Determining physical locations of devices in a data center

1. A method of determining physical locations of servers in a data center, the method comprising:

retrieving, via a management computer processor, a list of at least one switch aggregator and a plurality of servers communicatively coupled to the switch aggregator within the data center, the list further including at least one of a media access control (MAC) address or an internet protocol (IP) address associated with each of the servers;

generating an initial grouping of the servers into a plurality of adjacent racks based on the at least one of the MAC address or the IP address;

pairing each server in a first rack with each other server in communication with a first switch aggregator to generate server pairs;

triggering each of the servers to measure, using a wireless communication device (WCD), received signal strength indication (RSSI) values of a received wireless signal transmitted between the respective server pairs, the WCD of a respective server enabling the respective server to transmit and receive wireless signals with other servers that have a compatible wireless communication device;

receiving, at the management computer processor, the measured RSSI values for each of the server pairs;

determining positions of the servers in at least one row of servers coupled to the switch aggregator, the row extending across adjacent racks, the positions in the row based on the received RSSI values for the server pairs, with servers of the server pairs having a lowest RSSI value among the received RSSI values, greater than a threshold RSSI value, positioned at end sections of the row of servers coupled to the switch aggregator;

generating an intermediate grouping of the servers in the at least one row based on the determined positions, the intermediate grouping of servers in the at least one row containing the physical locations of the servers in the same row at least partially based on the measured RSSI values, wherein the generating of the intermediate grouping of servers comprises: identifying a minimum RSSI value between each of the servers in the switch aggregator; and in response to the minimum RSSI value for a server in the first switch aggregator being less than the threshold RSSI value, identifying the server as being in the same row, the server pairs having minimum RSSI values less than or equal to the threshold RSSI value being indicative of servers that are in the same row;

comparing the minimum RSSI value for each of the server in the first switch aggregator to the threshold RSSI value, the threshold RSSI value being a predetermined RSSI value which corresponds to a minimum distance between servers in adjacent racks;

identifying servers in a server pair as being in a different row, if the minimum RSSI value for the server is greater than the threshold RSSI value;

identifying server pairs as being at an end of the switch aggregator if the respective RSSI values are the highest RSSI values for the switch aggregator, the server pairs having the highest RSSI values being indicative of servers that are at the ends of the switch aggregator; and

determining and storing final server rows across the plurality of adjacent racks to memory, the final server rows presenting a location of each server within each row of servers across the plurality of adjacent racks.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating an intermediate grouping of the servers in the at least one row comprises:

generating intermediate groupings of the servers in a plurality of rows for each of the switch aggregators.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sorting the RSSI values for the server pairs associated with the first switch aggregator into a decreasing order; and

identifying the server having a lowest among the highest RSSI value among the servers as being indicative of the server that is physically located in the center of a row.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying servers having highest values of the number of server pairs and having the minimum of the highest RSSI values, as being positioned approximately in the middle of the row; and

identifying servers having lowest RSSI values as being positioned approximately adjacent each other in the row.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a final ordering of the servers for all of the switch aggregators based at least partially on the intermediate grouping of servers for each of the switch aggregators.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein generating the final ordering of server rows for all of the switch aggregators further comprises:

identifying servers at the ends of the rows and other rows for each of the switch aggregators;

pairing servers at the ends of each of the rows with servers at the ends of other rows for each of the switch aggregators to generate row end server pairs between the switch aggregators;

identifying a minimum RSSI value for each of the servers in the row end server pairs based on the RSSI values for the row end server pairs; and

comparing the minimum RSSI value for each of the servers in the row end server pairs to the threshold RSSI value;

identifying servers at the ends of the rows for each switch aggregator; and

generating final server rows for each row across all of the switch aggregators based on the RSSI values of the row end server pairs.

