Method and architecture for optical networking between server and storage area networks

• US 20050175341A1
• Filed: 12/19/2003
• Published: 08/11/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Ovadia, Shlomo
• Granted Patent: US 7,634,582 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 398/43
• 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

A method and system for routing high-speed data to and from SANs (Storage Area Networks and Server Area Networks) via optical burst-switched (OBS) networks. OBS network components, including edge nodes and switching nodes, are coupled between SAN islands. In one embodiment, the OBS network comprises a photonic burst-switched (PBS) network. Under one scheme, a PBS edge node and SAN gateway are co-located at the interface to the SAN, while a plurality of PBS switching nodes are deployed between the PBS edge nodes. Under another scheme, PBS switching/edge nodes are co-located at respective SANs. This scheme employs an external gateway protocol (EGP) for routing data via selected route segments. Data going to and received from a SAN is packaged as Fibre Channel Frames. Data transmitted via the PBS network is converted into PBS frames having encapsulated Fibre Channel Frames. The schemes also support interfaces with legacy networks, such as LANs and WANs.

Claims

1. A method for transferring data between a plurality of SANs (Storage Area Networks and/or Server Area Networks), comprising:

coupling a first SAN to a second SAN via an optical burst-switched (OBS) network infrastructure;

receiving data from the first SAN, said data configured according to a first SAN format;

encapsulating the data into one or more OBS data bursts;

transmitting the one or more OBS data bursts across the OBS network from the first SAN to the second SAN; and

extracting the encapsulated data at the second SAN.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the OBS network comprises a photonic burst-switched (PBS) network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the OBS network comprises a wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) PBS network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first SAN format for the data comprises Fibre Channel (FC) frames, and encapsulating the data into one or more OBS data bursts comprises encapsulating at least one FC frame in each of said one or more OBS data bursts.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein coupling the first SAN to the second SAN via the (OBS) network infrastructure comprises:

co-locating a respective PBS edge node module at a respective SAN gateway for each of the first and second SANs; and

optically coupling the respective PBS edge node modules to at least one PBS switching node to form a lightpath comprising at least two lightpath segments between the first and second SANs.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the respective operations performed by a SAN gateway and PBS edge node are provided by at least one module contained in a multi-module unit.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said at least one module comprises a plurality of server blades coupled via a common backplane in a modular reconfigurable communication platform.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

co-locating at least one External Gateway Protocol router module at a respective SAN Gateway for at least one of the first and second SANs; and

determining, using an External Gateway Protocol router, a route via which the one or more OBS data bursts are transmitted between the first and second SANs.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein coupling the first SAN to the second SAN via the (OBS) network infrastructure comprises:

co-locating a respective PBS switching/edge node module at a respective SAN gateway for each of the first and second SANs; and

optically coupling the respective PBS switching/edge nodes modules to one another.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the respective operations performed by a SAN gateway and PBS switching/edge node are provided by at least one module contained in a multi-module unit.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said at least one module comprises a plurality of server blades coupled via a common backplane in a server blade unit.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

optically coupling a third and fourth SAN to the first and second SANs, each of the third and fourth SANs being optically coupled at a co-located SAN gateway and PBS switching/edge node; and

determining a route to optically transmit the one or more optical bursts, said route comprising a concatenation of at least two route segments, each route segment coupled between respective pairs of SANs.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising configuring at least one of the co-located PBS switching/edge nodes as an External Gateway Protocol router;

and

determining the route using an External Gateway Protocol router.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the External Gateway Protocol comprises an extension to the Border Gateway Protocol that includes provisions for PBS networks, and determining the route includes determining an optical wavelength to be used for each route segment.

15. A system, comprising:

a plurality of SANs (Storage Area Networks and Server Area Networks), each including a respective SAN gateway;

a plurality of optical burst-switched (OBS) network edge nodes, each coupled in communication with a respective SAN gateway; and

a plurality of OBS network switching nodes, optically coupled in a mesh configuration to the plurality of OBS of OBS edge nodes.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

an OBS network edge node coupled to at least one of the plurality of OBS network switching nodes; and

an interface to a legacy network comprising one of a local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN), coupled in communication with the OBS network edge node.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the OBS network comprises a photonic burst-switched (PBS) network, an OBS network switching node comprises a PBS switching node, and an OBS edge node comprises a PBS edge node.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein each OBS network comprises a wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) PBS network.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein at least one of the PBS edge nodes comprises a module that is co-located with a corresponding SAN gateway.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein at least one of the PBS edge nodes comprises a module that is co-located with a corresponding Edge Gateway Protocol router module.

