JP2007266278A - Rack - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of mounting an electronic tag and a reader/writer, which are excellent in reading efficiency even when electronic devices different in depth are mounted, in an electronic tag reading mechanism on a rack mount system. <P>SOLUTION: A rack, which is equipped with supports located at all its four corners (front, rear, left and right) and mounted with rack-mount type devices different from each other in depth, is characterized by the fact that a reader/writer that reads an electronic tag is mounted every 1U, which denotes a mounting unit, in the rear of the back-side supports, and the electronic tags are provided at positions corresponding to the reader/writers. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a reader / writer mounting technique in a rack system that efficiently reads an electronic tag (non-contact IC (Integrated Circuit) tag or wireless tag) mounted on a rack-mounted device.

  In recent years, a rack mount system in which electronic devices such as servers and disk array devices are mounted on a rack to save space has become widespread.

  The rack on which the rack-mounted device is mounted has a fixed mounting pitch. In the case of a general 19-inch rack, the minimum mounting pitch is 1U = 44.45 mm. One rack mount device is attached in the range of an integral multiple of 1U.

  Multiple devices with the same appearance may be mounted in the rack. Knowing not only in which rack the target device is mounted, but also in which slot, the target device Mistakes such as mistakes can be reduced.

  In a data center or the like where a large number of rack mount devices are installed, when performing inventory or product maintenance, it has been confirmed that the target device is actually there. In addition, when a device is shipped in a rack at the factory, the method of checking whether the specified rack mounting pattern is the same as the actual rack mounting pattern is generally a method that is confirmed by human inspection. It was a very complicated task.

  To deal with these problems, a method of managing devices mounted in a rack by using a generally known electronic tag can be considered.

  When applying a technology for reading electronic tags to a rack mount system, it is generally considered that an electronic tag is attached to a device such as a rack mount server or disk array device mounted in a rack, and a reader / writer is attached to the rack. . Further, in order to confirm what device is installed in which slot (storage position) of the rack, it is conceivable to install a reader / writer in each slot.

  However, at this time, if the distance between the electronic tag and the reader / writer is long, (1) the distance between the electronic tag and the reader / writer becomes long, a powerful reader / writer is required, and the cost increases. (2) Reader If the reception range of the writer is expanded, problems such as picking up radio waves from the electronic tags of devices mounted in other slots and reducing the reliability of reading occur.

  In addition, when the front side (rack front side) or back side (rack rear side) of the device is used as a common location for attaching an electronic tag to a rack mount device, the rack door is used as the reader / writer attachment location. Can be considered. However, since the rack front and rear areas are usually used for cable processing, when the door is closed after cable processing, the reader / writer installed on the door interferes with the cable.

  Conventionally, a method has been proposed in which an electronic tag is attached to a shelf member installed in a shelf shape, and a reader / writer is attached to a housing portion in which the shelf is accommodated (see Patent Document 1). As the position of the reader / writer attached to the accommodating portion, the reader / writer is installed within the range occupied when the shelf member having the same shape is accommodated.

  However, when the above technique is applied to a rack mount system in which various devices with different depths are mounted, the following two points can be considered as attachment positions of the reader / writer. One is the position facing the front of the device attached to the front column of the rack, and the other is the part near the front column of the rack on the side of the rack. In connection with cable processing, there is a problem in the installation and maintainability of the device.

In addition, when mounting on the side surface of the rack, it is possible to cope with a device having a short depth as long as the portion is close to the support on the front side of the rack, but a problem peculiar to the rack system occurs. In rack systems, when mounting equipment in a rack, it is common to mount mounting brackets across the front column of the rack or across the front and rear columns, and then mount the product on the brackets. The mounting bracket enters between the electronic tag mounted on the rack mount apparatus and the reader / writer mounted on the rack. In particular, in the 1U rack-mounted device, the side surface of the device may be occupied by the slide rail, and in the region between the front-side column and the rear-side column of the rack to which the slide rail is attached, the rack-mounted device has an electronic tag. It is difficult to attach.
JP 2005-32846 A

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, the distance between the electronic tag mounted on the rack mount type device and the reader / writer mounted on each slot of the rack is reduced, so that the transmission / reception range is small and inexpensive. Provided is a system for confirming the mounting position of a rack-mounted device that can use an electronic tag and a reader / writer and can be applied to any rack-mounted device.

  A first invention is a rack mounted on a rack provided with posts at four corners on the front, rear, left, and right for mounting a plurality of rack mount devices, and in the rack, at the rear of at least one of the posts on the back side, A reader / writer mounting portion to which a reader / writer for reading an electronic tag of the rack mount device is mounted for each 1U as a mounting unit in the height direction, and a position corresponding to the reader / writer when the rack is mounted in the rack mount device. And an electronic tag attaching part to which the electronic tag is attached.

