WO2014067264A1 - Switch board and blade server - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a switch board and a blade server. The switch board comprises: an external interface module, the external interface module being connected to an external network of the blade server and used for communicating with the external network of the blade server; and a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIE) switch module, the PCIE switch module being connected to the external interface module. The PCIE switch module comprises an internally-connected PCIE interface, the internally-connected PCIE interface is connected to an mutually-connected PCIE interface of a blade unit of the blade server by a back panel, and is used for communication inside the blade server. The present invention is used for the communication of the blade server, and relates to the field of computer communications. The present invention can reduce the communication delay inside the frame of the blade server, and meanwhile reduce the configuration cost of the switch board.

Description

 Switch board and blade server

 Technical field

 The present invention relates to the field of computer communications, and in particular, to a switch board and a blade server. Background technique

 A blade server, also known as a blade server system, refers to the insertion of multiple card-type blade units into a standard-height rack-mount chassis, similar to a single server, each of which runs its own system to service the specified Different user groups.

 In the prior art, the blade unit can be connected to a network interface card (NIC) through a high-speed peripheral component interconnect (PCIE) bus, and the NIC network card outlet and the ether (Etherne t The switch boards are connected. The blade unit can also be connected to the Hos t Bus Adapter (HBA) through the PCIE bus. The HBA is connected to the Fibre Channel (FC) switch board to implement internal communication between the blade servers.

 However, in the manner in which the existing blade unit is connected to the switch board, the delay of the switch board is large, resulting in a large communication delay in the blade server frame. At the same time, the blade server needs an Ethernet switch board or a FC switch board, which increases the cost. .

 Summary of the invention

 Embodiments of the present invention provide a switchboard and blade server that can reduce blade server communication latency while reducing switchboard configuration costs.

 In order to achieve the above object, embodiments of the present invention use the following technical solutions:

 In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a switch board, including:

 An external interface module, the external interface module being connected to an external network of the blade server for communicating with an external network of the blade server;

 The high-speed peripheral component interconnects the PCIE switch module, and the PCIE switch module is connected to the external interface module, the PCIE switch module includes an interconnected PCIE interface, and the interconnected PC IE interface passes through the backplane and the blade unit of the blade server. An interconnected PCIE interface connection for internal communication of the blade server.

In combination with the first possible implementation of the first aspect, the external interface module specifically includes: An Ethernet interface module, the Ethernet interface module includes an Ethernet interface, and the Ethernet interface module is connected to an Ethernet network through the Ethernet interface; and/or

 The Fibre Channel FC interface module, the FC interface module includes an FC interface, and the FC interface module is connected to the storage area network SAN through the FC interface.

 In a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the switch board further includes:

a PCIE interface module, the PCIE interface module is connected to the PC IE switching module, the PC IE interface module includes a first PCIE interface, and the first PC IE interface and a second PCIE interface of the device outside the blade server Connected for the blade server to communicate with devices outside the blade server.

 In conjunction with the third possible implementation of the first aspect, the at least one of the Ethernet interface, the FC interface, the interconnected PCIE interface, and the first PCIE interface is connected by using a card connection manner. .

 In a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the switch board further includes: the Ethernet interface, the FC interface, and the first PCIE interface are buckle cards;

 The interconnected PCIE interface is a socket, and the socket has at least two.

 In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a blade server, including:

 Any of the above described switchboards;

a blade unit of the blade server, the blade unit has at least two pieces; and a backplane; the blade unit is connected to the switchboard through the backplane, and is used to implement internal communication of the blade server. The embodiment of the present invention provides a switch board and a blade server. The external interface module is connected to an external network of the blade server for communicating with an external network of the blade server. The high-speed peripheral component interconnects the PCIE switch module and the external interface module. Connecting, the PCIE switch module includes an interconnected PCIE interface, and the interconnected PCIE interface is connected to the interconnected PCIE interface of the blade unit of the blade server through a backplane for internal communication of the blade server; thus, the switchboard The first PCIE interface of the PCIE switch module is connected to the interconnected PCIE interface of the blade unit through the backplane to implement internal communication of the blade server. Compared with the prior art, the specific network card is not required to be configured in the blade unit of the blade server. The NIC is connected to different switch boards to implement internal communication between the blade servers. Because the PCIE switch board has a small delay, The use of the PCIE switch module reduces the blade server communication delay; at the same time, since a plurality of switch boards can be unified into a PCIE switch board, the switch board configuration cost is reduced; the blade server does not need to configure a network card or an HBA in the blade unit, but Direct connection to the PCIE switch board over the PCIE bus also reduces the cost of the blade server.

 DRAWINGS

 1 is a schematic diagram of a switchboard according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

 2 is a schematic diagram of an external switching module according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

 3 is a schematic diagram of another switchboard according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

 4 is a schematic diagram of a blade server according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

 detailed description

 The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention are clearly and completely described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. It is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts are within the scope of the present invention.

