Patent Publication Number: US-2019197127-A1

Title: Server Storage Management System Capable of Generating Rack Location Map

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       1 . Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a storage server management system, and more particularly, to a storage server management system capable of generating rack location map to store in management database. 
       2 . Description of the Prior Art 
     As technology advances, data generated by a computer system grows to bring the demand of more storage servers. How to manage the storage servers in the data center is always a challenge in the industry. In practice, one data room of a big data center may contain multiple racks, each rack may contain hundreds of storage devices (e.g., hard drive); in other words, one data room may contain more than one thousand storage devices. Once a management system of the data center detected one malfunction hard drive, how to find out the malfunction hard drive from the data room is a challenge to an operator. 
     A common solution is that a management program transmit a control signal when the malfunction hard drive is detected to control a server connected to the malfunction hard drive emitting a warning light, and the operator finds out the server emitting the warning light in the data room. However, the management program does not provide a specific location of the server, when there are more servers in the data room, it takes more time to find out the server, which is inconvenient for management and repair of the data center. 
     In addition, the management program does not provide a model information of the malfunction hard drive, when there are multiple malfunction hard drives with different models, mistake may happen. For example, given that the data center contains servers A and B, wherein the server A is adapted only to a hard drive with brand X, while the server B is adapted only to a hard drive with brand Y. When both the servers A and B have to be replaced and show the warning light at the same time, the operator may replace the wrong hard drives to the servers A and B. 
     Another common solution is that the operator may use hard coding to input the location and model information of the hard drives in a database, and the management program may read them from the database . However, this causes expansion and dynamical adjustment issues to the data center. e.g., the current management program manages only the device (including the server and hard drives) contained in one rack, it requires another management system to handle a new added rack in the data center. 
     Therefore, there is a need to provide a storage server management system for managing the storage servers of the management data. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an objective of the present to provide a storage server management system for configured to automatically draw a rack location map and store it in the management database. 
     The present invention discloses a storage server management system storage server management system includes a management database, multiple storage servers, multiple racks, a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, a first switch, and a management console. The management database is configured to store rack data and storage server data. The multiple storage servers are corresponding to multiple MAC (Media Access Control) addresses, respectively. The multiple racks are configured to dispose the multiple storage servers. The DHCP server is configured to establish a local area network for managing the storage server management system, and dynamically configure IP (Internet protocol) addresses to the multiple storage servers logged in to the local area network. The first switch is connected to the DHCP server and the management database. The multiple second switches are connected to the first switch. The management console is connected to the DHCP server and the management database, connected to the management database and the multiple second switches through the first switch, and configured to generate a rack location map according to the rack data and the storage server data. 
     The management console of the present invention may automatically draw the rack location map and store it in the management database. When an equipment (storage server or corresponding hard drives) is detected to be malfunction, the management console may read the location and related model information of the malfunction equipment from the management database according to the MAC address of the malfunction equipment and display the location and related model information on the location map, which allows the operator to quickly find out the malfunction equipment according to the location map and related model information to repair it. 
     In a first embodiment, the operator may manually input coordinates of the racks and information of the storage servers to manually establish the rack data and the storage server data. In a second embodiment, operator may manually establish the rack data, and storage server management system may automatically establish the storage server data by using the smart switch (second switch). In a third embodiment, by installing Internet of things device to the rack and the second switch, the storage server management system may automatically establish the rack data and the storage server data. 
     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram of a storage server management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a rack and a storage server according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a process according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a process according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart of a process according to a third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7  are schematic diagrams of rack location map generated by the management console. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a functional block diagram of a storage server management system  1  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The storage server management system  1  includes a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (hereinafter abbreviated DHCP) server  10 , a management console  11 , a first switch  12 , a management database  13 , multiple second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3 , multiple racks R 1 , R 2  and R 3 , and multiple storage servers SRV 1 -SRV 12 . 
     There are second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3  and multiple storage servers SRV 1 -SRV 12  disposed in the rack R 1 , R 2  and R 3 , respectively. For example, there are the second switch SW 1  and the storage servers SRV 1 -SRV 4  disposed in the rack R 1 , there are the second switch SW 2  and the storage servers SRVS-SRV 8  disposed in the rack R 2 , and there are the second switch SW 3  and the storage servers SRV 9 -SRV 12  disposed in the rack R 3 . 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of the rack R 1  and the storage server SRV 1  according to an embodiment of the present invention. Configurations of the rack R 1 , R 2  and R 3  are the same, take the rack R 1  for example in this embodiment. The rack R 1  includes multiple containing spaces, which respectively corresponds to rails R 1 _ 1 , R 1 _ 2 , R 1 _ 3 , R 1 _ 4 , R 1 _ 5 , R 1 _ 6 , and R 1 _ 7  (wherein rail IDs (identities) are numbers  1 - 7 ). The second switch SW 1  may be disposed in the rail R 1 _ 1 , and the storage servers SRV 1 -SRV 4  may be respectively disposed in the rails R 1 _ 2 , R 1 _ 3 , R 1 _ 4 , and R 1 _ 5 . The storage server SRV 1  includes multiple storage devices (e.g., N hard drives), wherein one of the storage devices is respectively disposed in slots SLT 1 -SLTN of the storage server SRV 1  (wherein slot IDs are numbers 1-N). The slot ID is a unique identity written in a system chip by a server maker, and used to recognize the location of a Non-Volatile Memory Express (hereinafter abbreviated NVMe) drive. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the second switch SW 1  may connect to the second switches SW 2  and SW 3  and the first switch  12 , and connect to the management console  11 , the management database  13  and the DHCP server  10  through the first switch  12 , and connect to the storage servers SRV 5 -SRV 12  through the second switches SW 2  and SW 3 . In one embodiment, numbers of the rack, the server and the second switch may by any integers without limitation. 
