Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20090282140A1/en
Timestamp: 2018-12-14 09:11:39
Document Index: 512892495

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 200', 'art 200', 'art 200', 'art 200', 'art 200', 'art 200']

US20090282140A1 - Method and system for server location tracking - Google Patents
Method and system for server location tracking Download PDF
US20090282140A1
US20090282140A1 US12151876 US15187608A US2009282140A1 US 20090282140 A1 US20090282140 A1 US 20090282140A1 US 12151876 US12151876 US 12151876 US 15187608 A US15187608 A US 15187608A US 2009282140 A1 US2009282140 A1 US 2009282140A1
US12151876
There is provided a method of locating a first server coupled to a network of servers in a data center having a plurality of servers including the first server, the network including a data center management computer. The method comprises obtaining, by a first server, an identification data from a locator coupled to the server, wherein the identification data can be utilized to determine a location of the locator in the data center; storing the identification data in a memory of the first server; and providing, by the first server, an information based on the identification data to the data center management computer.
A method and system for server location tracking, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, and as set forth more completely in the claims.
The present invention is directed to a method and system for server location tracking. Although the invention is described with respect to specific embodiments, the principles of the invention, as defined by the claims appended herein, can obviously be applied beyond the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. Moreover, in the description of the present invention, certain details have been left out in order to not obscure the inventive aspects of the invention. The details left out are within the knowledge of a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Servers 110 a and 110 b are in this embodiment of the invention rack-mountable computers designed for installation in data center rack 130. The processors of servers 110 a and 110 b are typical microprocessors, and memories 112 a and 112 b comprise typical RAM (“Random Access Memory”) components. Data center rack 130 has been designed to rack-mount a plurality of servers, e.g. server 110 a, server 110 b, and additional servers not shown. While server 110 b is shown rack-mounted in data center rack 130, server 110 a is not yet installed. In transaction 122, a technician may rack-mount server 110 a by physically attaching server 110 a to data center rack 130 and coupling server 110 a to a power source (not shown). The technician also couples network plug 118 a to network socket 114 a, and couples locator 120 a to locator socket or connector 116 a and thus physically attaching locator 120 a to the data center rack 130. Once transaction 122 has been completed, server 110 a is installed in data center rack 130 in a manner similar to server 110 b.
In this embodiment of the present invention, network plugs 118 a and 118 b and network sockets 114 a and 114 b are Ethernet connectors, and data center network 140 is an Ethernet-based network. In other embodiments the network plugs and sockets utilized by the servers and the data center rack, and the network utilized by the data center network, could be based on a different network technology, e.g. fiber channel. The network plugs and sockets in system 100 serve to couple servers 110 a and 110 b to data center computer 150 via data center rack 130 and data center network 140 for server management purposes. Additional servers in additional data center racks that are not shown may also be coupled via data center network 140 to data center computer 150.
In this embodiment of the present invention, locators 120 a and 120 b and locator sockets 116 a and 116 b are USB (“Universal Serial Bus”) devices. In particular, locator sockets 116 a and 116 b are USB sockets coupled to the respective processor and memory 112 a or 112 b of servers 110 a and 110 b. Locators 120 a and 120 b comprise non-volatile flash memories with USB plugs, i.e. comprise flash-memory USB fobs. In other embodiments the locators and locator sockets utilized by the servers and the data center rack could communicate via a different wired protocol, e.g. Firewire, or via a wireless protocol, e.g. on a Bluetooth or RFID (“Radio Frequency Identification”) protocol. Additionally, in other embodiments utilizing a wired USB protocol, instead of comprising flash-memory USB fobs locators 120 a and 120 b could be implemented, for example, as USB cables connected to a shared USB device configured to communicate with both servers 110 a and 110 b via locator sockets 116 a and 116 b. In such an embodiment, one such shared USB device on data center rack 130 could be coupled via USB cable, for example, to every server on data center rack 130, including servers 110 a and 110 b.