  That is, according to the first invention, the rack mount system is composed of a rack mount type device and a rack, and a rack in which a device of an unspecified depth is mounted is a rack in which four support columns are installed on the front, rear, left and right. In this structure, a reader / writer is attached to each rear unit on the rear side of the rack, and rack mount devices such as servers and disk array devices housed in the rack have been mounted in the rack. Sometimes, the electronic tag and the reader / writer can be brought close to each other by arranging the electronic tag at a position corresponding to the reader / writer on the rear side of the rack post on the rear side, and the device information stored in the electronic tag is stored. The reader / writer provided in the rack enables reliable and efficient reading.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the rack mounted device, the electronic tag is extended so as to be extended to a position corresponding to the reader / writer when the depth when the rack is mounted is located between the rear column and the front column. The rack according to the first aspect is characterized in that an electronic tag mounting mechanism to which is attached is added.

  That is, according to the second invention, the attachment of the electronic tag to the rack mount type device is extended to a position close to the reader / writer provided on either the left or right side of the back column of the rack, and the electronic tag is attached to the back surface of the device. By adopting a structure in which the tag mounting mechanism is installed, even if the depth of the rack mount apparatus is short, the distance to the reader / writer is set close to each other, so that the reading reliability can be ensured.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the rack-mounted device is fixed only to a front column of the rack, the at least one column on the back side of the rack is positioned in a proximity position facing the reader / writer. The present invention relates to the rack according to the first invention, wherein an electronic tag mounting mechanism having an electronic tag is installed.

  That is, according to the third invention, when the depth of the device is extremely short, such as when the rack mount device is fixed only to the front column of the rack, the reader / writer and the same column on the back side of the rack By adopting a structure in which electronic tags are installed close to each other, device information stored in the electronic tag can be reliably read even if the rack-mounted device has a short depth.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the rack according to the third aspect, wherein the electronic tag mounting mechanism and the corresponding rack mount device are physically integrated by a connection mechanism.

  That is, according to the fourth invention, even if the electronic tag is connected to the rack side instead of the rack mount type device, by using a physical connection mechanism such as a cable wire, It is possible to adopt a configuration in which a corresponding rack mount apparatus is integrated.

  According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the electronic tag mounting mechanism and the corresponding rack mount type device are connected by a wiring cable including a flexible printed board. Regarding the described rack.

  That is, according to the fifth invention, the rack mount type device and the electronic tag mounting mechanism are electrically connected to each other by a wiring cable such as a flexible printed board, and the depth of the rack mount type device is extended and the electronic tag is extended. As a result, the ease of maintenance is ensured.

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects are produced.
(1) In a rack mount system composed of a rack mount type device and a rack, the rack is a rack in which devices of an unspecified depth are mounted and four columns are installed on the front, rear, left and right. While a reader / writer is attached to the rear side of the back column for each 1U, a rack mount type device such as a server or a disk array device housed in the rack is mounted on the rear side when it is completely mounted on the rack. By adopting a structure in which the electronic tag is installed at the position corresponding to the reader / writer on the rear side of the rack post, the electronic tag and the reader / writer can be brought close to each other, and the device information stored in the electronic tag is provided in the rack. Therefore, it is possible to reliably and efficiently read.
(2) A structure in which the electronic tag is attached to the rack mount type device by extending it to a position close to the reader / writer provided on either the left or right side of the back column of the rack, and an electronic tag mounting mechanism is installed on the back surface of the device. Thus, even when the depth of the rack mount apparatus is short, the distance to the reader / writer is set to be close, so that the reading reliability can be ensured. (3) When the depth of the device is extremely short, such as when the rack-mounted device is fixed only to the front column of the rack, the reader / writer and the electronic tag are installed close to the same column on the rear side of the rack. By adopting such a structure, the device information stored in the electronic tag can be reliably read even if the depth of the rack mount device is short. Further, even when the electronic tag is mounted on a separate rack side from the rack mount type device, integration can be achieved by adding a physical connection mechanism such as a cable wire.
(4) Since the rack mount type device and the electronic tag mounting mechanism are joined by a flexible substrate such as a flexible printed board, not only the depth of the rack mount type device is compensated but also easy maintenance is ensured. Will be.

  As described above, the present invention provides an electronic tag reading / writing system capable of supporting many products in a rack mounting system in which various products having different depths and heights are mounted, and the distance between the reader / writer and the electronic tag is reduced. As a result, the reader / writer can be reduced in size and cost, and reading accuracy can be improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an overview of a rack mount system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The rack mount system includes a rack 1 and a plurality of rack mount devices 2, and the plurality of mount devices are connected by signal cables.

  The rack 1 includes four support columns, and slide rails 4a and 4b that hold the rack mount device 2 so that the rack mount device 2 can be slid and pulled out are attached to the support columns.

  The rack mount type device 2 is configured such that a server, a disk array device, an electronic device such as a power supply are housed in a frame of a certain size, and are mounted in a plurality of slots of the rack 1.