 Example 1

 A switch board 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, includes:

 The external interface module 101 is connected to an external network of the blade server for communicating with an external network of the blade server.

 The high-speed peripheral component interconnects the PCIE switch module 102, the PC IE switch module 102 is formed by a PCIE chip, the PCIE switch module 102 is connected to the external interface module 101, and the PCIE switch module 102 includes an interconnected PCIE interface 1021. The interconnected PCIE interface 1021 is connected to the interconnected PCIE interface of the blade unit of the blade server through a backplane for internal communication of the blade server.

In this way, the switch board is connected to the PCIE interface of the blade unit of the blade server through the interconnected PCIE interface of the PCIE switch module, so that the internal communication of the blade server is realized, compared with the prior art, not in the blade server. The blade unit is configured with a specific network card, and the network card is connected to different switch boards to implement internal communication of the blade server. The PCIE switch board has a small delay. Therefore, the PCIE switch module reduces the blade server communication delay. At the same time, the switch board can be unified into a PCIE switch board, which reduces the cost of the switch board configuration. The blade unit is configured with a network card or HBA, but is directly connected to the PCIE switch board through the PCIE bus, which also reduces the cost of the blade server.

 It should be noted that the communication mentioned in the embodiment of the present invention includes intra-frame communication and out-of-frame communication of the blade server. The intra-frame communication in the blade server is specifically performed by connecting the blade unit to the switch board through the backplane and the switch board. Blade server internal communication. The out-of-box communication is specifically that the blade server communicates with the external network of the blade server, or the blade server communicates with the device outside the blade server, that is, the inter-frame communication, and the device outside the blade server is usually another blade outside the blade server. server.

 Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the external interface module 101 may further include: an Ethernet interface module 1011 and/or an FC interface module 1012. In a practical application, the specific structure of the external interface module is set according to the function of the switch board. Therefore, at least one of the Ethernet interface module and the FC interface module may exist on the switch board.

 Specifically, the Ethernet interface module 1011 includes an Ethernet interface 10111, and the Ethernet interface module 1011 is connected to the Ethernet network through the Ethernet interface 10111. The FC interface module 1012 includes an FC interface 10121, and the FC interface module 1012 passes the FC interface 10121. Connect to a data center SAN (Storage Area Network); connect to the external network of the blade server through different interfaces to implement network communication between the blade server and different external networks.

 The switch board 10 provided by the embodiment of the present invention may further include:

The PCIE interface module 103, the central processing unit CPU module 104, and the BMC (Base Board Management Controller) module 105.

 The PCIE interface module 103 is connected to the PCIE switch module 102. The PCIE interface module 103 includes a first PCIE interface 1031. The first PCIE interface 1031 is configured to be connected to a second PCIE interface of a device outside the blade server. The blade server is implemented to communicate with devices outside the blade server. The first PCIE interface and the second PCIE interface may be one or more, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present invention.

The CPU module 104 is responsible for the initialization of the switchboard 10 and the configuration of the chips in the switchboard 10. The initialization of the switch board 10 is specifically as follows: Before the switch board 10 works, the CPU module 104 The switch board 10 is configured to determine whether the switch board 10 can work normally. Because the chips of the modules that are initially installed on the switch board 10 are chips, the configuration of the chips of each module is specifically as follows: The chip configuration enables the chips of each module to have corresponding working capabilities during the working process.

 The BMC module 105 can perform power-on and power-off control and hardware management of the switch board 10, and the BMC module 105 is provided with a management interface 1051. The management interface 1051 is connected to the chassis management board for using the switch board 10 The hardware information of each module is reported to the chassis management board in the blade server. The chassis management board is used to manage the blade server.

 The Ethernet interface 1011, the FC interface 1012, the interconnected PCIE interface 1021, and the first PCIE interface 1031 can be connected in multiple manners. In the embodiment of the present invention, the Ethernet interface 1011 The FC interface 1012, the inline PCIE interface 1021, and the first PCIE interface 1031 are connected by using a card connection manner. The Ethernet interface 1011, the FC interface 1012, and the first PCIE interface 1031 can be designed. In the form of a buckle. The above card connection mode is a way in which the card is inserted into the socket for connection.