The flash memories of locators 120 a and 120 b are programmed with the respective locations on data center rack 130 where locators 120 a and 120 b are attached. In this embodiment, the respective locations are represented by unique serial numbers. For example, in one embodiment, data center rack 130 has a capacity for 32 servers, and servers 110 a and 110 b are installed in the central two locations in data center rack 130, and therefore locators 120 a and 120 b are programmed with, for example, locations 16 and 17. In embodiments of system 100 having second and third data center racks, those might be configured, for example, with locations 33 through 64 and 65 through 96. Other embodiments of the invention may use different location numbering schemes, so long as each location is programmed into a respective locator. In this embodiment of the invention, the flash memories of locators 120 a and 120 b are programmed by configuring the flash memories to store files containing location serial numbers. In other embodiments, the locations may be stored in a different configuration, e.g. by storing the location as a file name in the flash memory, or by configuring the flash memory to operate without a file system.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the operation of a locator, e.g. locator 120 a, in the data center of system 100 can be further enhanced by including a display or signaling capability. For example, locator 120 a may comprise an LED (“Light Emitting Diode”), a plurality of LEDs, or an LCD (“Liquid Crystal Display”) screen. In an embodiment wherein locator 120 a comprises an LED, after server 110 a is installed in data center rack 130, the software agent being executed on server 110 a may manipulate the LED to signal, for example, status conditions of server 110 a. Furthermore, data center computer 150 may manipulate the LED of locator 120 a via data center network 140 and data center rack 130. For example, if server 110 a reports an error condition to data center computer 150, a technician can be dispatched to the location of server 110 a, and data center computer 150 can manipulate the LED of locator 120 a to aide the technician in visually spotting server 110 a.
FIG. 2 shows flowchart 200 of an exemplary method for server location tracking, according to one embodiment of the present invention. Certain details and features have been left out of flowchart 200 that are apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art. For example, a step may comprise one or more substeps or may involve specialized equipment or materials, as known in the art. While steps 210 through 220 indicated in flowchart 200 are sufficient to describe one embodiment of the present invention, other embodiments of the invention may utilize steps different from those shown in flowchart 200.
In step 210 of flowchart 200, a locator, for example locator 120 a in FIG. 1, is programmed with a location in a rack in a data center, such as a location in data center rack 130 in the data center of system 100. The locator is a USB (“Universal Serial Bus”) device comprising a non-volatile flash memory with a USB plug, i.e. comprising a flash-memory USB fob. In other embodiments, the locator could communicate via a different wired protocol, e.g. Firewire, or via a wireless protocol, e.g. on a Bluetooth or RFID (“Radio Frequency Identification”) protocol. Additionally, in other embodiments, instead of comprising flash-memory USB fobs, the locator could be implemented, for example, as a USB cable connected to a shared USB device configured to be programmed with a plurality of locations in the rack. In the present embodiment, the location in the rack is represented by an identification data, e.g. serial number or location information, and the locator is programmed by storing the information or a file containing the information in the flash memory of the locator, where the information can be utilized to determine the location of the locator in the data center. In other embodiments, the location may be stored in a different manner, e.g. by storing the location as a file name in the flash memory, or by configuring the flash memory to operate without a file system, such dip switches indicative of the identification data.
In step 214 of flowchart 200, the server is installed at the location in the rack. As discussed above, the server has a locator socket configured to couple with the locator that is also installed at the location in the rack. In some embodiments, the locator socket and locator couple utilizing a wired protocol, while in other embodiments a wireless protocol is utilized. In this embodiment of the invention, the server additionally comprises a processor, a memory, and a network socket, and is a rack-mountable computer designed for installation in the rack. The processor of the server is a typical microprocessor, and the memory comprises typical RAM (“Random Access Memory”) components. The server is installed by a technician by physically attaching the server to the rack and connecting the server to a power source.
obtaining, by a first server, an identification data from a locator coupled to the server, wherein the identification data can be utilized to determine a location of the locator in the data center;
storing the identification data in a memory of the first server; and
providing, by the first server, an information based on the identification data to the data center management computer.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information is the identification data.
a processor configured to obtain an identification data from a locator, wherein the identification data can be utilized to determine a location of the locator in the data center;
a memory configured to store the identification data; and
the first server further configured to provide an information based on the identification data to the data center management computer.
12. The first server of claim 11, wherein the information is the identification data.
a memory configured to store identification information indicative of a location of the locator in the data center;
a first connector for physically attaching the locator to a rack in the data center; and
a second connector for communicatively connecting the locator to the first server.
18. The locator of claim 17, wherein the second connector comprises a USB device, and wherein the locator further comprises a USB cable coupled to the USB device configured to be programmed with the identification information.
20. The locator of claim 17, wherein the location in the data center is programmed into the locator using the indemnification data having a unique serial number.
US12151876 2008-05-09 2008-05-09 Method and system for server location tracking Abandoned US20090282140A1 (en)
US12151876 US20090282140A1 (en) 2008-05-09 2008-05-09 Method and system for server location tracking
US20090282140A1 true true US20090282140A1 (en) 2009-11-12
ID=41267782
US12151876 Abandoned US20090282140A1 (en) 2008-05-09 2008-05-09 Method and system for server location tracking
US (1) US20090282140A1 (en)
CN102307107A (en) 2012-01-04 Intelligent management system of ODN (optical distribution network) based on RFID (radio frequency identification)
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:WHITE, CHRISTOPHER;HUNTER, WILLIAM;REEL/FRAME:020982/0899