Input/output router for storage networks
View Patent ↗A blade server is disclosed, comprised of multiple server blades that plug into a midplane from the front, and an I/O router including multiple IOCs (one for each server blade) and an embedded switch that plugs into the midplane from the back. The midplane carries PCI Express lanes for connecting the server blades to the I/O router. Each of the IOCs is physically couplable to a server blade over a separate PCI Express connection in the midplane, preserving existing driver compatibility, and is coupled to the embedded switch via an internal FC link within the I/O router. Each embedded switch may contain full fabric services ports. Alternatively, the full fabric services may be left out, and N_PORT virtualization or FC_AL stealth mode may be employed to allow the embedded switch to interoperate transparently with the external fabric switch and eliminate the third hop in the blade server chassis.
1. An Input/Output (I/O) router communicatively couplable to a plurality of server blades in a blade server chassis through a midplane carrying Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express, comprising:
a plurality of I/O Controller (IOC) modules, each of a first group of one or more of the plurality of IOC modules couplable to a different server blade for converting between PCI Express and a first protocol; and
a routing element containing a plurality of internal ports coupled to each of the first group of IOC modules and one or more external ports couplable to a Storage Area Network (SAN) implementing the first protocol, the routing element configured for routing the first protocol between the internal ports and the external ports.
2. The I/O router as recited in claim 1 , wherein the one or more external ports are Expansion Ports (E_PORTs).
3. The I/O router as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of IOC modules and the routing element implement Node Port (N_PORT) virtualization for enabling the routing element to operate transparently.
4. The I/O router as recited in claim 1 , wherein the routing element is a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC_AL) switch for enabling the routing element to operate transparently.
5. The I/O router as recited in claim 1 , wherein the I/O router is fully compatible with existing driver and applications software models.
6. The I/O router as recited in claim 1 , the routing element configured for:
monitoring the one or more external ports;
detecting a failure on a link connected to one of the external ports;
updating routing tables to route traffic to another external port; and
indicating to the external port connected to the failed link that a link-down event occurred.
7. The I/O router as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first protocol is Fibre Channel (FC).
8. The I/O router as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
a second group of one or more of the plurality of IOC modules, each of the second group of IOC modules couplable to a different server blade for converting between PCI Express and a second protocol; and
an expander device containing a plurality of internal ports coupled to each of the second group of IOC modules and one or more external ports couplable to a SAN implementing the second protocol, the expander device for routing the second protocol between the expander device internal ports and external ports.
9. The I/O router as recited in claim 8 , wherein the second protocol is Serial Attached SCSI (SAS).
10. A blade server comprising the I/O router of claim 1 .
11. A storage area network comprising the blade server of claim 10 .
12. A method for communicatively coupling a plurality of server blades in a blade server chassis to devices on a Storage Area Network (SAN), comprising:
co-locating a plurality of I/O Controller (IOC) modules and a routing element in an area separate from the plurality of server blades;
connecting each of a first group of one or more of the plurality of IOC modules to a different internal port on the routing element so that the first group of IOC modules can be communicatively coupled between a different server blade and the routing element;
converting between Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express and a first protocol using the first group of IOC modules; and
routing the first protocol between the internal ports and one or more external ports on the routing element, the one or more external ports couplable to the devices on the SAN implementing the first protocol.
13. The method as recited in claim 12 , further comprising routing the first protocol between the first internal ports and one or more first external Expansion Ports (E_PORTs).
14. The method as recited in claim 12 , further comprising operating the routing element transparently by implementing Node Port (N_PORT) virtualization within the plurality of IOC modules and the routing element.
15. The method as recited in claim 12 , further comprising operating the routing element transparently by employing a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC_AL) switch as the routing element.
16. The method as recited in claim 12 , further comprising employing IOC modules that are fully compatible with existing driver and applications software models in the server blades.
17. The method as recited in claim 12 , further comprising:
monitoring the one or more first external ports;
detecting a failure on a link connected to one of the first external ports;
updating routing tables to route traffic to another first external port; and
indicating to the first external port connected to the failed link that a link-down event occurred.
18. The method as recited in claim 12 , wherein the first protocol is Fibre Channel (FC).
19. The method as recited in claim 12 , further comprising:
co-locating an expander device along with the plurality of I/O Controller (IOC) modules and the routing element in the area separate from the plurality of server blades;
connecting each of a second group of one or more of the plurality of IOC modules to a different internal port on the expander device so that the second group of IOC modules can be communicatively coupled between a different server blade and the expander device;
converting between Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Express and a second protocol using the second group of IOC modules; and
routing the second protocol between the internal ports and one or more external ports on the expander device, the one or more external ports couplable to the devices on the SAN implementing the second protocol.
20. The method as recited in claim 19 , wherein the second protocol is Serial Attached SCSI (SAS).