     The DHCP server  10  is configured to manage a local area network of the storage server management system  1 , and connect to the management console  11  and the first switch  12  to dynamically configure internet protocol (hereinafter abbreviated IP) addresses to the storage servers SRV 1 -SRV 12 . Each of the storage servers SRV 1 -SRV 12  corresponds to unique Media Access Control (hereinafter abbreviated MAC) address. For example, when the storage servers SRV 1 -SRV 12  log in to the local area network through the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3 , and the first switch  12 , the DHCP server  10  may dynamically configure IP addresses to the storage servers SRV 1 -SRV 12 . 
     The first switch  12  is connected to the DHCP server  10 , the management console  11 , the management database  13  and the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3 , and configured to transmit a query command and a corresponding query response. For example, the management console  11  may transmit the query command to the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3  through the first switch  12  to query machine information (e.g., MAC address and product name of the storage server) corresponding to ports of the switch. 
     The management database  13  may store rack data (e.g., rack identifications and corresponding coordinates) and storage server data (e.g., server ID and corresponding MAC address, model name and rail ID of the storage server). The management console  11  is connected to the DHCP server  10  and the first switch  12 , and configured to transmit the query command to the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3  through the first switch  12  according to the storage server IP address provided by the DHCP server  10 ; then, the management console  11  may connect to the second switch SW 1 , SW 2  or SW 3  corresponding to the storage server to receive the MAC address of the storage server (i.e., query response); finally, the management console  11  may read information associated with the storage server data from the management database  13  through the first switch  12  according to the MAC address of the storage server. 
     Therefore, the management console  11  may draw location map of the racks R 1 , R 2  and R 3  according to the rack data and the storage server data stored in the management database  13  to display the location map onto a Graphical User Interface (GUI), and store the location map in the management database  13 . The management console  11  may periodically examine and collect operating statues of all storage servers, when an equipment malfunction is detected (e.g., a storage server or a hard drive is malfunction), the management console  11  may read the location and the related model information from the management database  13  according to the MAC address corresponding to the malfunction equipment, and display on the GUI. As a result, the operator may quickly find out the malfunction equipment to repair it according to the location map and the related model information, which is benefit for management and repair of the data center. In addition, management console  11  may detect new added storage servers, storage devices and corresponding racks, which is benefit for expansion of the data center. 
     In the first embodiment, an operator may manually enter the rack coordinates and the storage server information to manually establish the rack data and the storage server data. In the second embodiment, the operator may manually establish the rack data, and the storage server management system may automatically establish the storage server data by using the smart switch (second switch). In the third embodiment, by installing Internet of Things (IoT) devices in the rack and the second switch, the storage server management system may automatically establish the rack data and the storage server data. 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a process  3  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The process  3  may be utilized in the storage server management system  1  and executed by the management console  11 , wherein the process  3  includes the following steps. 
     Step  300 : Start. 
     Step  301 : Discover a storage server logged in a local area network. 
     Step  302 : Determine whether an IP address and a MAC address of the storage server are obtained successfully? Go to Step  303  if yes; go to Step  305  if no. 
     Step  303 : Query rack data and storage server data from a management database according to the IP address and the MAC address of the storage server. 
     Step  304 : Generate a rack location map according to the rack data and the storage server data. 
     Step  305 : Obtain the IP address and the MAC address of the storage server from a DHCP server. Return to Step  303 . 
     Step  306 : End. 
     In the process  3 , the management console  11  may execute a discovery procedure to detect the storage server (e.g., storage servers SRV 1 -SRV 12 ) logged in the local area network (Step  301 ). When the management console  11  successfully obtains the IP address and the MAC address of the storage server obtain logged in the local area network (yes of Step  302 ), the management console  11  may query the rack data and the storage server data from management database  13  according to the storage server IP address and MAC address (Step  303 ); then, the management console  11  may generate the rack location map according to the rack data and the storage server data, (Step  304 ). On the contrary, when the management console  11  cannot obtain the IP address and the MAC address of the storage server logged in the local area network (no of Step  302 ), the management console  11  may query the IP address and the MAC address of the storage server from the DHCP server (Step  305 ), so as to obtain the rack data and the storage server data to generate the rack location map (Step  303  and Step  304 ). 
     As a result, by executing the process  3 , the management console  11  may automatically draw the location map of the rack and store in the management database  13 . When an equipment (storage server or corresponding hard drives) is detected to be malfunction, the management console  11  may read the location and related model information of the malfunction equipment from the management database  13  according to the MAC address of the malfunction equipment and display the location and related model information on the location map, which allows the operator to quickly find out the malfunction equipment according to the location map and related model information to repair it. 
     In the first embodiment, the first switch  12  and the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3  may be a Network switch. In addition, the operator may manually input the rack identifications and corresponding coordinates in the management database  13  to establish the rack data, as shown in Table 1-1. Moreover, the operator may manually input the server ID and the corresponding rack ID, the MAC address, the rail ID and the server information in the management database  13  to establish the server data, as shown in Table 1-2. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1-1 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Rack data 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                 Rack ID 
                 Coordinate 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 1 
                 (X1, Y1) 
               