  The 19-inch rack standard includes EIA (Electronic Industries Alliance) and JIS (Japan Industrial Standard). In the field of information processing, EIA standards are generally applied. The pitch of the mounting holes provided for fixing the rack mount apparatus is determined, and the height of the equipment to be mounted is basically a unit of 1U (1 unit). For example, a device that uses two stages is called 2U, and a device that uses four stages is called 4U. The EIA standard 1U is 1.75 inches (44.45 mm).

  In other words, the rack 1 on which the rack mount apparatus 2 is mounted has a fixed mounting pitch. In the case of a general 19-inch rack, the minimum mounting pitch is 1U = 44.45 mm. One rack mount apparatus is attached in an integer multiple of 1U.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram (No. 1) of the rack mount system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 2A shows a state in which the rack mount type device 2 is stored in the rack 1 in a top view a and a side view b, and FIG. 2B shows a state in which the rack mount type device 2 is pulled out from the rack 1. And a side view b.

  The slide rails 4a and 4b in FIGS. 2A and 2B are fixed to the columns 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d of the rack 1, while the slide rails 4′a and 4′b seen in the pulled-out state in FIG. It is attached to the side surface of the mount-type device 2 and is slid and stored on slide rails 4 a and 4 b fixed to the rack 1. The rack mount type device 2 is held while being attached to the rack 1 so that it can be slid out.

  This embodiment shows a case where the depth of the rack mount apparatus 2 is behind the position of the back supports 3a and 3b of the rack 1. The reader / writer 6 is installed on, for example, 3b of the back side support columns, and the electronic tag 5 is attached to the rear side surface of the rack mount apparatus 2 corresponding to the position of the reader / writer 6. Here, as the electronic tag 5, a wireless tag (or a non-contact IC tag) including an antenna that responds to radio waves from the reader / writer 6 and transmits data related to the stored device is used.

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram (No. 2) of the rack mount system according to the embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment shows an example of attaching the reader / writer 6 and the electronic tag 5 when the depth of the rack mount apparatus 2 is on the inner side of the positions of the back-side columns 3a and 3b of the rack 1.

  In the example, in order to correspond to the attachment position (support 3 b) of the reader / writer 6, an electronic tag attachment mechanism 7 is installed on the back surface portion of the rack mount apparatus as an extension alignment adjustment jig, and the electronic tag attachment mechanism 7 The electronic tag 5 is attached to.

  FIG. 4 shows a configuration diagram (No. 3) of the rack mount system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment shows an example of attachment of the reader / writer 6 and the electronic tag 5 when the rack-mount type device 2 has a short depth and the device is fixed only to the front-side columns 3c and 3d of the rack 1. .

  In the example, the electronic tag attaching mechanism 7 is installed in the vicinity of the reader / writer 6 on the same back side support column 3b, and the electronic tag 5 is attached. In this case, for example, the rack-mounted apparatus 2 transmits and receives signals to and from the electronic tag 5 using a physical (electrical) connection mechanism such as a flexible printed board.

  As described above, according to the electronic tag and reader / writer mounting structure and method of the present invention, it is possible to deal with various types of rack-mounted devices having different depths, and an efficient electronic tag reading system in the rack mounting system. Is realized.

1 is an overview of a rack mount system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram (the 1) of the rack mount system which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram (the 2) of the rack mount system which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram (the 3) of the rack mount system which becomes embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 rack 2 rack-mounted device 3a, 3b support (back side)
3c, 3d Post (front side)
4a, 4b Slide rail (rack side)
4'a, 4'b Slide rail (device side)
5 Electronic tag 6 Reader / writer 7 Electronic tag mounting mechanism 8 Physical connection mechanism

Claims (5)

A rack with pillars at the four corners on the front, rear, left and right for mounting a plurality of rack mount devices,
In the rack, a reader / writer mounting portion on which a reader / writer for reading an electronic tag of the rack-mounted device is attached to the rear portion of at least one of the columns on the back side for each 1U as a mounting unit in the height direction;
In the rack mount type device, an electronic tag mounting portion in which the electronic tag is mounted at a position corresponding to the reader / writer when the rack is mounted;
A rack characterized by comprising:   The rack mount type device is mounted with an electronic tag in which the electronic tag is attached so that it extends to a position corresponding to the reader / writer when the depth when the rack is mounted is located between the back column and the front column. The rack according to claim 1, wherein a mechanism is added.   When the rack-mounted device is fixed only to the front column of the rack, at least one column on the rear side of the rack has an electronic tag having the electronic tag at a position close to the reader / writer. The rack according to claim 1, wherein a tag mounting mechanism is installed separately from the rack mount type device.   The rack according to claim 3, wherein the electronic tag mounting mechanism and the corresponding rack mount device are physically integrated by a connection mechanism.   The rack according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the rack mount type device and the electronic tag mounting mechanism are connected by a wiring cable including a flexible printed board.

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