Patent ID: 7664994
Filing Date: 2010-02-16
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A high-availability cluster apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of computing nodes of said cluster; a hardware interface configured to connect to each of the nodes, wherein the hardware interface comprises a printed circuit board; internode connections coupled to the hardware interface to communicate node status signals between said nodes by communicating the node status signals through the hardware interface and the internode connections, which form a topological continuity that is dedicated for communicating the node status signals, to the nodes; a data communication network interconnecting the nodes; a cluster service comprising a collection of software on each of the computing nodes that manage cluster-related activity such that said plurality of computing nodes are used as a single computing unit, wherein a node is removable from being connected to the hardware interface without interrupting the topological continuity, and wherein the network is separate from the internode connections, and wherein the internode connections form a point-to-point topology.