Patent Publication Number: US-2011066766-A1

Title: Control apparatus and data processing system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-209919 filed on Sep. 11, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD 
     The embodiments discussed herein are related to a control apparatus and a data processing system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The demand for reducing capital investment and operation cost of recent information processing systems has increased. Facilities of the systems may be generally designed specifically to users or vendors. It may therefore be preferable to introduce the systems quickly and inexpensively. 
     Accordingly, a variety of standards for defining components such as chassis (shelves), cards, and small modules for adding functions to cards to establish a system in which modules from vendors are combined have been proposed. For example, the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG) 3.0 Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (Advanced TCA or ATCA, hereinafter referred to “ATCA”) standard has been proposed as a standard suitable for communications carriers. 
     The ATCA standard standardizes chassis (shelves), cards (boards) mounted in chassis, etc., and boards having various functions may be combined to establish a data processing apparatus. In addition, the functionality of boards may be easily changed by adding a new ATCA board to a shelf of a product established using the ATCA standard or replacing an ATCA board mounted in a shelf with another ATCA board. 
     A device incorporating a shelf and cards standardized as above may require a unit for managing and controlling cards mounted in the shelf. The unit is called a shelf manager (shelf management apparatus). Each board is under the management of the shelf manager, and the shelf manager performs processing such as controlling the start of respective board (for example, blade) and monitoring the state of the board. 
     The shelf manager controls the start of all blades. When a blade is starting, the shelf manager collects information about the blade via an ATCA-based bus called the Intelligent Platform Management Bus (IPMB). Then, the shelf manager controls the start of the blade using the collected information. For example, the shelf manager compares power supplied from the chassis with power consumed by a blade. Therefore, the shelf manager does not allow the blade to start if the power consumed by the blade exceeds the upper limit of the supplied power. Alternatively, if the shelf manager does not have appropriate information about network connection ports (local area network (LAN) ports) of the blades, no network connection is permitted within the chassis. 
     Basically, managed blades are not capable of autonomously sending their information to the shelf manager. However, managed blades are only capable of transmitting information requested by the shelf manager. Note that managed blades autonomously transmit information reporting that the blades have started to the shelf manager. 
     Therefore, the shelf manager is preferable to collect information about individual blades.  FIGS. 13 and 14  are diagrams illustrating an existing information collection technology of a shelf manager. As illustrated in  FIG. 13 , a shelf manager  100  includes a management table  120  that stores a blade information database containing blade information about blades  200 . The shelf manager  100  includes a query transmitter  140  that queries information about the blades  200 . The shelf manager  100  includes a reply receiver  130  that receives replies from the blades  200 . The shelf manager  100  includes a function block controller  110  that controls the management table  120 . The shelf manager  100  includes the reply receiver  130 , and the query transmitter  140 . 
     As illustrated in a collection sequence diagram of  FIG. 14 , the query transmitter  140  queries the blades  200  for blade information via a bus. The reply receiver  130  receives replies (blade information) from the blades  200 . The reply receiver  130  stores the received replies in the management table  120 . That is, information data about a blade  200  that has started is received and stored without any control to establish the management table  120 . 
     With the recent enhancement of the functionality of blades, the data amount of blade information has increased. Conventionally, existing methods support old types of blades because the data amount of blade information is small. However, new types of blades are not supported by such existing methods because of the increased data amount of blade information. 
     Specifically, with the increased load on the shelf manager that performs a blade information collection process because of the following reasons, the information collection process may be delayed. Therefore, a delay may occur in the blade start process. 
     Each blade has a different specification, and therefore has a different amount of blade information. While plurality types of blades exist, there is no specification on the speed at which the blades reply. Therefore, the speed at which blade information is transmitted as a reply differs from blade to blade. Since replies to an information transmission request from the shelf manager differ from blade to blade, it may be preferable to perform predetermined flow control. Thus, congestion may occur in the information collection process. 
     If the shelf manager has failed to receive blade information from a blade because of congestion in the information collection process, the shelf manager requests the blade to retransmit blade information. The retransmission request may trigger a vicious circle in which data is retransmitted from a large number of blades and the load on the bus increases. This may cause a start delay or a start failure of blades (a timeout may occur in the start process), leading to delays in the information collection process on the shelf manager side, for example, failure to completely read blade information or freezing of the start process. 