               
                 2 
                 (X2, Y2) 
               
               
                 3 
                 (X3, Y3) 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1-2 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Server data 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Server ID 
                 Rack ID 
                 IP/MAC address 
                 Rail ID 
                 Server information 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 1 
                 1 
                 00AABBCCDD00 
                 1 
                 Brand D; model 1 
               
               
                 2 
                 1 
                 00AABBCCDD01 
                 2 
                 Brand H; model 4 
               
               
                 3 
                 1 
                 00AABBCCDD02 
                 3 
                 Brand I; model 6 
               
               
                 4 
                 1 
                 00AABBCCDD03 
                 4 
                 Brand A; model 2 
               
               
                 5 
                 2 
                 00AABBCCDD04 
                 1 
                 Brand D; model 1 
               
               
                 6 
                 2 
                 00AABBCCDD05 
                 2 
                 Brand H; model 4 
               
               
                 7 
                 2 
                 00AABBCCDD06 
                 3 
                 Brand I; model 6 
               
               
                 8 
                 2 
                 00AABBCCDD07 
                 4 
                 Brand A; model 2 
               
               
                 9 
                 3 
                 00AABBCCDD08 
                 1 
                 Brand D; model 1 
               
               
                 10 
                 3 
                 00AABBCCDD09 
                 2 
                 Brand H; model 4 
               
               
                 11 
                 3 
                 00AABBCCDD0A 
                 3 
                 Brand I; model 6 
               
