Enclosure management device

• US 20050138154A1
• Filed: 12/18/2003
• Published: 06/23/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Seto, Pak-Lung
• Application Number:
  US10/742,030
• Publication Number:
  US 20050138154A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Provided are a method, expander, system, and program for receiving a transmission at an interface supporting multiple storage interconnect architectures having different transmission characteristics, and wherein the transmission uses one of the supported storage interconnect architectures. The interface forwards the transmission to the enclosure management device. The enclosure management device processes the transmission using one of a plurality of transport layers supported at the enclosure management device, wherein the enclosure management device includes at least one transport layer used with each supported storage interconnect architecture.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a transmission on at least one interface supporting multiple storage interconnect architectures having different transmission characteristics, and wherein the transmission uses one of the supported storage interconnect architectures;

forwarding, by the receiving interface, the transmission to an enclosure management device; and

processing, with the enclosure management device, the transmission using one of a plurality of transport layers supported at the enclosure management device, wherein the enclosure management device includes at least one transport layer used with each supported storage interconnect architecture.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining information on the supported storage interconnect architectures and transmission characteristics for the storage interconnect architectures;

determining transmission characteristics of the received transmission;

determining from the information, by the interface, the storage interconnect architecture associated with the determined transmission characteristics; and

using the information on the determined storage interconnect architecture to process the transmission and determine a transport layer for the received transmission, wherein the determined transport layer is used to forward the transmission to the enclosure management device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one interface and enclosure management device are implemented on an expander interfacing a plurality of storage units and at least one server.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein at least one interface on the expander is coupled to a first and second physical interfaces having different physical configurations, wherein the first physical interface is used by a first storage interconnect architecture and the second physical interface is used by a second storage interconnect architecture, wherein the first and second storage interconnect architectures are supported at the interfaces on the expander.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the interface comprises a PHY layer to determine the storage interconnect architecture used to transmit the information, and wherein the internal interface of the enclosure management device comprises a virtual PHY layer having the transport layers used with the storage interconnect architectures supported by the at least one PHY layer.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein forwarding the transmission to the enclosure management device further comprises:

using one transport layer associated with the storage interconnect architecture to forward the transmission to a router function; and

forwarding, by the router function, the transmission to an internal interface on the enclosure management device using the transport layer associated with the storage interconnect architecture.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the enclosure management device includes an out-of-band interface using a storage interconnect architecture that is different than the storage interconnect architectures supported at the interfaces on the expander.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the supported storage interconnect architectures comprise SATA, SAS, and Fibre Channel and wherein the transport layers supported at the interfaces and the enclosure management device comprise at least one transport layer used for SAS/SATA and one for Fibre Channel Protocol.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission comprises a request from an external device coupled to the interface that is directed to the enclosure management device, further comprising:

generating, at the enclosure management device, a return transmission in response to the request to transmit to the external device;

using, by the enclosure management device, the transport layer used to process the request to transmit the return transmission to one interface; and

using, at the interface, the storage interconnect architecture used for the request frame to transmit the return transmission to the external device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the enclosure management device implements multiple enclosure management protocols, further comprising:

receiving, by the enclosure management device, an update including additional enclosure management protocols; and

applying, by the enclosure management device, the update to implement the additional enclosure management protocols in the enclosure management device.

11. An expander capable of being connected to external devices, comprising:

an interface supporting multiple storage interconnect architectures that transmit using different transmission characteristics;

an enclosure management device including at least one transport layer for each supported storage interconnect architecture;

interface circuitry capable of causing operations, the operations comprising;

(i) receiving a transmission using one of the supported storage interconnect architectures; and

(ii) forwarding the transmission to the enclosure management device; and

circuitry implemented by the enclosure management device to use one of the transport layers to process the transmission forwarded from the interface.

12. The expander of claim 11, wherein the interface circuitry further performs:

maintaining information on the supported storage interconnect architectures and transmission characteristics of the storage interconnect architectures;

determining a transmission characteristic of the received transmission;

determining from the information the storage interconnect architecture associated with the determined transmission characteristic; and

using the information on the determined storage interconnect architecture to process the transmission and determine a transport layer for the received transmission, wherein the determined transport layer is used to forward the transmission to the enclosure management device and wherein the determined transport layer is supported by the enclosure management device.

13. The expander of claim 11, wherein the expander interfaces a plurality of storage units and at least one server.

14. The expander of claim 11, wherein at least one interface on the expander is coupled to a first and second physical interfaces having different physical configurations, wherein the first physical interface is used by a first storage interconnect architecture and the second physical interface is used by a second storage interconnect architecture, wherein the first and second storage interconnect architectures are supported at the interfaces on the expander.

15. The expander of claim 11, further comprising:

a router function;

wherein the interface circuitry for forwarding the transmission to the enclosure management device further uses one transport layer associated with the storage interconnect architecture used to transmit the transmission to the router function; and

circuitry implemented by the router function to forward the transmission to an internal interface on the enclosure management device using the transport layer associated with the storage interconnect architecture.

