Patent Publication Number: US-2013242501-A1

Title: Node Module and Base Thereof

Description:
TECHNOLOGY FIELD 
     The disclosure is related to a node module and base thereof. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A computer cluster, usually called a cluster, is a type of computer system composed of a set of loosely coupled computer software and/or hardware to complete computation tasks under high cooperation. One single computer in a cluster system is usually called a node, and a node is connected with a local area network but can also be connected with other connecting methods. Cluster computing is usually used for improving the computation speed and/or reliability of a single computer. 
     Due to the growth of information technology systems, more servers are needed. However, due to limited space in some organizations, the capacity of rack shelves is insufficient, and thus the number of servers cannot be increased as desired. 
     The rack unit is a standard size unit for servers defined by Electronic Industrial Association (EIA) of the United States. One rack shelf unit, called “1U”, is 1.75 inches (about 44.5 cm) high by 19 inches wide. Two rack shelf units, called “2U”, have an actual height of 1.75×2 inches (about 89 cm) and the same width of 19 inches. The same pattern of height increases extends to other units (3U, 4U, 5U, . . . ). Therefore, different system elements disposed within N rack shelf units need to be compatible with a corresponding fixed height to be in compliance with the general standard. 
     For providing higher density computation, it is necessary to increase the number of real servers within limited rack shelf space. Therefore, many manufacturers have begun installing more real servers in the same rack shelf height, using blade servers and multi-motherboard servers. However, these conventional approaches are still limited by space and the lack of sufficient flexibility. Related elements are fixed, and the system elements cannot be dynamically arranged. Only fixed computation modules (motherboards, processors, memory) can be installed. It is not possible to increase rack shelf utilization under the 2U/4U/5U/6U spatial construct and to achieve flexible system arrangement at the same time. 
     In addition, when servers are limited to a fixed height, scalability and heat dissipation face certain limitations. In some cases, certain elements also need to be installed, instead of complete equipment expansion. Therefore, the capability of a single machine is limited, and its application is also limited to a certain field. 
     SUMMARY 
     An objective of the present invention is to provide a base that can be adjusted to accommodate different high performance computation node modules in a limited space. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to use the base to provide variable high computation performance modules. 
     To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the embodiment of the present invention provides a base for a node module that includes a first container, a second container, and a rotation portion. The first container is used for disposing a system allocation unit of the node module, and the second container is used for disposing another system allocation unit of the node module. The size of the second container is substantially the same as the first container, and the first container is aligned to be adjacent to the second container. The rotation portion is respectively connected to the first container and the second container such that the first container is able to be rotated with respect to the second container and to be stacked on the second container. In a preferred embodiment, after rotating, the total height of the first container and the second container is 2U. 
     Moreover, the base of the node module further includes a fan to be disposed on the first container or the second container. 
     In one embodiment, the first container and second container are respectively disposed with a first hard disk and a second hard disk. In addition, any one of the first container and the second container is equipped with a latch for controlling the ejection of the first hard disk or the second hard disk from the first container or the second container respectively. 
     The embodiment of the present invention also provides a system allocation module which includes the base as mentioned above, and the first container and the second container are used to dispose any one of the following: a multiple motherboards computing unit, a general purpose computing on graphics processing unit (GPGPU), a storage unit, and a small form factor PCI Express module (SXM) unit. The present invention also provides a node module that includes two of the aforementioned node module bases, multiple system allocation units, and a power supply. The power supply is located between two bases for providing power to each system allocation unit. The system allocation unit includes at least a multiple motherboards computing unit, a general purpose computing on graphics processing unit (GPGPU), a storage unit, and/or a small form factor PCI Express module (SXM) unit. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a base for a high computation node module; 
         FIGS. 1A-1D  illustrate different node modules used in high performance computation; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates the appearance of a node module of  FIG. 1A  after folding; 
         FIG. 3  is an embodiment of the present invention illustrating two sets of node modules of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates five sets of node modules of  FIG. 2  installed on a rack shelf; and 
         FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  illustrate assembly of multiple sets of node modules of  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     For clearer explanation of the spirit of the present invention, please refer to  FIG. 1 , which illustrates a preferred embodiment. The present invention provides a base  1  for a node module. The base  1  includes a first container  11 , a second container  12 , and a rotation portion  13 . The first container  11  is substantially the same as the second container  12 , and the first container  11  is aligned to be adjacent to the second container  12 . As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the rotation portion  13  is connected to the first container  11  and the second container  12  respectively such that the first container  11  can be rotated with respect to the second container  12  with a folding rotation. After such rotation, the first container  11  is stacked on the second container  12 , and the total height of the first container  11  and the second container  12  after being stacked is 2U, which is about 1.75 inches. In this embodiment, the rotation portions  13  are multiple hinges arranged in parallel. However, please note that such a design is not to limit the scope of the invention. For example, the rotation portion  13  can also be a single long type rotation axial shaft (not shown). 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the first container  11  and the second container  12  have one side slightly wider than the other side. Specifically, the sides of the first container  11  and the second container  12  that are set with hard disks  21  and  22  (shown in  FIG. 1A ) are slightly wider than the other sides. When the first container  11  and the second container  12  are aligned without being rotated and stacked, the first container  11  and the second container  12  together form a T-shape from the top view. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1A . The first container  11  is used for installing a system allocation unit  15 , and the second container  12  is used for installing another system allocation unit  15 . In this embodiment, the first container  11  and the second container  12  are installed with same system allocation units. Please refer to  FIG. 1B . The first container  11  and the second container  12  are installed with different system allocation units  15  and  15 ′. In other words, the first container  11  is installed with a system allocation unit  15  and the second container  12  is installed with another system allocation unit  15 ′. 
