SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING HIGH SPEED NETWORK TRAFFIC VIA SIMULTANEOUSLY MULTIPLEXED DATA STREAMS

• US 20080270638A1
• Filed: 04/30/2007
• Published: 10/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lucas, Gregg S., Medlin, Robert E., Blinick, Katherine T., Washburn, Gordon L.
• Application Number:
  US11/741,793
• Publication Number:
  US 20080270638A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks

Abstract

Systems and methods for monitoring high-speed network traffic via simultaneously multiplexed data streams. Exemplary embodiments include a switch module system, including a first switch module coupled to a first server chassis, a first data port disposed on the first switch module and a set of data links disposed on the first data port, each data link configurable to receive a normal data stream and a monitored data stream.

Claims

1. A switch module system, comprising:

a first switch module coupled to a first server chassis;

a first data port disposed on the first switch module; and

a set of data links disposed on the first data port, each data link configurable to receive a normal data stream and a monitored data stream.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein each data link is further configured to support a 3 Gbit/sec data stream.

3. The system as configured in claim 2 wherein each data link is further configured to support 6 Gbit/sec data stream.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first data port comprises a subset of the data links.

5. The system as claimed in claim 4 wherein the first data port is a wide port.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the normal data stream and the monitored data stream are time multiplexed on one of the data links.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6 wherein the time multiplexed data link supports the normal data stream running at 3 Gbit/s and the monitored data stream running at 3 Gbit/s.

8. The system as claimed in claim 7 wherein the time multiplexed data link is configured to run at a rate of 6 Gbit/s.

9. The system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a logic analyzer disposed between the first switch module and a second switch module, the first data port for coupling to a second data lane disposed on a second switch module, the logic analyzer configured to monitor the monitored data stream running at 3 Gbit/s, the monitored data stream being multiplexed with the normal data stream running at 3 Gbit/s, the normal data stream and the monitored data stream, being time multiplexed on one of the data links that is configured to run at 6 Gbit/s.

10. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method, comprising:

configuring a multi-chassis system configured to support a server and a switch module to run data streams for the server and over the switch module;

detecting a data failure on at least one data link coupled to the switch module;

determining a data stream rate on the data link; and

configuring the data link to support a normal data stream and a monitored data stream on the data link.

11. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 10 wherein the method further comprises capturing the data failure on a logic analyzer.

12. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 11 wherein the method further comprises discarding the snooped data stream in a second switch module in response to an analysis of the monitored data stream by the logic analyzer.

13. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 10 wherein the data rate is 3 Gbit/s.

14. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 13 wherein the data link is reconfigured to include the normal data stream and the monitored data stream.

15. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 14 wherein the data link is reconfigured to run at a rate of 6 Gbit/s,

16. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 15 wherein the normal data stream and the monitored data stream run as a single 6 Gbit/s time multiplexed data stream, on the data link.

17. The computer-readable medium, as claimed in claim 10 wherein the data rate is 6 Gbit/s.

18. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 17 wherein the data link is reconfigured to run the normal data stream at a rate of 3 Gbit/s and the monitored data stream at a rate of 3 Gbit/s.

19. The computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 18 wherein the normal data stream and the monitored data stream run as a single 6 Gbit/s time multiplexed data stream on the data link.

20. A switch module data monitoring method, comprising:

configuring a multi-chassis system to run data streams over a switch module interconnecting the multi-chassis system;

detecting a data failure on at least one data link coupled to the switch module;

determining a data stream rate on the data link, the data stream rate being at least one of 3 Gbit/s and 6 Gbit/s; and

configuring the data link to support a normal data stream and a monitored data stream on the data link configured at a rate of 6 Gbit/s, wherein the normal data stream and the monitored data stream are time multiplexed as a single data stream on the data link.