7. An information handling system (IHS) comprising:

a plurality of racks, each of the racks containing a top of rack (TOR) switch that is communicatively coupled to a plurality of servers in the rack;

at least one switch aggregator communicatively coupled to each of the TOR switches;

a management computer communicatively coupled to the switch aggregator, the management computer including a processor and a memory device communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory device storing data center ordering firmware, wherein the data center ordering firmware configures the processor to:

retrieve a list of at least one switch aggregator and a plurality of adjacent servers communicatively coupled to the switch aggregator within the data center, the list further including at least one of a media access control (MAC) address or an internet protocol (IP) address associated with each of the servers;

generate an initial grouping of the servers into a plurality of racks based on the at least one of the MAC address or the IP address;

pair each server in a first rack with each other server in a first switch aggregator to generate server pairs;

trigger each of the servers to measure, using a wireless communication device (WCD), received signal strength indication (RSSI) values of a received wireless signal transmitted between the respective server pairs for the first switch aggregator, the WCD of a respective server enabling the respective server to transmit and receive wireless signals with other servers that have a compatible wireless communication device;

receive, at the management computer processor, the RSSI values for each of the server pairs;

determine positions of the servers in at least one row of servers coupled to the switch aggregator, the row extending across adjacent racks, the positions in the row based on the received RSSI values for the server pairs, with servers of the server pairs having a lowest RSSI value among the received RSSI values, greater than a threshold RSSI value, positioned at end sections of the row of servers coupled to the switch aggregator;

generate an intermediate grouping of the servers in the at least one row based on the determined positions, the intermediate grouping of servers in the at least one row containing the physical locations of the servers in the same row at least partially based on the measured RSSI values, wherein to generate the intermediate grouping the processor: identifies a minimum RSSI value for each of the servers in the first switch aggregator based on the RSSI values for each of the server pairs; and in response to the minimum RSSI value for a server being less than the threshold RSSI value, identifies the server as being in the same row, the server pairs having minimum RSSI values less than or equal to the threshold RSSI value being indicative of servers that are in the same row;

compare the minimum RSSI value for each of the servers to the threshold RSSI value, the threshold RSSI value being a predetermined RSSI value which corresponds to a minimum distance between servers in adjacent racks;

identify servers in a server pair as being in a different row, if the minimum RSSI value for the server is greater than the threshold RSSI value;

identify server pairs as being at an end of the switch aggregator, if the respective RSSI value are the highest RSSI value for the switch aggregator, the server pairs having the highest RSSI value being indicative of servers that are at the ends of the switch aggregator row; and

determine and store final server rows across the plurality of adjacent racks to memory.

8. The information handling system of claim 7 , wherein the data center ordering firmware further configures the processor to:

generate the intermediate grouping of the servers in a plurality of rows for each of the switch aggregators.

9. The information handling system of claim 7 , wherein the data center ordering firmware further configures the processor to:

sort the RSSI values for the server pairs associated with the first switch aggregator into decreasing order, the server having the lowest of the highest RSSI value being indicative of the server that is physically located in the center of a row.

10. The information handling system of claim 7 , wherein the data center ordering firmware further configures the processor to:

identify server having highest values of the number of server pairs and having the minimum of the highest RSSI values of the server pairs as being positioned approximately in the middle of the row for the switch aggregator; and

identify servers having lowest RSSI values as being positioned approximately adjacent each other in the row.

11. The information handling system of claim 7 , wherein the data center ordering firmware further configures the processor to:

generate a final ordering of the servers for all of the switch aggregators based at least partially on the intermediate grouping of severs for each of the switch aggregators.

12. The information handling system of claim 11 , wherein generating the final ordering of servers for all of the switch aggregators further comprises the data center ordering firmware further configuring the processor to:

identify servers at the ends of the rows for each of the switch aggregators;

pair servers at the ends of each of the rows with servers at the ends of other rows for each of the switch aggregators to generate row end server pairs between the switch aggregators;

identify a minimum RSSI value for each of the servers in the row end server pairs based on the RSSI values for the row end server pairs;

compare the minimum RSSI value for each of the servers in the row end server pairs to the threshold RSSI value;

identify servers at the ends of the rows for each switch aggregator; and

generate final server rows for each row across all of the switch aggregators based on the RSSI values of the row end server pairs.

