System and method to establish a peer-to-peer IT backbone

• US 20070005744A1
• Filed: 06/30/2005
• Published: 01/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Rothman, Michael, Zimmer, Vincent, Swanson, Robert, Tolentino, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 8,024,477 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1091 Interfacing with client-server systems or between P2P systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

A peer-to-peer IT (Information Technology) backbone. The system includes at least one IT server and a plurality of client computers arranged in a peer-to-peer IT backbone. Each of the client computers includes an in-band processor, an out-of-band (OOB) microcontroller, and a storage device coupled to the in-band processor and OOB microcontroller. The storage device includes a reserved area for the OOB microcontroller to enable an IT-administration to push IT payloads from the at least one IT server onto the reserved area of at least one of the plurality of client computers. The IT payloads are disseminated throughout the peer-to-peer IT backbone by the OOB microcontroller of the client computers.

Claims

1. An Information Technology (IT)-administered backbone, comprising:

at least one IT server;

a plurality of client computers arranged in a peer-to-peer IT backbone, each of the client computers having an in-band processor, an out-of-band (OOB) microcontroller, and a storage device coupled to the in-band processor and OOB microcontroller, the storage device having a reserved area for the OOB microcontroller to enable an IT-administration to push IT payloads from the at least one IT server onto the reserved area of at least one of the plurality of client computers, wherein the IT payloads are disseminated throughout the peer-to-peer IT backbone by the client computers.

2. The IT-administered backbone of claim 1, wherein the reserved area of the storage device acts as a P:

drive equivalent.

3. The IT-administered backbone of claim 1, wherein the reserved area of the storage device is accessible to a client computer when the client computer is offline.

4. The IT-administered backbone of claim 1, wherein when a client computer goes offline, a fault tolerance technique is employed to achieve protection against peer unavailability.

5. The IT-administered backbone of claim 4, wherein the fault tolerance technique is a Byzantine fault tolerance technique.

6. The IT-administered backbone of claim 1, wherein the dissemination of the IT payload by the client computers further comprises the dissemination of the IT payload by the client computers using a distributed hash table technique to enable the efficient distribution of the IT payloads from one peer to another peer throughout the peer-to-peer IT backbone.

7. A method for IT-administration of a client computer in an IT administered backbone, comprising:

receiving, from an IT server, an IT payload, wherein the IT payload is placed in a reserved area of a storage device, the reserved area of the storage device dedicated for use by an out-of-band microcontroller;

enabling an IT driver to access the reserved area to determine if the IT payload is to be disseminated in a peer-to-peer IT backbone; and

if the IT payload is to be disseminated, disseminating the IT payload to immediate peers to enable the immediate peers to facilitate the proliferation of the IT payload throughout the peer-to-peer IT backbone.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the determination of who is an immediate peer is based on a distributed hash table technique.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein when a power-state transition indicating a sleep mode is detected, the method further comprising triggering a broadcast to disseminate transition data to immediate peers.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein triggering the broadcast to disseminate transition data to immediate peers comprises:

exporting data to downstream immediate peers, if data is available for dissemination; and

informing upstream immediate peers that the sleep mode is about to be entered, wherein the upstream immediate peers will assume responsibility for the downstream immediate peers once the sleep mode is entered.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein when the sleep mode is entered, Byzantine fault tolerance and distributed hash table techniques are used to protect the unavailable peers and to ensure that all peers are capable of receiving data from a peer in the peer-to-peer IT backbone.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein when a power-state transition indicating a wake-up mode is detected, the method further comprising:

determining whether the client computer is on-line; and

if the client computer is on-line, performing a re-integration handshake with the peer-to-peer IT backbone.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein performing a re-integration handshake comprises:

connecting to the peer-to-peer IT backbone;

sending a broadcast through the OOB microcontroller to the immediate peers announcing the re-joining of the network; and

receiving, from the immediate peers, any data/information that was disseminated while the client computer was offline.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising sharing any data with its peers, if necessary.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein if the client computer is not on-line, the method further comprising:

determining whether access to the reserved area of the storage device is being requested; and

if access is being requested, enabling the OOB microcontroller to proxy access to the reserved area, wherein the reserved area is treated as a P;

drive equivalent.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the P:

drive equivalent is accessed while offline.

17. An article comprising:

a storage medium having a plurality of machine accessible instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by a processor, the instructions provide for receiving, from an IT server, an IT payload, wherein the IT payload is placed in a reserved area of a storage device, the reserved area of the storage device dedicated for use by an out-of-band microcontroller;

enabling an IT driver to access the reserved area to determine if the IT payload is to be disseminated in a peer-to-peer IT backbone; and

if the IT payload is to be disseminated, disseminating the IT payload to immediate peers to enable the immediate peers to facilitate the proliferation of the IT payload throughout the peer-to-peer IT backbone.

18. The article of claim 17, wherein the determination of who is an immediate peer is based on a distributed hash table technique.

19. The article of claim 17, wherein when a power-state transition indicating a sleep mode is detected, the article further comprising instructions for triggering a broadcast to disseminate transition data to immediate peers.

20. The article of claim 19, wherein instructions for triggering the broadcast to disseminate transition data to immediate peers comprises instructions for:

exporting data to downstream immediate peers, if data is available for dissemination; and

informing upstream immediate peers that the sleep mode is about to be entered, wherein the upstream immediate peers will assume responsibility for the downstream immediate peers once the sleep mode is entered.

21. The article of claim 20, wherein when the sleep mode is entered, Byzantine fault tolerance and distributed hash table techniques are used to protect the unavailable peers and to ensure that all peers are capable of receiving data from a peer in the peer-to-peer IT backbone.

22. The article of claim 17, wherein when a power-state transition indicating a wake-up mode is detected, the article further comprising instructions for:

determining whether the client computer is on-line; and

if the client computer is on-line, performing a re-integration handshake with the peer-to-peer IT backbone.

23. The article of claim 22, wherein instructions for performing a re-integration handshake comprises instructions for:

connecting to the peer-to-peer IT backbone;

sending a broadcast through the OOB microcontroller to the immediate peers announcing the re-joining of the network; and

receiving, from the immediate peers, any data/information that was disseminated while the client computer was offline.

24. The article of claim 23, further comprising instructions for sharing any data with its peers, if necessary.

25. The article of claim 22, wherein if the client computer is not on-line, the article further comprising instructions for:

determining whether access to the reserved area of the storage device is being requested; and

if access is being requested, enabling the OOB microcontroller to proxy access to the reserved area, wherein the reserved area is treated as a P;

drive equivalent.

26. The article of claim 25, wherein the P:

drive equivalent is accessed while offline.