               
                 12 
                 3 
                 00AABBCCDD0B 
                 4 
                 Brand A; model 2 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     For example, once the location map has been established, if the storage device with the MAC address “00AABBCCDD03” is detected to be malfunction, the management console  11  may obtain the information including the server ID “3”, the rack identifications “1”, the rail ID “4”, the server information “brand I; model 6” and the coordinate (X 1 , Y 1 ) from the management database  13 , and display the information to the operator by a Graphical User Interface (GUI) . Therefore, the operator may learn the information including the coordinate of the rack R 1 , the storage device is disposed in rail the R 1 _ 4 , and the storage device is model 2 of brand A, so as to quickly find out the malfunction equipment to repair it. In one embodiment, the management console  11  may obtain the column “server ID” of Table 1-2 from an available service, e.g., System Management Basic Input Output System (SMBIOS). 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a process  4  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The process  4  may be utilized in the storage server management system  1  and executed by the management console  11 , wherein the process  4  includes the following steps. 
     Step  400 : Start. 
     Step  401 : Discover a second switch logged in a local area network. 
     Step  402 : Determine whether an IP address and a MAC address of the second switch are obtained successfully? Go to Step  403  if yes; go to Step  407  if no. 
     Step  403 : Query rack data from the second switch according to the IP address and the MAC address of the second switch. 
     Step  404 : Query an IP address and a MAC address of a storage server connected to a port of second switch according to the rack data. 
     Step  405 : Establish server data according to the IP address and the MAC address of the storage server. 
     Step  406 : Generate a rack location map according to rack data and server data. 
     Step  407 : Obtain the IP address and the MAC address of the second switch from a DHCP server. Return to Step  403 . 
     Step  408 : End. 
     In the process  4 , the management console  11  may execute a discovery procedure to detect the second switch logged in the local area network and query the IP address and the MAC address (Step  401 ). When the management console  11  successfully obtained the IP address and the MAC address of the second switch (yes of Step  402 ), the management console  11  may query the rack data from the second switch according to the IP address and the MAC address of the second switch (Step  403 ); the management console  11  may query the IP address and the MAC address of the storage server connected to the port of the second switch according to the rack data (Step  404 ); the management console  11  may establish the server data according to the IP address and the MAC address of the storage server (Step  405 ); finally, the management console  11  may generate the rack location map according to the rack data and the server data (Step  406 ). On the contrary, when management console  11  cannot obtain the IP address and the MAC address of the second switch (no of Step  402 ) , the management console  11  may query the IP address and the MAC address of the second switch from the DHCP server (Step  407 ) to obtain the rack data and the server data to generate the rack location map (Step  403 - 406 ). 
     In the second embodiment, the first switch  12  maybe a general network switch, the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3  maybe an Internet switch or a smart switch. Since every port of the Internet switch corresponds a unique IP address and a unique MAC address, the operator must connect the storage server installed in a rail to a port corresponding to the rail when adding a new rack, which allows the management console  11  to automatically establish the columns of “IP/MAC address” and “rail ID” in Table 1-2 (the server data). For example, the operator must connect the storage server installed in the rail R 1 _ 3  of the rack R 1  to the first port of the second switch SW 1 , and connect the storage server installed in the rail R 1 _ 4  of the rack R 1  to the second port of the second switch SW 1 , and so on. 
     The process  4  is different from the process  3  by using the smart switch along with the installation method of the rack (i.e., connect the storage server installed in the rail to the corresponding port), the management console  11  may automatically establish the server data (e.g., Table 1-2), while the operator manually inputs the rack identifications and the corresponding coordinates to the management database  13  to establish the rack data (e.g., Table 1-1). Therefore, the process  4  allows the management console  11  to automatically establish the server data to simplify works of the system manager and the operator. As a result, through executing the process  4 , the management console  11  may automatically draw the location map of the rack and store it in the management database  13 . 
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart of a process  5  according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The process  5  may be utilized in the storage server management system  1 , and include the following steps. 
     Step  500 : Start. 
     Step  501 : Discover a first rack and a second rack logged in a local area network to obtain IP and MAC addresses of the first rack and the second rack, and a distance between the first rack and the second rack. 
     Step  502 : Compute coordinates of the first rack and the second rack according to the distance between the first rack and the second rack. 
