System and method for configuring enterprise information handling system storage solutions

• US 8,650,491 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2007
• Issued: 02/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Jia, Fenghua, Wallis, Jason, Hayes, Robert, Sathyanarayana, Sreenivas, Lai, Hsinlin, Murray, Greg, Phadke, Asmita, Deshpande, Hemant, Somasundaram, Jayavel, Thex, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): ALVESTEFFER, STEPHEN D
• Application Number:
  US11/951,610
• Publication Number:
  US 20090150788A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,259 Days
• Field of Search: 715/735
• US Class Current: 715/735
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• 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 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display

Abstract

Enterprise information handling system storage solutions are configured automatically through a graphical user interface that accepts storage device and storage topology selections from an end user to automatically present a graphical image depicting interconnection devices that interface the storage devices. For example, cables with a color selected by the end user are depicted interfacing storage devices with the selected color. In one embodiment, switches are automatically selected and depicted for the storage devices and storage topology selected by the end user.

Claims

1. A system for configuring storage device interconnections, the system comprising:

non-transitory memory storing instructions executable by a processor, the instructions including at least;

a selector interface operable to accept end user storage device selections from plural available storage devices and plural available storage topologies, the storage device selections including at least interconnection devices, the interconnection devices including at least cables having plural different colors;

an interconnection engine operable to automatically, in response to the end user storage device selections, apply the storage device selections to determine selected of the interconnection devices for interfacing the selected storage devices; and

a presentation engine operable to automatically present a graphical image of the selected storage devices interfaced by the selected of the interconnection devices, the presentation automatically in response to the end user storage device selections;

wherein the selector interface is further operable to accept end user color selections for the color of physical cables from plural available cable colors and the presentation engine is further operable to present the cables at the graphical image with the selected end user color selections.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the storage topology comprises a storage area network and the interconnection device comprises a switch.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the storage topology comprises a redundant storage area network and the interconnection device comprises plural switches.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the interconnection engine is further operable to automatically retrieve a stock keeping unit for each storage device interconnect and interconnection device for use in generating a purchase order for the end user.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the storage topologies comprise direct attached storage, storage area network nonredundant fabric and storage area network redundant fabric.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the interconnection devices comprise Fibre Channel cables, Ethernet cables, and Serial Attached SCSI cables.

7. A method for configuring storage device interconnections, the method comprising:

presenting plural available storage devices and plural available storage topologies to an end user;

accepting storage device and storage topology selections from the end user;

automatically in response to the end user selections applying the storage device and storage topology selections to determine interconnection devices for interfacing the selected storage devices, the interconnection devices including at least plural cables, the plural cables available for delivery in plural different colors;

automatically and without an end user selection of interconnection devices presenting a graphical image of the selected storage devices interfaced by the determined interconnection devices in the selected storage topology;

accepting a cable color selection made by the end user from plural colors for delivery of cables having the color of the color selection; and

presenting the graphical image with the cables having the selected color.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the storage topologies comprise direct attached storage and storage area network.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the storage area network topology comprises a storage area network nonredundant topology and a storage area network redundant topology.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

generating stock keeping unit numbers for each of the storage device interconnects and the interconnection devices; and

applying the stocking keeping numbers to generate an order for the storage devices and interconnection devices.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the interconnection device comprises a switch.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein the topology comprises a storage area network redundant topology and the interconnection device comprises plural switches.

13. A graphical user interface comprising:

a display operable to present images, the images including at least;

plural storage topology selections presented to an end user;

a storage topology selector operable to accept a storage topology selection from the end user; and

a graphical image automatically generated in response to the storage topology selection, the graphical image depicting interconnection devices that interconnect storage devices associated with the storage topology without an end user selection of the interconnection devices;

wherein the interconnection devices comprises a cable, the cable available for selection by an end user in plural different colors, the graphical image having the cable depicted by a color selected by the end user for delivery of physical cables having the selected color.

14. The graphical user interface of claim 13 wherein the storage topology comprises a storage area network and the interconnection device comprises a switch.

15. The graphical user interface of claim 13 wherein the storage topology comprises a redundant storage area network and the interconnection device comprises plural switches.