Patent ID: 9600604
Date: 2017-03-21
CPC Classifications: G06F

Claim:
1. A method for planning an implementation of a modular computing system, the method comprising: presenting a user interface at a display device, the user interface including a plurality of user-selectable objects, each of the user-selectable objects representing a component of the modular computing system that includes at least a computing module for performing computations, a communication module for communication, a storage device for storage, a power module for providing power and an input/output (I/O) module for receiving user input, wherein the presenting of the user interface includes: presenting a first interface operable to specify a computing enclosure, presenting a second interface operable to specify a currently-installed component within the computing enclosure, and presenting a third interface operable to specify a component to be installed within the computing enclosure; receiving, via a user input device, a user selection from among the user-selectable objects, wherein the user selection specifies an enclosure, an existing component in use, and a future component for future deployment of the modular computing system, wherein the modular computing system can be incrementally deployed based on a number and type of components; searching a device specific data structure to obtain technical information for the user selection, when the user selection specifies an alternate component that is not directly identified by the user interface; displaying, at the display device, a representation of the specified enclosure, existing component, and future component with an indicator for a suggested installation configuration that meets an implementation guideline and an indicator of a configuration that does not meet the implementation guideline, wherein the indicator of a configuration that does not meet the implementation guideline includes: providing an indicator of a configuration for the specified one of an enclosure, an existing component, and a future component that does not meet the implementation guideline; verifying the user selection with respect to the implementation guideline; and displaying, at the display device, an indicator of whether the user selection meets the implementation guideline and an expected performance of using the future component in the deployment of the modular computing system that meets the implementation guideline.