Apparatus and method for deterministically performing active-active failover of redundant servers in a network storage appliance
First Claim
1. A network storage appliance for deterministically performing active-active failover of redundant servers enclosed therein, comprising:
- redundant servers, each having at least one unique ID for communicating on a network;
at least one storage controller, coupled to said redundant servers, for transferring data between storage devices and said servers;
a backplane, wherein said storage controller and servers comprise a plurality of blades for plugging into said backplane; and
first and second status paths, comprised in said backplane, each for providing a heartbeat from one of the servers to the other server;
wherein each of said servers is configured to deterministically disable the other server from communicating on said network in response to detecting that said heartbeat of the other server has stopped, and to assume said at least one unique ID of the other server for communicating on said network thereafter.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for deterministically performing active-active failover of redundant server blades hot-pluggable into a backplane of a network storage appliance chassis is disclosed. Each server monitors the other'"'"'s heartbeat on a respective path in the backplane. Other paths between the two servers on the backplane enable one server to reliably kill the other server and take over its identity on the network in response to detecting a stopped heartbeat of the other server. The apparatus is superior to a conventional heartbeat link between servers in separate chassis, such as an Ethernet cable, because it is not prone to user removal or damage since the backplane cannot be removed by a user while the appliance is operational and enables each server to know a true heartbeat failure has occurred, as opposed to failure of a conventional external heartbeat link causing each server to each think the other has failed.
149 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A network storage appliance for deterministically performing active-active failover of redundant servers enclosed therein, comprising:
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redundant servers, each having at least one unique ID for communicating on a network;
at least one storage controller, coupled to said redundant servers, for transferring data between storage devices and said servers;
a backplane, wherein said storage controller and servers comprise a plurality of blades for plugging into said backplane; and
first and second status paths, comprised in said backplane, each for providing a heartbeat from one of the servers to the other server;
wherein each of said servers is configured to deterministically disable the other server from communicating on said network in response to detecting that said heartbeat of the other server has stopped, and to assume said at least one unique ID of the other server for communicating on said network thereafter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A network storage appliance for deterministically performing active-active failover of redundant servers enclosed therein, comprising:
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a chassis;
redundant servers, enclosed in said chassis, each having at least one unique ID for communicating on a network;
at least one storage controller, enclosed in said chassis, coupled to said redundant servers, for transferring data between storage devices and said servers; and
first and second status paths, enclosed in said chassis, each for providing a heartbeat from one of the servers to the other server;
wherein each of said servers is configured to deterministically disable the other server from communicating on said network in response to detecting that said heartbeat of the other server has stopped, and to assume said at least one unique ID of the other server for communicating on said network thereafter. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42)
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43. An apparatus for deterministically performing active-active failover of redundant servers integrated with at least one storage controller into a network storage appliance chassis, each of the servers being configured to communicate with computers on a network, the apparatus comprising:
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a backplane, enclosed in the chassis, configured to receive a plurality of hot-pluggable blades comprising the servers and storage controller;
two heartbeat paths, comprised in said backplane, each for conveying a respective heartbeat signal from one of the servers to the other server; and
two kill paths, on said backplane, each for conveying a signal for inactivating the other server from communicating on the network in response to detecting said heartbeat of the other server has stopped;
wherein the inactivating server is configured to take over the identity of the inactivated server on the network after inactivating the other server. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45)
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46. A method for deterministically performing failover of first and second redundant servers integrated into a network storage appliance chassis, the method comprising:
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the first server receiving a first heartbeat signal from the second server via a first signal path in a backplane of the chassis;
the second server receiving a second heartbeat signal from the first server via a second signal path in a backplane of the chassis;
the first server detecting that the first heartbeat signal has stopped;
the first server generating a kill signal to the second server to disable the second server from communicating on a network, in response to said detecting the first heartbeat signal has stopped; and
the first server taking over the identity of the second server on the network, after said generating the kill signal. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A network storage appliance for deterministically performing active-active failover of redundant servers enclosed therein, comprising:
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redundant servers, each having at least one unique ID for communicating on a network;
at least one storage controller, coupled to said redundant servers, for transferring data between storage devices and said servers;
a backplane, wherein said storage controller and servers comprise a plurality of blades for plugging into said backplane; and
first and second status paths, comprised in said backplane, each for providing an indication of whether a respective one of the servers is present in said backplane;
wherein each of said servers is configured to deterministically disable the other server from communicating on said network in response to detecting via said indication that the other server has been removed from said backplane, and to assume said at least one unique ID of the other server for communicating on said network thereafter.
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Specification