     Step  503 : Establish the rack data according to the coordinates and the IP and MAC addresses of the first rack and the second rack. 
     Step  504 : Discover second switches installed in the first rack and the second rack. 
     Step  505 : Determine whether IP and MAC addresses of the second switches are obtained successfully? Go to Step  506  if yes; go to Step  509  if no. 
     Step  506 : Obtain IP addresses and MAC addresses of storage servers from the second switches according to the IP and MAC addresses of the second switches. 
     Step  507 : Establish server data according to the IP and MAC addresses of the storage servers. 
     Step  508 : Generate a rack location map according to the rack data and the server data. 
     Step  509 : Obtain the IP and MAC addresses of the second switches from a DHCP server. Return to Step  506 . 
     Step  510 : End. 
     In the process  5 , the management console  11  may execute a discovery procedure to obtain the IP and MAC addresses of the first rack and the second rack (e.g., the first rack R 1  and the second rack R 2 ) and the distance between the first rack and the second rack (Step  501 ). The management console  11  may compute coordinates of the first rack and the second rack according to the distance between the first rack and the second rack (Step  502 ); the management console  11  may establish the rack data according to the coordinates of the first rack and the second rack and the IP and MAC addresses of the second switches installed in the first rack and the second rack (Step  503 ), and store it in the management database  13 . Then, the management console  11  may transmit query commands to the first rack and the second rack to discover the IP and MAC addresses of the second switches installed in the first rack and the second rack (Step  504 ). When the management console  11  successfully obtained the IP addresses and the MAC addresses of the second switches logged in the local area network (yes of Step  505 ), the management console  11  may obtain the IP and MAC addresses of the storage servers from the second switches according to the IP and MAC addresses of the second switches (Step  506 ); the management console  11  may establish the server data according to the IP and MAC addresses of the storage servers (Step  507 ); finally, the management console  11  may generate the rack location map according to the rack data and the server data (Step  508 ). On the contrary, when the management console  11  cannot obtain the IP addresses and the MAC addresses of the second switches logged in the local area network (no of Step  505 ), the management console  11  may query the IP addresses and the MAC addresses of the second switches from the DHCP server (Step  509 ) to obtain the server data, and generate the rack location map according to the rack data and the server data (Step  506 - 508 ). 
     In the third embodiment, the first switch  12  may be a general network switch, the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3  may be an Internet switch or a smart switch. The racks R 1 , R 2  and R 3  and the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3  may be disposed with devices such Internet of Things (IoT) devices, radio-frequency (RF) ID devices or iBeacon communication devices that is capable of measuring distance, absolute location or relative location, which is not limited in the present invention. The functionality of IoT device includes: (1) measuring the distance between two IoT devices; (2) having unique identification (UID); (3) communication capability to read the IP and MAC addresses of the storage server, the server information, the IP and MAC addresses of the switch, and to transmit the distance to a connected IoT device. 
     In one embodiment, since the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3  are respectively installed in the racks R 1 , R 2  and R 3 , the coordinates of the racks R 1 , R 2 , and R 3  may be obtained by the IoT devices disposed in the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3 . 
     The process  5  is specialized in that there are IoT devices disposed in the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3 , and the racks R 1 , R 2  and R 3  to detect relative distances between each other, so the management console  11  may compute the coordinates of the rack accordingly to automatically establish the rack data (e.g., Table 1-1) . Meanwhile, by the installation method of the rack performed by the operator (i.e., connect the storage server installed in the rail to the corresponding port) , the management console  11  may connect to the second switches SW 1 , SW 2  and SW 3  to obtain the data of the connected storage servers, so as to automatically establish the server data (e.g. , Table 1-2) . Therefore, the process  5  allows the management console  11  to automatically establish the rack data and the server data to simplify the words of the system manager and the operator. As a result, through execute process  5 , management console  11  may automatically draw the rack location map and store it in the management database  13 . 
       FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7  are schematic diagrams of the rack location map computed by the management console  11 . The IoT devices disposed in the racks R 1 , R 2  and R 3  may detect relative distances between each other to generate the following Table 2-1, Table 2-2, and Table 2-3, wherein DXY denotes a relative distance from a rack X to a rack Y. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2-1 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Relative distance generated by IoT device of rack R1 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 IoT 
                 Switch MAC 
                 R1 
                 R2 
                 R3 
               