     The size of the shelf manager is fixed by the size of the chassis. Therefore, it is preferable to increase the speed of the processors or add more memory to increase the performance of the shelf manager.
     [Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-009519   [Patent Document 2] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2000-066978   

     SUMMARY 
     According to an aspect of an embodiment, a control apparatus connectable to a plurality of electronic units via a bus, the control apparatus controlling operations of the plurality of electronic units, the control apparatus includes a first storage section for storing an operating information used for operating each of the plurality of electronic units, a second storage section for storing an identifying information used for identifying each of the electronic units, a controller for controlling to receive a start notification of one of the electronic units, query the one of the electronic units about the identifying information, receive the identifying information from the one of the electronic units, compare the received identifying information with the stored identifying information in the second storage section, query the one of the electronic units about an operating information when the received identifying information is different from the stored identifying information, and store the received operating information in the first storage section. 
     The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims. 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a configuration diagram of a data processing system according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a shelf management apparatus illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating blade information about a blade illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a partial information management table illustrated in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating a statistic pointer table illustrated in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating a blade information reference table illustrated in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating a blade information database illustrated in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a flow diagram illustrating a data collection process of a shelf management apparatus according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating a collection sequence in the data collection process illustrated in  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating a query data stream for querying partial information and a reply stream in the data collection process illustrated in  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating a matching process in the data collection process illustrated in  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating a query data stream for querying whole information and a reply stream in the data collection process illustrated in  FIG. 8 ; 
         FIG. 13  is a block diagram of an existing shelf management apparatus; and 
         FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating a blade information collection sequence of the existing shelf management apparatus. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Examples of embodiments may be described hereinafter in the order of a control apparatus, a data processing system, a data collection process, and other embodiments. A shelf management apparatus disclosed in the following embodiments is one of examples of control apparatuses. However, a data processing system and a shelf management apparatus disclosed herein are not limited to those in the following embodiments. 
       FIG. 1  is a configuration diagram of a data processing system according to an embodiment. The system illustrated in  FIG. 1  is configured using a shelf manager, a shelf, and electronic units (also referred to as “blades”) complying with the ATCA standard described above, by way of example. 
     The system illustrated in  FIG. 1  includes a pair of shelf managers (shelf management apparatuses)  1 A and  1 B, multiple (in  FIG. 1 , seven) ATCA boards (hereinafter referred to as “blades”)  2 A to  2 G, a cooling fan  3 , a power supply  4 , and a bus  5 . The above devices are connected via the bus  5 . 
     The shelf includes a subrack, a backplane, a front board, the cooling device (fan)  3 , and the power supply  4 . The backplane is composed of a circuit board on which connectors and the bus  5  are mounted. The backplane distributes the power supplied from the power supply  4 . The shelf managers  1 A and  1 B and the blades  2 A to  2 B are mounted in the subrack, and are connected to the connectors of the backplane. 
     In the data processing system illustrated in  FIG. 1 , a pair of shelf managers  1 A and  1 B is provided and form a redundant system. For example, the shelf manager  1 A may be active and the shelf manager  1 B may be a backup. The shelf managers  1 A and  1 B are connected to the blades  2 A to  2 B via the bus (IPMB)  5  to transmit and receive information. 
     Each of the shelf managers  1 A and  1 B includes a shelf manager controller (ShMC)  7  configured to monitor and control the operation of the shelf components such as the blades  2 A to  2 G, the cooling fan  3 , and the power supply  4 . The shelf managers  1 A and  1 B search inventory information or sensor read information. The shelf managers  1 A and  1 B receive an event report or a failure notification from the blades  2 A to  2 G. The shelf managers  1 A and  1 B also control the start, reset, power supply, and cooling operations. 
     Each of the shelf manager controllers  7  serves as a distributed management controller that manages and monitors the operation of the devices in the system, such as the blades  2 A to  2 G, the cooling fan  3 , and the power supply  4 . Each of the shelf manager controllers  7  serves as a distributed management controller to manage and monitor system health. The shelf manager controller  7  may be configured using a microcomputer, a memory, and any other suitable device. 
