method of claim 21 , further comprising:

receiving a third discovery message at the first card from a third card,

determining a third identity for the third card at the first card, and

sending a second indication of the third identity to the second card and to the third card from the first card.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the second card is identified as a backup root card.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein there is a hardware redundancy mechanism between the first card and the second card.

25. The method of claim 23 , further comprising establishing a transport level connection between the first card and the second card.

26. The method of claim 25 , further comprising establishing a second transport level connection between the third card and the second card.

27. The method of claim 15 , further comprising, if the first card is assigned the root identity, receiving an update from a third card at the first card, wherein the update indicates a state change at the third card.

28. The method of claim 27 , further comprising, communicating the state change to a second card from the first card.

29. A non-transitory computer readable media comprising instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions to generate a discovery message at a first card after a boot-up procedure;

instructions to send the discovery message on a multicast channel from the first card to a plurality of cards;

instructions to determine if a response to the discovery message is received from a root high availability server;

instructions to, if the response to the discovery message is received at the first card, receive an identity from the root high availability server, wherein the identity represents a position in a hierarchy of the plurality of cards, assign the identity to the first card, and determine if the root high availability server fails; and

instructions to, if the response to the discovery message is not received at the first card or the root high availability server fails, assign a root identity to the first card.

30. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 29 , wherein the multicast channel is a layer 2 or a layer 3 communication channel.

31. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 29 , wherein the discovery message is broadcast.

32. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 29 further comprising instructions to receive a broadcast message from a second card, after receiving the identity, wherein the broadcast message indicates that the root identity has switched to the second card.

33. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 29 further comprising:

instructions to receive a second discovery message from a second card if the first card is assigned the root identity, and

instructions to send a second response to the second card, wherein the second response indicates that the first card is assigned the root identity.

34. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 33 further comprising instructions to establish a transport level connection between the card and the second card.

35. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 33 further comprising:

instructions to determine a second identity for the second card at the first card and

instructions to send a first indication of the second identity to the second card.

36. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 35 further comprising:

instructions to receive a third discovery message from a third card,

instructions to determine a third identity for the third card, and

instructions to send a second indication of the third identity to the second card and to the third card.

37. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 34 , wherein the second card is identified as a backup root card.

38. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 36 , wherein there is a hardware redundancy mechanism between the first card and the second card.

39. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 36 further comprising instructions to establish a transport level connection between the first card and the second card.

40. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 39 further comprising instructions to establish a second transport level connection between the second card and the third card.

41. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 29 further comprising instructions to receive an update from a second card if the first card is assigned the root identity, wherein the update indicates a state change at the second card.

42. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 41 further comprising instructions to communicate the state change to a third card.