Disclosure of Invention
The embodiment of the invention provides a connector, a server and a server power supply switching method, and aims to solve the technical problem that in the prior art, the storage space of a storage device is reduced due to the fact that a display device is arranged on the server.
The embodiment of the invention provides a connector which comprises a first type pin and a second type pin, wherein the first type pin is used for being electrically connected with a storage device, and the second type pin is used for being electrically connected with a display device.
Optionally, the second type pin includes:
a first pin for transmitting a clock signal;
a second pin for transmitting a digital signal;
and the third pin is used for transmitting a power supply signal.
Optionally, the third pin is further configured to transmit a detection signal; the detection signal is used for indicating whether the connector is externally connected with the display equipment.
Optionally, the connector is disposed on the hard disk backplane.
The embodiment of the invention provides a server, which comprises the connector and a mainboard, wherein the mainboard is electrically connected with the connector;
the mainboard is used for reading and writing data to the storage equipment accessed to the server through the first type pins and outputting display information to the display equipment accessed to the server through the second type pins.
Optionally, the main board is provided with a management module and a power supply module;
the management module is used for outputting display information to display equipment accessed to the server through the first pin and the second pin;
and the power supply module is used for supplying power to the display equipment accessed to the server through the third pin.
Optionally, the management module is further electrically connected to the third pin;
the management module is further configured to determine whether the server is externally connected to the display device according to a detection signal transmitted by the third pin;
the management module is further used for controlling the power supply module to supply power to the display equipment when the display equipment is confirmed to be externally connected.
Optionally, the management module is further configured to control the power supply module to be electrically connected to a standby power supply when it is determined that the server is in a standby state; and when the server is determined to be in a non-standby state, controlling the power supply module to be electrically connected with a main power supply.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a power switching method, where the method is applied to the server described above, and the method includes:
the management module acquires the working state of the server;
if the management module determines that the server is in the standby state, the management module sends a first signal to the power supply module; the first signal is used for indicating the power supply module to be electrically connected with a standby power supply;
if the management module determines that the server is in the non-standby state, the management module sends a second signal to the power supply module; the second signal is used for indicating that the power supply module is electrically connected with a main power supply.
Optionally, before the management module obtains the working state of the server, the method further includes:
and the management module determines that the display equipment is accessed to the server.
In the embodiment of the invention, the connector comprises a first type pin electrically connected with the storage device and a second type pin electrically connected with the display device, and the pins of the connector are divided into two types, so that the storage device can be accessed to the server through the first type pin when the storage device is required to be used; when the display equipment module needs to be used, the display equipment can be accessed to the server through the second type pins. By adopting the method, the connector which can be accessed into the storage equipment and the display equipment is arranged, so that the functions of the connector can be expanded, the utilization rate of the front panel of the equipment provided with the connector can be improved, and the storage capacity of the equipment provided with the connector can be increased.
In a specific implementation process, the second type pins 103 may include a plurality of pins, and the electrical connection with the display device is realized by setting functions of different pins. In order to more clearly describe the implementation process of the second type pin electrically connecting with the display device, the second type pin in the connector is specifically described below by taking the connector as an example of the application of the connector to the server.
Fig. 2 is a front view of another connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. The second type pins include a first pin 1031, a second pin 1032, and a third pin 1033. Wherein the first pin 1031 may be used to transfer a clock signal, such as an SMBus _ CLK signal; the second pin 1032 may be used to pass digital signals, such as an SMBus _ DAT signal; the third pin 1033 may be used to communicate a power signal, such as to power a display device.
Further, since the connector provided by the embodiment of the present invention can access both the storage device and the display device, when designing the connector, the problem of switching the access device needs to be considered. In order to solve the problem, any one of the first pin, the second pin and the third pin may be additionally provided for transmitting a detection signal, where the detection signal is used to indicate whether the connector is externally connected to a display device, for example, the third pin is also used to transmit the detection signal.
In this way, when the third pin in the second type of pin detects that the display device is connected to the server, the power supply of the server can supply power to the display device through the third pin, so that the display device can perform corresponding display work, such as server state display, error code display and the like, through the clock signal transmitted by the first pin and the digital signal transmitted by the second pin; when the third pin in the second type pin does not detect that the display device is connected to the server, the server may perform corresponding storage work, such as data transmission, data reading and writing, through interaction between the first type pin and the storage device.
In the embodiment of the present invention, there are various arrangement manners of the second type pins, and fig. 2 shows only one possible arrangement manner, and a person skilled in the art may set the arrangement manner of the second type pins according to experience and actual situations, which is not limited specifically.
It should be noted that the connector provided by the embodiment of the present invention may be a connector manufactured according to the above-described design; alternatively, the connector obtained by modifying the existing connector according to the above-described scheme, for example, the existing hard disk connector may be modified, and the empty pin in the hard disk connector is used as the second type pin for electrically connecting with the display device.
Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiment of the invention also provides a server, which comprises the connector described above. Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram illustrating a server including the connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. The server 300 includes a housing 301, and a main board 302 disposed inside the housing 301; wherein, the main board 302 is electrically connected with the connector 100;
in the embodiment of the invention, the mainboard can read and write data to the storage equipment accessed to the server through the first type pin of the connector; and, the display information can also be output to a display device accessing the server through a second type pin of the connector. Specifically, the main board is provided with a management module and a power supply module, wherein the management module can be electrically connected with a first pin and a second pin in the second type pins and outputs display information to display equipment accessed to the server through the first pin and the second pin; the power supply module may be electrically connected to a third pin of the second type pins and provide power to a display device connected to the server through the third pin.
Furthermore, the management module can be electrically connected with a third pin in the second type of pin, whether the server is externally connected with the display device is determined through a detection signal transmitted by the third pin, and if the server is determined to be externally connected with the display device, the power supply module can be controlled to supply power to the display device through the third pin.
In consideration of the specific implementation, external display equipment is usually required during server maintenance and inspection, so that the cause of the server failure can be determined by observing display information of the display equipment when the server fails, and performing maintenance and inspection on the server generally requires that the server is in a standby state, which requires that the external display equipment can normally operate when the server is in the standby state, that is, the server needs to use a standby power supply to supply power to the display equipment when the server is in the standby state. Therefore, the management module in the embodiment of the present invention is further configured to control the power supply module to be electrically connected to the standby power supply when it is determined that the server is in the standby state; when the server is determined to be in the non-standby state, the power supply module is controlled to be electrically connected with the main power supply, so that on one hand, when the server is in the standby state, the display equipment can use the standby power supply to maintain normal work; on the other hand, when the server is in a non-standby state, the storage device may maintain normal operation using the main power supply.
In the embodiment of the present invention, there are various ways for electrically connecting the motherboard and the connector, for example, the connector may be directly disposed on the motherboard, or the connector may be electrically connected to the motherboard through a circuit.
Further, the server 300 may further include a hard disk backplane electrically connected to the motherboard, and the connector is electrically connected to the motherboard through the electrical connection between the hard disk backplane and the motherboard. By adopting the mode, the hard disk backboard can support the hot plug function of the external equipment, so that the external equipment (such as storage equipment and display equipment) connected into the server can realize the hot plug function under the condition that the server runs, and the external equipment can be installed or taken down without closing the server.
It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the storage device and the display device may access the server at the same time; or, the device accessing the server may be selected according to actual needs, for example, when data reading and writing are needed, the storage device is accessed to the server, and when the server needs to output display information for operation and maintenance, the display device is accessed to the server.
To describe the work flow between the connector and the motherboard more clearly, a modified Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk connector is specifically described as an example.
Fig. 4 is a circuit diagram illustrating an improved SATA hard disk connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, where as shown in fig. 4, the improved SATA hard disk connector also includes a first type pin and a second type pin. Wherein the first type pins include pins named S1 through S14, and pins named P4 through P15 shown in fig. 4; specifically, the pins designated as S1 to S14 are used for transmitting non-power signals such as clock signals and digital signals of the memory device, and the pins designated as P4 to P15 are used for transmitting power signals of the memory device. The second type of pins include the pins named P1, P2, P3 shown in fig. 4; specifically, a pin named P1 may be set as the first pin for passing a clock signal (e.g., SMBus _ CLK signal); the pin named P2 is set as the second pin for passing digital signals (e.g., SMBus _ DAT signal); a pin named P3 is provided as a third pin for passing a detection signal (e.g., LCD _ PRESENT signal) and a power signal. Further, the first pin, the second pin, and the third pin may be electrically connected to a Management module (such as a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) shown in fig. 4), so that the Management module can receive and manage a clock signal transmitted by the first pin, a digital signal transmitted by the second pin, and a detection signal transmitted by the third pin; and, the third pin may also be electrically connected with a power supply module, so that the power supply module (such as a power Switch (SW) shown in fig. 4) can receive and manage a power signal delivered by the third pin and supply power to the display device.
For the server described above, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a power switching method applied to the server, as shown in fig. 5, which is a schematic flow chart corresponding to the power switching method, and specifically includes the following steps:
step 501, the management module determines that there is a display device accessing the server.
Specifically, the management module may determine that the display device is accessed to the server through a detection signal transmitted by the third pin.
Step 502, the management module obtains the working state of the server.
The working state of the server comprises a standby state and a non-standby state.
Step 503, if the management module determines that the server is in a standby state, the management module sends a first signal to the power supply module; and if the server is determined to be in the non-standby state, sending a second signal to the power supply module.
The first signal is used for indicating that the power supply module is electrically connected with the standby power supply, and the second signal is used for indicating that the power supply module is electrically connected with the main power supply, so that the display equipment can use the standby power supply to maintain normal work when the server is in a standby state.
In the embodiment of the invention, the pins of the connector are divided into two types, and when the storage equipment is required to be used, the storage equipment can be accessed to the server through the first type of pins; when the display equipment module needs to be used, the display equipment can be accessed to the server through the second type pins. By adopting the method, the connector which can be accessed into the storage equipment and the display equipment is arranged, so that the functions of the connector can be expanded, the utilization rate of the front panel of the equipment provided with the connector can be improved, and the storage capacity of the equipment provided with the connector can be increased.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.
The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.