Patent ID: 7903677

Claim:
An information platform system comprising: a plurality of general-purpose processing modules each being configured to operate, as a corresponding information processing system, any one of a server system, a router system, and a storage system upon installation of a corresponding functional set of programs for the corresponding information processing system on the general-purpose processing module; a plurality of dedicated processing modules which perform dedicated processing for dedicated devices; a switching hub which interconnects said plurality of general-purpose processing modules and said plurality of dedicated processing modules; a storage unit for storing a plurality of functional sets of programs that includes a first functional set of programs used to implement a server system in one of the general-purpose processing modules, a second functional set of programs used to implement a router system in one of the general-purpose processing modules, and a third functional set of programs used to implement a storage system in one of the general-purpose processing modules; and a management module to which said storage unit is coupled, said management module including: a module selection unit for selecting, in response to a system configuration request, at least one of said plurality of general-purpose processing modules and at least one of said plurality of dedicated processing modules to configure an information processing system requested by said system configuration request; and a module setting unit for selecting, from said plurality of functional sets of programs stored in said storage unit, a corresponding functional set of programs required for configuring said requested information processing system, and for installing the selected corresponding functional set of programs into said at least one of said plurality of general-purpose processing modules.