     The blades  2 A to  2 G and the cooling fan  3  are Field Replacement Units (FRUs), and are replaceable in the field. Each of the units  2 A to  2 G and  3  includes an Intelligent Platform Management Controller (IPMC)  6 , which may be configured using a microcomputer, a memory, and any other suitable device. The IPMCs  6  manage the power supply, cooling, and interconnect operations regarding hardware in the blades  2 A to  2 G and the cooling fan  3 . The IPMCs  6  also monitor and log events. 
     The blades  2 A to  2 G have hardware (such as central processing units (CPUs)) for implementing the functions thereof, for example, communication processing, storage, monitoring processing, and data processing. The blades  2 A to  2 G are connected to other devices via connection lines (not illustrated). 
     That is, the system illustrated in  FIG. 1  establishes a distributed management system. The distributed management system includes the shelf managers  1 A,  1 B, the FRUs  2 A to  2 G, and  3  including the management controllers  6  and  7 . The shelf managers  1 A,  1 B, the FRUs  2 A to  2 G, and  3  are connected to the management bus  5  called the IPMB. The shelf managers  1 A and  1 B perform processing for collecting information about the blades  2 A to  2 G to manage and monitor the operation of the devices in the system to manage and monitor system health. The devices in the system may include the blades  2 A to  2 G, the cooling fan  3 , and the power supply  4 . 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a shelf management apparatus according to an embodiment.  FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating blade information illustrated in FIG.  2 .  FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a partial information management table illustrated in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating a statistic pointer table illustrated in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating a blade information reference table illustrated in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating a blade information database illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the configuration of the ShMCs  7  in the shelf management apparatuses  1 A and  1 B. Each of the ShMCs  7  in the shelf management apparatuses  1 A and  1 B includes a query transmitter  70  that requests the blades  2 A to  2 G to transmit blade information  20  (described below with reference to  FIG. 3 ) via the bus  5 . Each of the ShMCs  7  includes a receiver/analyzer  72  that receives data from the blades  2 A to  2 G via the bus  5  and that analyzes the received data. Each of the ShMCs  7  includes a management table  76 , and a management table controller  74 . 
     The management table  76  includes a partial information management table  80  (described below with reference to  FIG. 4 ) that stores part of the blade information  20  (hereinafter referred to as “partial information”) for respective type of the blade information  20 . The management table  76  includes a blade information database  86  (described below with reference to  FIG. 7 ) that stores blade information. The management table  76  includes a blade information reference table  84  (described below with reference to  FIG. 6 ) that is used to refer to the blade information database  86  on a blade-by-blade basis from the partial information management table  80 . The management table  76  includes a statistic pointer table  82  (described below with reference to  FIG. 5 ). The statistic pointer table  82  totals the numbers of registrations of partial information registered in the management table  76  for respective type of partial information. The statistic pointer table  82  records the partial information for which the number of registrations is maximum. The statistic pointer table  82  records the partial information for which the number of registrations is minimum. The management table controller  74  performs control of the management table  76  including the management table  76  of the partial information management table  80 . 
     The blade information  20 , which is held in the IPMCs  6  in the blades  2 A to  2 G, may be described with reference to  FIG. 3 . The blade information  20  is divided into a plurality of types including self-inventory information (also referred to as “FRU information”)  30  and  32 , blade information  34 , and sensor information (also referred to as “sensor data record (SDR)”)  36  and  38 . 
     The self-inventory information types  30  and  32  include information such as the serial number, version number, date of manufacture, and manufacturer of a blade. Since respective blade (ATCA board) may have a child board, in the example of  FIG. 3 , the self-inventory information type  30  represents self-inventory information about the parent board. Moreover, the self-inventory information type  32  represents self-inventory information about the child board. In  FIG. 3 , whole information of the self-inventory information types  30  and  32  is represented by IA and IIB. In  FIG. 3 , partial information (here, version number or checksum information) of the self-inventory information types  30  and  32  is represented by IA.d and IIB.d. 
