Flexible server network connection upgrade systems and methods
View Patent ↗In some embodiments, a system allowing a flexible upgrade of a computer system (e.g. server) to a high-speed network connection comprises base configuration motherboard or network card including a set of low-speed (e.g. 1 Gbps Ethernet) media access controllers (MACs) each connected to a low-speed physical controller (PHY), and a set of high-speed (e.g. 10 Gbps Ethernet) MACs. An expansion card including high-speed PHYs of choice can be connected by an end user to the base configuration motherboard or network card. A flow classifier classifies data sent/received over both high-speed and low-speed ports, and a single driver may control both high- and low-speed ports. One or both of the motherboard and/or expansion card are configured according to a detected type (e.g. physical layer standard, vendor) of expansion card connected to the motherboard and/or type of physical medium connected to the expansion card.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a computer server motherboard comprising
a base network interface controller integrated circuit comprising:
a set of low-speed media access controllers (MACs),
a set of high-speed MACs,
a programmable processor connected to the low-speed MACs and high-speed MACs; and
a set of low-speed physical layer processor (PHY) devices, each low-speed PHY device being connected to a corresponding low-speed MAC for the base network interface controller integrated circuit; and
a high-speed physical layer device expansion card removably connected to the computer server motherboard, the high-speed physical controller expansion card comprising a set of high-speed physical layer processor (PHY) devices, each high-speed PHY device being connected to a high-speed MAC of the base network interface controller integrated circuit;
wherein the programmable processor is programmed to
determine a type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card connected to the computer server motherboard, wherein determining the type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card includes determining a physical layer standard of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card; and
configure the base network interface controller integrated circuit or the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to configure the base network interface controller integrated circuit according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein configuring the base network interface controller integrated circuit according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises configuring a host interface of the base network interface controller integrated circuit.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to configure the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein configuring the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises directing a download of a set of firmware code to the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein configuring the base network interface controller integrated circuit or the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises setting a value of a communications channel parameter for a communications channel between a high-speed MAC and a corresponding high-speed PHY.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to determine a type of physical medium connected to the high-speed physical layer device expansion card, and to configure the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the physical medium.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the base network interface controller integrated circuit further comprises a flow classifier connected to the set of low-speed MACs and the set of high-speed MACs and configured to classify low-speed port data corresponding to the set of low-speed MACs and high-speed port data corresponding to the set of high-speed MACs.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the computer server motherboard further comprises a host processor connected to the set of low-speed MACs and the set of high-speed MACs and programmed to execute a set of driver software instructions implementing a common network interface driver for communicating the low-speed port data and the high-speed port data.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the set of low-speed MACs includes at least one 1 Gbps MAC, and the set of high-speed MACs includes at least one 10 Gbps MAC.
11. A method comprising:
removably connecting a high-speed physical layer device expansion card to a computer server motherboard, wherein
the computer server motherboard comprises a base network interface controller integrated circuit comprising
a set of low-speed media access controllers (MACs), and
a set of high-speed MACs, and
the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises a set of high-speed physical layer processor (PHY) devices, each high-speed PHY device being connected to a high-speed MAC of the base network interface controller integrated circuit; and
employing a programmable processor of the computer server motherboard to
determine a type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card connected to the computer server motherboard, wherein determining the type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card includes determining a physical layer standard of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card, and
configure the base network interface controller integrated circuit or the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
establishing a set of low-speed network connections to the computer server motherboard through the set of low-speed MACs; and
establishing a set of high-speed network connections to the computer server motherboard through the set of high-speed PHY devices and the set of high-speed MACs.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to configure the base network interface controller integrated circuit according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein configuring the base network interface controller integrated circuit according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises configuring a host interface of the base network interface controller integrated circuit.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to configure the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein configuring the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises directing a download of a set of firmware code to the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein configuring the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises setting a value of a communications channel parameter for a communications channel between a high-speed MAC and a corresponding high-speed PHY.
18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to determine a type of physical medium connected to the high-speed physical layer device expansion card, and to configure the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the physical medium.
19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the base network interface controller integrated circuit further comprises a flow classifier connected to the set of low-speed MACs and the set of high-speed MACs and configured to classify low-speed port data corresponding to the set of low-speed MACs and high-speed port data corresponding to the set of high-speed MACs.
20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising employing a common network interface driver to control the low-speed network connections and the high-speed network connections.
21. The method of claim 11 , wherein the set of low-speed MACs includes at least one 1 Gbps MAC, and the set of high-speed MACs includes at least one 10 Gbps MAC.
22. An apparatus comprising:
a base network interface controller board comprising:
a set of low-speed media access controllers (MACs),
a set of low-speed physical layer processor (PHY) devices, each low-speed PHY device being connected to a low-speed MAC, and
a set of high-speed MACs, and
a high-speed physical layer device expansion card removably connected to the base network interface controller board, the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprising a set of high-speed PHY devices, each high-speed PHY device being connected to a high-speed MAC of the base network interface controller board;
wherein the base network interface controller board is configured to
determine a type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card connected to the base network interface controller board, wherein determining the type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card includes determining a physical layer standard of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card, and
configure the base network interface controller board or the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the base network interface controller board comprises a programmable processor connected to the low-speed MACs and high-speed MACs, and programmed to determine the type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card connected to the base network interface controller board, and to configure the base network interface controller board or the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to configure the base network interface controller board according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein configuring the base network interface controller board according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises configuring a host interface of the base network interface controller board.
26. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to configure the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
27. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein configuring the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises directing a download of a set of firmware code to the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
28. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein configuring the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises setting a value of a communications channel parameter for a communications channel between a high-speed MAC and a corresponding high-speed PHY.
29. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the base network interface controller board is configured to determine a type of physical medium connected to the high-speed physical layer device expansion card, and to configure the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the physical medium.
30. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the base network interface controller board further comprises a flow classifier connected to the set of low-speed MACs and the set of high-speed MACs and configured to classify low-speed port data corresponding to the set of low-speed MACs and high-speed port data corresponding to the set of high-speed MACs.
31. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the base network interface controller board further comprises a host processor connected to the set of low-speed MACs and the set of high-speed MACs and programmed to execute a set of driver software instructions implementing a common network interface driver for communicating the low-speed port data and the high-speed port data.
32. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the set of low-speed MACs includes at least one 1 Gbps MAC, and the set of high-speed MACs includes at least one 10 Gbps MAC.
33. A method comprising:
removably connecting a high-speed physical layer device expansion card to a base network interface controller board, wherein
the base network interface controller board comprises
a set of low-speed media access controllers (MACs),
a set of low-speed physical layer processor (PHY) devices, each low-speed PHY device being connected to a low-speed MAC, and
a set of high-speed MACs, and
the high-speed physical controller expansion card comprises a set of high-speed PHY devices, each high-speed PHY device being connected to a high-speed MAC of the base network interface controller integrated circuit; and
employing the base network interface controller board to
determine a type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card connected to the base network interface controller board, wherein determining the type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card includes determining a physical layer standard of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card, and
configure the base network interface controller board or the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
34. The method of claim 33 , further comprising:
establishing a set of low-speed network connections to the base network interface controller board through the set of low-speed PHY devices and the set of low-speed MACs; and
establishing a set of high-speed network connections to the base network interface controller board through the set of high-speed PHY devices and the set of high-speed MACs.
35. The method of claim 33 , wherein the base network interface controller board comprises a programmable processor connected to the low-speed MACs and high-speed MACs, and programmed to determine the type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card connected to the base network interface controller board, and to configure the base network interface controller board or the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
36. The method of claim 35 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to configure the base network interface controller board according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
37. The method of claim 36 , wherein configuring the base network interface controller board according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises configuring a host interface of the base network interface controller board.
38. The method of claim 35 , wherein the programmable processor is programmed to configure the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
39. The method of claim 38 , wherein configuring the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises directing a download of a set of firmware code to the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.
40. The method of claim 38 , wherein configuring the base network interface controller board or the high-speed physical layer device expansion card comprises setting a value of a communications channel parameter for a communications channel between a high-speed MAC and a corresponding high-speed PHY.
41. The method of claim 33 , wherein the base network interface controller board is configured to determine a type of physical medium connected to the high-speed physical layer device expansion card, and to configure the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the physical medium.
42. The method of claim 33 , wherein the base network interface controller board further comprises a flow classifier connected to the set of low-speed MACs and the set of high-speed MACs and configured to classify low-speed port data corresponding to the set of low-speed MACs and high-speed port data corresponding to the set of high-speed MACs.
43. The method of claim 33 , wherein the base network interface controller board further comprises a host processor connected to the set of low-speed MACs and the set of high-speed MACs and programmed to execute a set of driver software instructions implementing a common network interface driver for communicating the low-speed port data and the high-speed port data.
44. The method of claim 33 , wherein the set of low-speed MACs includes at least one 1 Gbps MAC, and the set of high-speed MACs includes at least one 10 Gbps MAC.
45. An apparatus comprising:
a base network interface controller integrated circuit comprising:
a set of low-speed media access controllers (MACs),
a set of high-speed MACs, and
a programmable processor connected to the low-speed MACs and high-speed MACs; and
a high-speed physical layer device expansion card connector coupled to the base network interface controller integrated circuit, for removably connecting the base network interface controller integrated circuit to a high-speed physical layer device expansion card, the high-speed physical controller expansion card comprising a set of high-speed physical layer processor (PHY) devices;
wherein connecting the base network interface controller integrated circuit to the high-speed physical controller expansion card connects each high-speed PHY device of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card to a high-speed MAC of the base network interface controller integrated circuit; and
wherein the programmable processor is programmed to
determine a type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card connected to the base network interface controller integrated circuit, wherein determining the type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card includes determining a physical layer standard of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card, and
configure the base network interface controller integrated circuit or the high-speed physical layer device expansion card according to the determined type of the high-speed physical layer device expansion card.