13. A data center location system comprising:

a plurality of racks, each of the racks containing a top of rack (TOR) switch that is communicatively coupled to a plurality of servers in the rack;

at least one switch aggregator communicatively coupled to each of the TOR switches;

a management computer communicatively coupled to the switch aggregator, the management computer including a processor and a memory device communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory device storing data center ordering firmware, wherein the data center ordering firmware configures the processor to:

retrieve a list of at least one switch aggregator and a plurality of servers communicatively coupled to the switch aggregator within the data center, the list further including at least one of a media access control (MAC) address or an internet protocol (IP) address associated with each of the servers;

generate an initial grouping of the servers into a plurality of racks based on the at least one of the MAC address or the IP address;

pair each server in a first rack with each other server in a first switch aggregator to generate server pairs;

trigger each of the servers to measure, using a wireless communication device (WCD), received signal strength indication (RSSI) values of a received wireless signal transmitted between the respective server pairs for the first switch aggregator, the WCD of a respective server enabling the respective server to transmit and receive wireless signals with other servers that have a compatible wireless communication device;

receive, at the management computer processor, the RSSI values for each of the server pairs;

determine positions of the servers in at least one row of servers coupled to the switch aggregator, the row extending across adjacent racks, the positions in the row based on the received RSSI values for the server pairs, with servers of the server pairs having a lowest RSSI value among the received RSSI values, greater than a threshold RSSI value, positioned at end sections of the row of servers coupled to the switch aggregator;

generate an intermediate grouping of the servers in the at least one row based on the determined positions, the intermediate grouping of servers in the at least one row containing the physical locations of the servers in the same row at least partially based on the measured RSSI values, wherein to generate the intermediate grouping the processor: identifies a minimum RSSI value for each of the servers in the first switch aggregator based on the RSSI values for each of the server pairs; and in response to the minimum RSSI value for a server being less than the threshold RSSI value, identifies the server as being in the same row, the server pairs having minimum RSSI values less than or equal to the threshold RSSI value being indicative of servers that are in the same row;

compare the minimum RSSI value for each of the servers to the threshold RSSI value, the threshold RSSI value being a predetermined RSSI value which corresponds to a minimum distance between servers in adjacent racks;

identify servers of a server pair as being in a different row, if the minimum RSSI value for the server is greater than the threshold RSSI value, the server pairs having minimum RSSI values greater than the threshold RSSI value being indicative of servers that are in different rows;

identify servers as being at an end of the switch aggregator, if the respective RSSI values are the highest RSSI values for the switch aggregator, the server pairs having the highest RSSI values being indicative of servers that are at the ends of the switch aggregator; and

determine and store final server rows across the plurality of adjacent racks to memory.

14. The data center location system of claim 13 , wherein the data center ordering firmware further configures the processor to:

generate the intermediate grouping of the servers in a plurality of rows for each of the switch aggregators.

15. The data center location system of claim 13 , wherein the data center ordering firmware further configures the processor to:

sort the RSSI values for the server pairs associated with the first switch aggregator into a decreasing order, the server having the lowest of the highest RSSI value being indicative of the server that is physically located in the center of a row.

16. The data center location system of claim 13 , wherein the data center ordering firmware further configures the processor to:

identify servers having highest values of the number server pairs and having the minimum of the highest RSSI values as being positioned approximately in the middle of the row; and

identify servers having lowest RSSI values as being positioned approximately adjacent each other in the row.

17. The data center location system of claim 13 , wherein the data center ordering firmware further configures the processor to:

generate a final ordering of the servers for all of the switch aggregators based at least partially on the intermediate grouping of severs for each of the switch aggregators.