     The blade configuration information type  34  indicates the configuration of respective blade. The blade configuration information type  34  includes information about the version number of firmware mounted in the blade, the number of LAN ports mounted in the blade. The blade configuration information type  34  includes information about a CPU mounted in the blade. The blade configuration information type  34  includes information of dual inline memory modules (DIMMs), and other suitable information. In  FIG. 3 , whole information of the blade configuration information type  34  is represented by IIIC. In  FIG. 3 , partial information (here, version number or checksum information) of the blade configuration information type  34  is represented by IIIC.d. 
     The sensor information types  36  and  38  relate to sensors mounted in respective blade. The sensor information types  36  and  38  include information about the details of the operation of an analog sensor mounted in each blade and information about the details of the operation of a digital sensor. The information about the details of the operation of the analog sensor may include voltage, current, temperature, and power. The information about the details of the operation of the digital sensor may detect the occurrence of the CPU failure or a DIMM failure. 
     Since each blade (ATCA board) may have a child board, in the example of  FIG. 3 , the sensor information type  36  represents sensor information about the parent board. Moreover, the sensor information type  38  represents sensor information about the child board. In  FIG. 3 , whole information of the sensor information types  36  and  38  is represented by IVA and VA. Moreover, partial information (here, version number of the sensors or checksum information) of the sensor information types  36  and  38  is represented by IVAd and VAd. 
     Partial information (also referred to as “aggregate data”) of respective type according to the present embodiment is located at a specific position (beginning or end) of whole information. Partial information of respective type may have a size of about several bytes. Meanwhile, the overall size of the blade information  20  may be about 10 KB. Then, the overall size of the blade information  20  may be different depending on the type of the blade. 
     Next, the partial information management table  80  may be described with reference to  FIG. 4 . The partial information management table  80  contains, at memory addresses A to I, partial information sets  40  for respective of blade information types I to V. Each of the partial information sets  40  includes a next address  42 . The next address  42  indicates the address of the partial information for which the number of registrations is the largest next to the number of registrations of the partial information corresponding to the partial information set  40 . Each of the partial information sets  40  includes partial information  44 , a pointer  46  corresponding to whole information in the blade information database  86 , and a registration count  48 . 
     In the partial information management table  80  illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the columns represent the blade information types I to V illustrated in  FIG. 3 . Then, the rows represent addresses assigned to different blade information. 
     For example, at address A corresponding to first blade information, the partial information (aggregate data) column in the type I indicates partial information IA.d, which is part of the blade information of the type I. The pointer to the whole information corresponding to the partial information IA.d is IA.a. The registration count is “4”. The next address is address C. The partial information in the other types II to V is also obtained in a manner similar to the type I described above. 
     The partial information management table  80  stores partial information (aggregate data) that is part of blade information of respective type received as replies from blades. The partial information management table  80  stores the count of the number of times the same partial information has been received as replies from blades (the number of registrations). The partial information management table  80  stores the address of the partial information for which the number of registrations is the largest next to the partial information corresponding to the partial information. The partial information management table  80  is used to determine whether partial information included in a reply from a blade described below is the same as any of partial information included in replies already received from other blades. The partial information management table  80  also stores the numbers of replies (the numbers of registrations) in order to perform matching, starting from the large number of replies. 
     Next, the statistic pointer table  82  may be described with reference to  FIG. 5 . In the statistic pointer table  82 , the numbers of registrations are totaled for respective type of blade information. The partial information for which the number of registrations is maximum. The partial information for which the number of registrations is minimum is recorded. The statistic pointer table  82  illustrated in  FIG. 5  includes a maximum-number pointer table  50  and a minimum-number pointer table  52 . 
     The maximum-number pointer table  50  stores, for respective of the blade information types I to V, the address of the partial information having the maximum registration count  48 , i.e., the maximum number of replies (number of registrations), in the partial information management table  80 . The maximum-number pointer table  50  stores the partial information having the maximum registration count  48 . The maximum-number pointer table  50  stores the number of replies including the partial information (the number of registrations). The minimum-number pointer table  52  stores, for respective of the blade information types I to V, the address of the partial information having the minimum registration count  48 , i.e., the minimum number of replies (number of registrations) in the partial information management table  80 . The minimum-number pointer table  52  stores the partial information having the minimum registration count  48 . The minimum-number pointer table  52  stores the number of replies including the partial information (the number of registrations). 
