Patent ID: 6977908

Claim:
A method of automatically interconnecting a new node into a cluster of other nodes, each node including a plurality of processor units and an internal switching fabric, one of the processor units in each node hosting a monitor process, comprising: (a) broadcasting a discovery probe packet from the monitor process in the new node to each of the plurality of processor units of all the other nodes in the cluster, the discovery probe packet containing configuration information about the new node; (b) receiving at least one discovery probe packet at the monitor process of a discovery initiator node, a discovery initiator node being any one of the other nodes in the cluster; (c) settings up, at the discovery initiator node, in response to the discovery probe packet, connection information enabling the new node to directly communicate with the monitor process of the discovery initiator node; (d) sending a discovery initiator packet to all of the plurality of processor units in the new node, the discovery initiator packet containing the connection information set up at the discovery initiator node for the new node; (e) receiving at least one discovery initiator packet at the monitor process of the new node; (f) setting up, at the new node, in response to the discovery initiator packet, connection information enabling the discovery initiator node to directly communicate with the monitor process of the new node; (g) sending a discovery confirmation packet directly to the monitor process of the discovery initiator node, the discovery confirmation packet containing the connection information set up at the new node for the discovery initiator node; (h) receiving the discovery confirmation packet at the monitor process of the discovery initiator node; (j) sending, in response to the received discovery confirmation packet, a discovery acknowledgement packet directly to the monitor process of the new node; and (k) receiving at the monitor process of the new node the discovery acknowledgement packet.