Patent ID: 7765331

Claim:
A blade server system, comprising: a plurality of blade slots within a chassis of the blade server system; at least one switch module within the chassis of the blade server system, wherein the at least one switch module provides connectivity to a communications fabric and is connected to the plurality of blade slots via an internal fabric within the blade server system, wherein a given switch module within the at least one switch module has a redundant array of independent disks controller integrated within the given switch module; a processor blade in a given blade slot within the plurality of blade slots, wherein the given switch module is connected to a storage enclosure, wherein the processor blade connects to the storage enclosure via the internal fabric, the given switch module, and the communications fabric, wherein the processor blade accesses the storage enclosure using the redundant array of independent disks controller integrated within the given switch module, and wherein the storage enclosure comprises one or more storage devices; and a management module that monitors components within the blade server system.