     The maximum-number pointer table  50  may be used, when a reply including partial information is received from a blade, to search the partial information management table  80  for the partial information for which the number of replies is maximum. The maximum-number pointer table  50  may be used in order to determine whether a match is found between the partial information included in the reply and the partial information for which the number of replies is maximum. 
     Next, the blade information reference table  84  may be described with reference to  FIG. 6 . The blade information reference table  84  stores, for respective of managed blades B 01  to B 12 , reference pointers to blade information of respective of the types I to V in the blade information database  86 . 
     Further, as illustrated in  FIG. 7 , the blade information database  86  stores, for respective of the blade information types I to V, whole information of blade information included in replies from blades. The blade information database  86  does not store all the blade information included in replies from blades. The blade information database  86  does not store redundant blade information. Blade information about respective blade is determined from correspondences between the blade information reference table  84  and the blade information database  86 . 
     Next, a data collection process performed with the configurations illustrated in  FIGS. 2 to 7  may be described.  FIG. 8  is a flow diagram illustrating a data collection process of a shelf management apparatus according to an embodiment.  FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating a collection sequence in the data collection process.  FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating a data stream for querying partial information and a reply stream.  FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating a matching process illustrated in  FIG. 8 .  FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating a data stream for querying whole information and a reply stream. 
     The process illustrated in  FIG. 8  may now be described with reference to  FIGS. 9 to 12 . 
     At step  10 , the receiver/analyzer  72  of the ShMC  7  in the shelf management apparatus  1 A monitors incoming start messages from the blades  2 A to  2 G via the bus  5 . Upon receipt of a start message from one of the blades  2 A to  2 G, the receiver/analyzer  72  detects the start of the blade. In  FIG. 9 , the detection of the start is not illustrated because the sequence illustrated in  FIG. 9  is a sequence performed after the detection of the start. 
     At step  12 , upon detection of the start of a blade, as indicated by a request for partial information illustrated in  FIG. 9 , the query transmitter  70  of the ShMC  7  transmits a data stream for querying partial information to be matched with the partial information in the partial information management table  80  to the blade that has started.  FIG. 10  illustrates a query data stream  60  for querying partial information which is transmitted when the blade B 05  (see  FIG. 6 ) has started. Specifically, a query message including an address  64  of partial information in respective of the blade information types I to V and a query type  66  for querying a format is transmitted to the blade B 05  that has started. 
     In  FIG. 10 , for the blade information type I, address “aa” of the partial information in the blade information type I and query type “0” (request for partial information) are set to the blade B 05 . Here, query type “0” represents a partial information request, query type “1” represents non-required collection. Then, query type “2” represents a whole blade information request. The above query types are provided for the purpose of unifying the format of the query message with the format of a query message for querying whole information illustrated in  FIG. 12 . 
     At step  14 , the IPMC  6  in the blade B 05  receives the query message  60  sent via the bus  5 . The IPMC  6  analyzes the query message  60  to create a reply data stream  62 . The IPMC  6  transmits the reply data stream  62  to the bus  5 . The receiver/analyzer  72  of the ShMC  7  in the shelf management apparatus  1 A receives the reply data stream  62  from the blade B 05 . The receiver/analyzer  72  sends the reply data stream  62  to the management table controller  74 . In  FIG. 10 , the reply data stream  62  may be a data stream having address columns  64  of the blade information types I to V in which partial information (version number or checksum information) at the corresponding addresses is set. For example, for the blade information type I, partial information IA.d corresponding to the address “aa” of the partial information, and query type “0” are set to the blade B 05 . 
     At step  16 , the management table controller  74 , then, searches the partial information management table  80  using the addresses in the maximum-number pointer table  50  in the statistic pointer table  82  to obtain the partial information for which the numbers of registrations is maximum. The management table controller  74  matches the partial information in the reply data stream  62  with the obtained partial information in order from the information type I. 
     Then, the management table controller  74  determines, for respective information type, whether the partial information included in the reply data stream  62  matches the partial information registered as the partial information for which the numbers of registrations is maximum in the maximum-number pointer table  50 . When a match is found, the number of registrations of the partial information for which a match is found is incremented by “1” in the partial information management table  80 . 