               
                 device ID 
                 address 
                 Distance 
                 Distance 
                 Distance 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 R1-UID 
                 0000AABB00 
                 N/A 
                 D12 
                 D13 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2-2 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Relative distance generated by IoT device of rack R2 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 IoT 
                 Switch MAC 
                 R1 
                 R2 
                 R3 
               
               
                 device ID 
                 address 
                 Distance 
                 Distance 
                 Distance 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 R2-UID 
                 0000AABB11 
                 D21 
                 N/A 
                 D23 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2-3 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Relative distance generated by IoT device of rack R3 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 IoT 
                 Switch MAC 
                 R1 
                 R2 
                 R3 
               
               
                 device ID 
                 address 
                 Distance 
                 Distance 
                 Distance 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 R3-UID 
                 0000AABBxx 
                 D31 
                 D32 
                 N/A 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     When the management console  11  is executing the discovery procedure to search any IoT devices logged in the local area network, the management console  11  may connect to all the IoT devices to read the relative distances and related data generated by all the IoT devices (i.e., Table 2-1, 2-2, 2-3). The management console  11  may execute an algorithm according to the relative distance to compute relative coordinates of the racks R 1 , R 2  and R 3 , as shown in  FIG. 6 , wherein the algorithm includes the following steps. 
     (A) Take the coordinate of the rack R 1  as an origin (0, 0) and the coordinate of rack R 2  as (D 21 , 0); 
     (B) Make a circle C 1  by a center being the coordinate of the rack R 1  and a radius being the distance D 13 ; 
     (C) Make a circle C 2  by a center being the coordinate of the rack R 2  and a radius being the distance D 23 ; and 
     (D) Compute a point of intersection R 3  (X 3 , Y 3 ) between the circles C 1  and C 2  to obtain the coordinate of the rack R 3 , wherein there are two points of intersection between the circles C 1  and C 2 , any one of them is valid for the algorithm. 
     In one embodiment, if the storage server management system  1  further includes a rack Rn, the management console  11  may follow the steps (A)-(D) to compute a coordinate of the rack Rn according to relative distances between the racks R 1 , R 3  and Rn. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the management console  11  may set a predetermined coordinate of the rack Rn to be (D 1   n , 0); make a circle C 1  by a center of the rack R 1  and a radius of a distance D 13 ; make a circle Cn by a center of the rack Rn and a radius of a distance D 3 n; compute an intersection point R 3 ′ (X 3 ′, Y 3 ′) of the circles C 1  and Cn; and convert the predetermined coordinate (D 1   n , 0) of the rack Rn into a coordinate (Xn, Yn) according to the intersection point R 3 ′ (X 3 ′, Y 3 ′) and the coordinate (X 3 , Y 3 ) of the rack R 3 . 
     Therefore, the management console  11  may compute all the coordinates of the racks R 1 , R 2  and R 3  based on the algorithm to establish the rack data (as shown in Table 3-1) and store them in the management database  13  to be read according to any query command. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 3-1 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Rack data 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 IoT 
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Device 
                 Switch MAC 
                 R1 
                 R2 
                 R3 
                 Coor- 
               
               
                 ID 
                 address 
                 Distance 
                 Distance 
                 Distance 
                 dinate 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 R1-UID 
                 0000AABB00 
                 N/A 
                 D12 
                 D13 
                 (0, 0) 
               
               
                 R2-UID 
                 0000AABB11 
                 D21 
                 N/A 
                 D23 
                 (D21, 0) 
               
               
                 R3-UID 
                 0000AABBxx 
                 D31 
                 D32 
                 N/A 
                 (X3, Y3) 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Noticeably, a “coordinate” column in Table 3-1 denotes relative coordinates, a skilled person in the art shall adjust a view angle of the rack location map based one his or her view angle. For example, the management console  11  may execute a program that allows the skilled person to manually adjust the view angle of the rack location map, or predetermine at least two reference points according to coordinate of data room. 
     To sum up, the management console of the present invention may automatically draw the rack location map and store it in the management database. When an equipment (storage server or corresponding hard drives) is detected to be malfunction, the management console may read the location and related model information of the malfunction equipment from the management database according to the MAC address of the malfunction equipment and display the location and related model information on the location map, which allows the operator to quickly find out the malfunction equipment according to the location map and related model information to repair it. 
     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.