 In an actual application, the Ethernet interface 1011 can be configured as a first card, the FC interface 1012 can be configured as a second card, the first PCIE interface 1031 can be configured as a third card, and the interconnected PCIE interface 1021 can be configured as a socket. There are at least two sockets. For example, in this embodiment, the Ethernet interface that is configured on the switch board is the first card, the FC interface is the second card, and the first PCIE interface is the third card. The interconnected PCIE interface on the switch board corresponds to the PCI card interface. Three sockets are provided, which are a first socket, a second socket and a third socket respectively. When the blade server needs to communicate with the Ethernet and the SAN at the same time, the first card can be inserted into the first socket, the second The buckle is inserted into the second socket, and the third buckle is inserted into the third socket to implement network communication between the blade server and the plurality of networks. In particular, the specific structure of the external interface module on the switch board is set according to the function of the switch board. Therefore, the first switch card, the second buckle card, and the third buckle card can be selectively set, and the number thereof can be one. Or multiple, the switch board can make the networking of communication flexible. At the same time, the switch board realizes the converged exchange of each network. Multiple networks can use a PCIE switch board for communication, which reduces the delay, reduces the type of switch board, and simplifies the complexity of off-frame communication.

Further, each of the cards disposed on the switch board 10 can also be reused, for example, when When the blade server only needs to be connected to the device outside the blade server, the third card can be set at the position where the second card is set. That is, the first PCIE interface is used to replace the FC interface, and two first PCIE interfaces are set. Insert the two third cards into the sockets. The switch board 10 can have two first PCIE interfaces. The first PCIE interface is used to connect to the second PCIE interface of the device outside the blade server to implement the blade server. Communicating with devices outside the blade server.

 Similarly, when the blade server only communicates with the SAN of the data center, the setting method of the corresponding card is similar to the above method, and any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention. Replace, so I won't go into details.

 The switch board provided by the embodiment of the present invention implements internal communication of the blade server through the interconnected PCIE interface of the PCIE switch module and the interconnected PCIE interface of the blade unit of the blade server, and the PCIE exchange is compared with the prior art. The board has a small delay. Therefore, the PCIE switch module reduces the blade server communication delay. At the same time, the switch board can be unified into a PCIE switch board, which reduces the cost of the switch board configuration. In addition, it does not need to be in the blade server. A specific network card or HBA is configured in the blade unit to allow the blade server to directly connect to the PCIE switch board through the PCIE bus, thereby reducing the cost of the blade server.

 Example 2:

 The embodiment of the present invention provides a blade server 40. As shown in FIG. 4, the system includes: a PCIE switch board 10, at least two blade units 401, and a backplane 402 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

 The blade unit 401 is connected to the PCIE switch board 10 through the backplane 402 for internal communication of the blade server.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that for the convenience and brevity of the description, the structure of the switch board 10 and the blade unit 401 in the above blade server 40 can be referred to the switch board 10 in the foregoing Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 1, respectively. The blade unit 401 is correspondingly described, and details are not described herein again. In the blade server provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the switch board is connected to the interconnected PCIE interface of the blade unit of the blade server through the interconnected PCIE interface of the PCIE switch module to implement internal communication of the blade server. Compared with the prior art, It is not necessary to configure a specific network card in the blade unit of the blade server, and the internal communication between the blade server is realized by connecting the network card to different switch boards. Compared with the prior art, the PCIE switch board has a small delay, so the PCIE exchange is used. The module reduces the blade server communication delay. At the same time, the switch board can be unified into a PCIE switch board, which reduces the cost of the switch board configuration. In addition, the specific network card or HBA is not required to be configured in the blade unit of the blade server. The server is directly connected to the PCIE switch board through the PCIE bus, thus reducing the cost of the blade server.

 The above is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention. It should be covered by the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

Claim A switch board, comprising:  An external interface module, the external interface module being connected to an external network of the blade server for communicating with an external network of the blade server;  The high-speed peripheral component interconnects the PCIE switch module, and the PCIE switch module is connected to the external interface module, the PCIE switch module includes an interconnected PCIE interface, and the interconnected PC IE interface passes through the backplane and the blade unit of the blade server. An interconnected PCIE interface connection for internal communication of the blade server.  The switch board according to claim 1, wherein the external interface module specifically includes:  An Ethernet interface module, the Ethernet interface module includes an Ethernet interface, and the Ethernet interface module is connected to an Ethernet network through the Ethernet interface; and/or  The Fibre Channel FC interface module, the FC interface module includes an FC interface, and the FC interface module is connected to the storage area network SAN through the FC interface.  The switch board according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the switch board further comprises:  a PCIE interface module, the PCIE interface module is connected to the PC IE switching module, the PC IE interface module includes a first PCIE interface, and the first PC IE interface and a second PCIE interface of the device outside the blade server Connected for the blade server to communicate with devices outside the blade server.  The switch board according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the Ethernet interface, the FC interface, the interconnected PCIE interface, and the first PCIE interface is connected by a buckle card. connection.  The switch board according to claim 4, wherein the switch board further comprises:  The Ethernet interface, the FC interface, and the first PCIE interface are buckles; the internal PCIE interface is a socket, and the socket has at least two.  6. A blade server, comprising: A switchboard according to any one of claims 1 to 5; a blade unit of the blade server, the blade unit has at least two pieces; and a backplane; the blade unit is connected to the switchboard through the backplane, and is used to implement internal communication of the blade server.