21. A system, comprising:

a plurality of SANs (Storage Area Networks and Server Area Networks), each including a respective SAN gateway; and

a plurality of optical burst-switched (OBS) network switching/edge nodes, each coupled in communication with a respective SAN gateway and optically coupled to at least one other OBS network switching/edge nodes.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one of the plurality of OBS switching/edge nodes is co-located at a respective SAN gateway.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the optical burst-switched network comprises a photonic burst switched (PBS) network.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the optical burst-switched network comprises a wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) PBS network.

25. A system comprising:

a backplane including a switching fabric with a wired communication channel, the wired communication channel to provide a medium to propagate information;

a Storage Area Network (SAN) gateway module to provide an interface to a SAN;

coupled to the wired communication channel to transmit data over the wired communication channel; and

an optical input/output (I/O) module coupled to the wired communication channel, the optical I/O module including a port to be coupled to an optical burst-switched (OBS) network, the optical I/O module to receive data in a SAN format from the SAN gateway, encapsulate the data within one or more data bursts, and optically transmit the one or more data bursts over the OBS network

26. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

a legacy interface module coupled to the wired communication channel via the backplane, the legacy interface module including a port to be coupled to a legacy network comprising one of a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN).

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the optical burst-switched network comprises a photonic burst switched (PBS) network.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the I/O module is configured to provide operations to effectuate a PBS edge node.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the I/O module is configured to provide operations to effectuate combination of a PBS switching node and a PBS edge node.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the I/O module is configured to provide operations to effectuate an External Gateway Protocol routing.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the wherein the External Gateway Protocol routing comprises an extension to the Border Gateway Protocol that includes provisions for wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical burst-switched networks.

32. The system of claim 25, wherein the optical I/O module comprises:

a bus bridge coupled to the wired communication channel to receive packets from the wired communication channel;

a network processor unit coupled to the bus bridge, the network processor unit to aggregate packets received via the bus bridge into a burst;

a framer unit coupled to the network processor unit, wherein the framer to encapsulate the data bursts into an optical burst-switched network frame; and

an optical output interface coupled to the framer unit and the optical network, wherein optical output interface to transmit an optical signal including the optical network frame over the optical burst-switched network.

33. The system of claim 32, further comprising a traffic shaper coupled to the bus bridge and the network processing unit.

34. The system of claim 32, further comprising a queue unit coupled to the framer unit and the network processing unit, wherein the queue unit to store data bursts until they are scheduled to be transmitted over the optical burst-switched network.

35. The system of claim 32, wherein the network processor unit forms control bursts and data bursts, wherein the control bursts include information for routing the data burst through the optical burst-switched network.

36. The system of claim 32, further comprising an optical input interface coupled to the framer unit and the optical burst-switched network, wherein the optical input interface to convert an optical burst signal including an optical burst-switched network frame received from the optical network into an electrical signal including the optical burst-switched network frame information.

37. The system of claim 32, wherein the framer unit to also de-frame the optical burst-switched network frame information from the optical input interface.

38. The system of claim 25, wherein the system is configured in accordance with the Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA) standard defined by the PICMG (PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturing Group) 3.0 or later ATCA specification.

39. A machine-readable medium to provide instructions, which when executed by a processor in an optical input/output (I/O) module cause the module to perform operations including:

receiving a plurality of Fibre Channel Frames;

encapsulating the plurality of Fibre Channel Frames into one or more optical burst-switched (OBS) network data bursts; and

transmitting the one or more OBS network data bursts to one of an OBS edge node or switching node.

40. The machine-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the optical burst-switched network comprises a photonic burst switched (PBS) network.

41. The machine-readable medium of claim 39, to provide further instructions that cause the optical I/O module to performs operations including:

receive an OBS data burst frame via the OBS network;

deframe the OBS data burst frame to extract one or more encapsulated FC frames; and

provide the FC frames to a SAN gateway.

42. The machine-readable medium of claim 39, to provide further instructions that cause the optical I/O module to performs operations including:

extract routing data from an FC frame identifying a destination address to which the data is to be routed;

select a route that may be used to reach the destination address from among routes stored in a routing table; and

forward a data burst in which the FC frame is encapsulated to a next hop in the route that is selected.

43. The machine-readable medium of claim 42, wherein optical I/O module comprises an ingress node at which the data is received, and the data is to be forwarded to an egress node of the OBS network, the machine-readable medium to provide further instructions to cause the optical I/O module to performs operations including:

reserving a lightpath spanning between the ingress node and the egress node; and

sending the data burst over the lightpath that is reserved.