16. The expander of claim 11, wherein the interfaces include at least one PHY layer to determine the storage interconnect architecture used for the transmission, and wherein the internal interface of the enclosure management device includes a virtual PHY layer having the transport layers used with the storage interconnect architectures supported by the PHY layer at the interface.

17. The expander of claim 11, wherein the enclosure management device includes an out-of-band interface using a storage interconnect architecture that is different than the storage interconnect architectures supported at the interfaces on the expander.

18. The expander of claim 11, wherein the supported storage interconnect architectures comprise SATA, SAS, and Fibre Channel and wherein the transport layers supported at the interface and the enclosure management device comprise one transport layer used for SAS/SATA and Fibre Channel Protocol.

19. The expander of claim 11, wherein the transmission comprises a request frame from one external device,

wherein the circuitry implemented by the enclosure management device further performs:

(i) generating a return transmission in response to the request transmission to transmit to the external device;

(ii) using the transport layer used to process the request transmission to transmit the return transmission to one interface; and

wherein the interface circuitry further uses the storage interconnect architecture used for the request frame to transmit the return frame to the external device.

20. A system in communication with a first and second physical interfaces capable of connecting to external devices:

a backplane;

an expander on the backplane including;

(i) an interface capable of interfacing with the two physical interfaces, wherein the interface supports the different storage interconnect architectures used by the first and second physical interfaces; and

(ii) an enclosure management device capable of receiving transmission communicated using the different storage interconnect architectures supported by the interface.

21. The storage enclosure of claim 20, wherein the storage interconnect architectures have different transmission characteristics.

22. The storage enclosure of claim 21, wherein the expander further includes:

a router function;

an internal interface on the enclosure management device;

wherein the interface in the expander further include interface circuitry to use one transport layer associated with the storage interconnect architecture to forward a transmission from the external device to the router function; and

wherein the router function includes circuitry to forward the transmission to the internal interface using the transport layer associated with the storage interconnect architecture.

23. The storage enclosure of claim 20, wherein the enclosure management device implements multiple enclosure management protocols, and wherein the enclosure management device implements circuitry capable of causing:

receiving an update including additional enclosure management protocols; and

applying the received update to the enclosure management device to implement the additional enclosure management protocols in the enclosure management device.

24. An article of manufacture, wherein the article of manufacture causes operations to be performed, the operations comprising:

receiving a transmission at an interface supporting multiple storage interconnect architectures having different transmission characteristics, and wherein the transmission uses one of the supported storage interconnect architectures;

forwarding, by the interface, the transmission to the enclosure management device; and

processing, with the enclosure management device, the transmission using one of a plurality of transport layers supported at the enclosure management device, wherein the enclosure management device includes at least one transport layer used with each supported storage interconnect architecture.

25. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the operations further comprise:

maintaining information on the supported storage interconnect architectures and transmission characteristics for the storage interconnect architectures;

determining transmission characteristics of the received transmission;

determining from the information, the storage interconnect architecture associated with the determined transmission characteristics; and

using the information on the determined storage interconnect architecture to process the transmission and determine a transport layer for the received transmission, wherein the determined transport layer is used to forward the transmission to the enclosure management device.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the at least one interface and enclosure management device are on an expander interfacing with a plurality of storage units.

27. The article of manufacture of claim 26, wherein at least one interface on the expander is coupled to a first and second physical interfaces having different physical configurations, wherein the first physical interface is used by a first storage interconnect architecture and the second physical interface is used by a second storage interconnect architecture, wherein the first and second storage interconnect architectures are supported at the at least one interface on the expander.

28. The article of manufacture of claim 27, wherein the interface includes at least one PHY layer to determine the storage interconnect architecture used to transmit the transmission to the interface, and wherein the internal interface of the enclosure management device includes a virtual PHY layer having the transport layers used with the storage interconnect architectures supported by the at least one PHY layer at the interface.

29. The article of manufacture of claim 26, wherein forwarding the transmission to the enclosure management device further comprises:

using one transport layer associated with the storage interconnect architecture to forward the transmission to a router function; and

forwarding, by the router function, the transmission to an internal interface on the enclosure management device using the transport layer associated with the storage interconnect architecture.

30. The article of manufacture of claim 26, wherein the enclosure management device includes an out-of-band interface using a storage interconnect architecture that is different than the storage interconnect architectures supported at the interfaces on the expander.

31. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the supported storage interconnect architectures comprise SATA, SAS, and Fibre Channel and wherein the transport layers supported at the interfaces and the enclosure management device comprise at least one transport layer used for SAS/SATA and one for Fibre Channel Protocol.

32. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the transmission comprises a request transmission from an external device coupled to the interface that is directed to the enclosure management device, wherein the operations further comprise:

generating, at the enclosure management device, a return transmission in response to the request transmission to transmit to the external device;

using, by the enclosure management device, the transport layer used to process the request transmission to transmit the return transmission to one interface; and

using, at the interface, the storage interconnect architecture used for the request transmission to transmit the return transmission to the external device

33. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the enclosure management device implements multiple enclosure management protocols, and wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving an update including additional enclosure management protocols; and

applying the update to implement the additional enclosure management protocols in the enclosure management device.

34. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the article of manufacture stores instructions that when executed result in performance of the operations.