IP Library Granted Patent US 9,377,967
Granted Patent B2
US 9,377,967 · App. 12/473,180 · Granted Jun 28, 2016

Systems and methods for scalable storage management

Inventors: Shawn Joel Dube (Austin, TX); Timothy M. Lambert (Austin, TX); Surender V. Brahmaroutu (Round Rock, TX)
Assignee: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
G06F3/0662G06F3/0658G06F3/0683G06F13/12G06F3/0607G06F3/0629G06F3/0689
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,377,967
App. No.
12/473,180
Filed
May 27, 2009
Granted
Jun 28, 2016
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2185
USPC
710/301
Abstract

Systems and methods for management of scalable storage architectures are disclosed. The system includes one or more storage backplanes, each storage backplane configured to interface with one or more hard disk drives. The system includes a baseboard management controller, which includes an interface to communicate with one or more of the storage backplanes and programmable logic configured to detect the presence of one or more hard disk drives in an interfaced storage backplane and control one or more status indicators, wherein each status indicator is related to at least one of the hard disk drives in the interfaced storage backplane.

Claims (60)

1. An information handling system comprising:

one or more storage controllers;

a plurality of storage backplanes, each storage backplane configured to interface with one or more hard disk drives; and

a baseboard management controller coupled to the one or more storage controllers, wherein the baseboard management controller comprises a virtualized storage enclosure processor, and wherein the baseboard management controller includes:

an interface to communicate with the at least two storage backplanes, wherein the interface receives a value of the one or more cable select lines; and

a processor that executes one or more commands to:

communicate with at least one of the one or more storage controllers using a storage enclosure services protocol;

cause the interface to select one or more hard disk present signals;

detect and store a status associated with each of the one or more cable select lines, wherein the status is received from the one or more storage controllers;

receive and store a hard disk present signal from the interface;

detect the presence of one or more hard disk drives in an interfaced storage backplane by accessing a first register communicably coupled to the interfaced storage backplane; and

control one or more status indicators through a second register communicably coupled to the interfaced storage backplane, wherein each status indicator is related to at least one of the hard disk drives in the interfaced storage backplane, and wherein the first register and the second register share a common sync.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 , further comprising:

wherein the one or more of the storage controllers communicate with the baseboard management controller by in-band signaling.

3. The information handling system of claim 2 , wherein the in-band signaling is performed over a PCI express bus.

4. The information handling system of claim 2 , wherein the processor further executes the one or more commands to:

communicate with the one or more of the storage controllers using the Management Component Transport Protocol.

5. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the interface to communicate with one or more of the storage backplanes comprises a serial general input/output interface.

6. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the processor further executes the one or more commands to:

control, by the interface, a register to select the one or more hard disk present signals.

7. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the processor further executes the one or more commands to:

control the operation of an online LED, wherein the online LED is indicative of a state of one or more hard disk drives in one of the storage backplanes.

8. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the processor further executes the one or more commands to:

control the operation of a fault LED, wherein the fault LED is indicative of a state of one or more hard disk drives in one of the storage backplanes.

9. The information handling system of claim 1 ,

wherein the value of the one or more cable select lines is received from the one or more storage controllers.

10. A baseboard management controller for managing a plurality of storage backplanes each storage backplane configured to interface with one or more hard disk drives, the baseboard management controller comprising:

a virtualized storage enclosure processor;

an interface to the plurality of storage backplanes; and

a processor that executes one or more commands to:

communicate with at least one of one or more storage controllers using a storage enclosure services protocol;

receive, by the interface, a value of one or more cable select lines;

cause the interface to select one or more hard disk present signals;

detect and store a status associated with each of the one or more cable select lines, wherein the status is received from the one or more storage controllers;

receive and store a hard disk present signal from the interface;

detect the presence of one or more hard disk drives in an interfaced storage backplane by accessing a first register communicably coupled to the interfaced storage backplane; and

control one or more status indicators through a second register communicably coupled to the interfaced storage backplane, wherein each status indicator is related to at least one of the hard disk drives in the interfaced storage backplane, and wherein the first register and the second register share a common sync.

11. The baseboard management controller of claim 10 ,

wherein the one or more of the storage controllers communicate with the baseboard management controller by in-band signaling.

12. The baseboard management controller of claim 11 , wherein the in-band signaling is performed over a PCI express bus.

13. The baseboard management controller of claim 11 , wherein the processor further executes the one or more commands to:

communicate with the one or more of the storage controllers using the Management Component Transport Protocol.

14. The baseboard management controller of claim 10 , wherein the interface to communicate with one or more of the storage backplanes comprises a serial general input/output interface.

15. The baseboard management controller of claim 10 , wherein the processor further executes the one or more commands to:

control, by the interface, a register to select the one or more hard disk present signals.

16. The baseboard management controller of claim 10 , wherein the processor further executes the one or more commands to:

control the operation of an online LED, wherein the online LED is indicative of a state of one or more hard disk drives in one of the storage backplanes.

17. The baseboard management controller of claim 10 , wherein the processor further executes the one or more commands to:

control the operation of a fault LED, wherein the fault LED is indicative of a state of one or more hard disk drives in one of the storage backplanes.

18. The baseboard management controller of claim 10 , wherein the value of the one or more cable select lines is received from the one or more storage controllers.

19. A method of managing a plurality of storage backplanes, each storage backplane configured to interface with one or more hard disk drives, the method comprising:

communicating with one or more storage controllers by a baseboard management controller, wherein the baseboard management controller comprises a virtualized storage enclosure processor, and wherein the baseboard management controller includes:

an interface to communicate with at least two storage backplanes, wherein the interface receives a value of the one or more cable select lines;

a processor that executes one or more commands to:

communicate with the one or more storage controllers using a storage enclosure services protocol;

cause the interface to select one or more hard disk present signals;

detect and store a status associated with each of the one or more cable select lines, wherein the status is received from the one or more storage controllers;

receive and store a hard disk present signal from the interface;

detect the presence of one or more hard disk drives in the interfaced storage backplane by accessing a first register communicably coupled to the interfaced storage backplane; and

control one or more status indicators through a second register communicably coupled to the interfaced storage backplane, wherein each status indicator is related to at least one of the hard disk drives in the interfaced storage backplane, and wherein the first register and the second register share a common sync.

Assignments (15)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (053546/0001) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 071642/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (045455/0001) Recorded May 20, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.); DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC CORPORATION (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MAGINATICS LLC); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MOZY, INC.); SCALEIO LLC
Reel/Frame 061753/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (040136/0001) Recorded Apr 26, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.); DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC CORPORATION (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MAGINATICS LLC); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MOZY, INC.); SCALEIO LLC
Reel/Frame 061324/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 3, 2021
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL, L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 058216/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 22, 2020
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053546/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Mar 21, 2019
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 049452/0223 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 21, 2016
From: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; SPANNING CLOUD APPS LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040134/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 21, 2016
From: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; SPANNING CLOUD APPS LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040136/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040040/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040065/0618 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; COMPELLANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040065/0216 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (ABL) Recorded Jan 2, 2014
From: DELL INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; BOOMI, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL USA L.P.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; GALE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 031898/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (TERM LOAN) Recorded Jan 2, 2014
From: DELL INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; BOOMI, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL USA L.P.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; GALE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 031899/0261 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded Jan 2, 2014
From: APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; BOOMI, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL USA L.P.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; GALE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS FIRST LIEN COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 031897/0348 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 10, 2009
From: DUBE, SHAWN JOEL; LAMBERT, TIMOTHY M.; BRAHMAROUTU, SURENDER V.
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
Reel/Frame 022805/0449 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20100306434A1 · Dec 2, 2010