     In addition, as illustrated in  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B , the base  1  of the node module further includes a fan  3 . The fan  3  can be disposed on the first container  11  or the second container  12 . Therefore, heat from heating elements that need heat dissipation, such as CPUs, can be dissipated by the fan  3 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B . The first container  11  is installed with a hard disk  21 , and the second container  12  is installed with a second hard disk  22 . The first hard disk  21  and the second hard disk  22  can be the same or not the same hard disks. For example, they can be the same or different 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hard disks. Any one of the first container  11  or the second container  12  further has a latch  120 . In other words, the latch  120  may be disposed on either the first container  11  or the second container  12 , or on both the first container  11  and the second container  12 . The latch  120  is used for latching/ejecting the hard disk  21  and/or the hard disk  22  from the first container  11  and/or the second container  12 . 
     The latch  120  includes a driving portion  121  and a manual portion  122 . The driving portion  121  and the manual portion  122  are hooked to each other, and the driving portion  121  is hooked on the hard disk  21 . As illustrated in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 1B , if a user wants to eject the hard disk  21 , the user only needs to press the manual portion  122 . With the rotation of the axial shaft  123 , the driving portion  121  is moved and taken off the hook of the manual portion  122 . Then the hard disk  21  is ejected. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1A to 1D . Under different requirements, the base  1  for node modules can be used for disposing different system allocation units (marked as  15  and  15 ′ in  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1B ) and forms different node modules  1 A- 1 D. In the example of  FIG. 1A , two motherboards are disposed in the base  1  to form a multiple motherboards computing structure. In the example of  FIG. 1B , multiple storage units are disposed for high volume storage. In the example of  FIG. 1C , a general purpose computing on graphics processing unit (GPGPU) is disposed for improving graphic computation. In the example of  FIG. 1D , a small form factor PCI Express module (SXM) is disposed to be extendible. These node modules can be high performance computation modules for providing a rack with better computation power. 
     The node module  1 A of  FIG. 1A  can be rotated with the rotation portion  13  of the base  1  for a folding rotation. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , although the total size of the height H is changed from 1U to 2U and the length L is not changed, the width W is apparently reduced. Therefore, for server racks, such design provides more variation possibilities. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 3 . The present invention also provides a node module  100 , which includes two bases  1  of the aforementioned node modules and a power supply  4 . The power supply  4  is disposed between the two bases  1  for providing power to each system allocation unit. More specifically, when the bases  1  are disposed with different electronic boards and form different node modules like node module  1 A, the power supply  100  is disposed between two node modules  1 A for providing power to the node modules  1 A. Therefore, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , although the height is only 2U, it is two sets of 2U and forms a 4U arrangement, greatly improvingly the density of server racks. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 4 . In  FIG. 4 , multiple 2U node modules  1 A are disposed on a rack shelf  9 , and the structure of the base  1  facilitates loading and unloading from the case of the servers. In addition, as mentioned above, the latch  120  is used for ejecting or latching the hard disk  21 . Therefore, the base  1  of the present invention provides a user with more flexible application. 
     If a user needs more than 2U node modules  1 A, the user may use multiple sets of the present invention, as illustrated in  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 , which are four sets of 2U forming a 8U node module or are five sets of 2U forming a 10U node module. Please be noted that the numbers illustrated in the drawings are not used to limit the scope of the present invention. Persons of ordinary skill in the art may develop certain variations after reading the disclosure of the present invention. 
     The foregoing descriptions of embodiments of the present invention have been presented only for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the forms disclosed. Accordingly, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Additionally, the above disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.