     When no match is found between the partial information included in the reply data stream  62  and the partial information for which the number of registrations is maximum, that is, if partial information different from any of the partial information included in the reply data stream  62  has been detected, the partial information corresponding to the address indicated in the next address contained in the column of the information type in which no match is found in the partial information management table  80  is matched with the partial information included in the reply data stream  62 . 
     The partial information included in the reply data stream illustrated in  FIG. 10  is compared with the partial information set for which the numbers of registrations are maximum in the maximum-number pointer table  50  illustrated in  FIG. 5 . Thus, it is detected that the partial information in the blade information types II, III, and V is different from the partial information registered in the maximum-number pointer table  50 . Then, as illustrated in  FIG. 11 , for respective of the types I and IV in which the partial information matches the partial information registered in the maximum-number pointer table  50 , the management table controller  74  increments the number of registrations of the corresponding information in the partial information management table  80  by “1”. 
     For respective of the types II, III, and V in which the partial information does not match the partial information registered in the maximum-number pointer table  50 , the partial information included in the reply data stream  62  is sequentially matched with the partial information corresponding to the address indicated in the next address contained in the column of the corresponding information type in the partial information management table  80 . In the example of  FIG. 11 , a match is found for the information type II. Thus, the number of registrations of the partial information in the type II in the partial information management table  80  is incremented by “1”. If the order of the numbers of registrations of the partial information in the partial information management table  80  is changed by incrementing the number of registrations, the next addresses and the maximum-number pointer table  50  are updated as necessary. 
     Further, for respective of the types III and V in which no partial information that matches the corresponding partial information included in the reply data stream  62  is registered in the partial information management table  80  (no match is found), the partial information that is not registered and the number of registrations are additionally registered in the partial information management table  80 . 
     At step  18 , the management table controller  74  determines whether there is a type in which no match is found. 
     At step  20 , when it is determined that there is a type in which no match is found, the management table controller  74  causes a query data stream  68  for querying whole information as a reply only in the type in which no match is found to be transmitted from the query transmitter  70  of the ShMC  7  to the blade that has started. In  FIG. 12 , for the blade information types III and V in which no match is found, addresses “C” and “e” of the whole information, and query type “2” (request for whole information) are set to the blade B 05 . For the other types I, II, and IV, the query type “1” (non-required collection) is set because of no need to query the blade B 05 . 
     At step  22 , the IPMC  6  in the blade B 05  receives the query message  68  sent via the bus  5 . The IPMC  6  analyzes the query message  68  to create a reply data stream  69 . The IPMC  6  transmits the reply data stream  69  to the bus  5 . The receiver/analyzer  72  of the ShMC  7  in the shelf management apparatus  1 A receives the reply data stream  69 . The receiver/analyzer  72  sends the reply data stream  69  to the management table controller  74 . In  FIG. 12 , the reply data stream  69  may be a data stream having address columns  64  of the blade information types III and V in which whole information at the corresponding addresses is set. For example, for the blade information type III, whole information IIIE corresponding to the address “C” of the whole information and query type “0” are set to the blade B 05 . 
     At step  24 , when there is no blade information that does not match the partial information registered in the maximum-number pointer table  50 , the management table controller  74  registers in the blade information reference table  84  illustrated in  FIG. 6  pointers to the blade information of the respective types in the blade information database  86  for the corresponding blade. When there is a blade information that does not match the partial information registered in the maximum-number pointer table  50 , the management table controller  74  registers in the blade information database  86  illustrated in  FIG. 7  the whole information about the type of received blade information. The management table controller  74  also registers in the blade information reference table  84  illustrated in  FIG. 6  pointers to the blade information of the respective types in the blade information database  86  for the corresponding blade. Then, the data collection process ends. 
     The minimum-number pointer table  52  illustrated in  FIG. 5  may be used, when a blade is removed from the shelf, to search for blade information about the blade to delete the blade information about the blade from the partial information management table  80 , the blade information reference table  84 , and the blade information database  86 . 
       FIG. 11  illustrates the operation when, upon receipt of a reply data stream  62  illustrated in  FIG. 11  from the blade B 05 , the partial information management table  80  is in the state illustrated in  FIG. 4 . In  FIG. 11 , partial information in the blade information type I matches partial information (indicated by a hatched portion) at address A having the maximum number of replies, “4”, in the blade information type I in the partial information management table  80  (a 1 ). Then, the number of replies at the address at which a match is found is incremented by “1” (a 2 ). 
     Further, the partial information in the blade information type II matches the partial information at address B in the blade information type II in the partial information management table  80  (a 3 ). Then, the number of replies at the address B at which a match is found is incremented by “1”. Then, the next address of the address A is changed from “B” to “D”. Then, the next address of the address B is changed from “D” to “A” (a 4 ). 
     Further, the partial information in the blade information type III does not match any of the partial information in the blade information type III stored in the partial information management table  80 . Thus, partial information IIIE.d in the blade information type III is registered at the most significant address E of the blade information type III, which is not registered, in the partial information management table  80 . Then, the number of replies is incremented by “1”. Then, the next address of the address C corresponding to the minimum number of replies is set from “Z” to “E”. Then, “Z” is set in the next address of the address E (a 5 ). Processing similar to that described above is performed on the partial information in the blade information types IV and V. 
     A process operation for referring to collected blade information may now be described. The blade information reference table  84  illustrated in  FIG. 6  stores, for respective of the managed blades B 01  to B 12 , reference pointers to the respective blade information types I to V in the blade information database  86 . As illustrated in  FIG. 7 , the blade information database  86  stores, for respective of the blade information types I to V, whole information of blade information included in a reply from a blade. 
     That is, the blade information about respective blade may be determined from correspondences between the blade information reference table  84  and the blade information database  86 . In the example of  FIG. 6 , the blade information reference table  84  contains, with respect to the blade B 05 , the reference pointers A, A, E, E, and A to the blade information database  86  for the types I to V. Thus, as in the example of  FIG. 7 , the blade information types IA, IIA, IIIE, IVE, and VA in the types I to V in the blade information database  86 , which are indicated by hatched portions, are referred to. Then, desired blade information may be obtained. 
     In this manner, a shelf manager includes a database of information about managed blades (a plurality of types of information exist). When information about managed blades is collected, the data of part of information about respective of the blades is used for matching with the content of the database (partial information management table). Omission of the extraction of redundant information results in reduced process load. 
     Further, the database (partial information management table) may be dynamically updated and optimized in accordance with collected blade information. Then, the hit rate for matching of blade information may be increased, resulting in a more efficient reduction of load. 
     Further, a maximum-number pointer table is provided. Then, different blade information is extracted before matching with the database (partial information management table) is performed. This may prevent redundant matching in the database and may reduce the start time. 
     In this manner, matching of partial information may omit the extraction of redundant whole information, and may reduce the number of accesses to blades. For example, when the same product is applied to all blades, the present embodiment may require only “several tens of cycles multiplying the number of blades mounted”, which may be reduced over conventional systems which may require “450 cycles multiplying the number of blades mounted”. 
     Further, for example, when the apparatus configuration is greatly changed such as when a different type of blade is mounted, the management table may be autonomously updated in accordance with the apparatus configuration without increasing the amount of information collected. 
     In addition, the integration of redundant portions of blade information may reduce the capacity of the blade information database. For example, when the same product is applied to all blades, the present embodiment may require a blade information database having a capacity of only “1 blade (7 KB)+α (partial information management table, statistic pointer table, blade information reference table)”, which may be reduced over conventional blade information databases which may require a capacity of “about 7 KB multiplying the number of blades mounted”. 
     While the foregoing embodiment has been described in the context of an ATCA data processing system, the present embodiment may also be applied to products complying with other standards that define shelves or boards. A configuration having no statistic pointer table may also be employed. The term “blade” as used herein refers to the so-called electronic unit incorporating an electronic circuit, and a desired electronic unit may be employed. Furthermore, partial information and/or whole information is not limited to the partial information and/or the whole information in the embodiment. 
     A shelf management apparatus includes an internal database of information about managed blades (electronic units). When information about managed blades is collected, the data of part of information about respective of the blades is used for matching with the content of a partial information management table. Omission of the extraction of redundant information may reduce the process load. 
     All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the embodiment and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a illustrating of the superiority and inferiority of the embodiment. Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.