Method and apparatus for providing a remotely managed expandable computer system
First Claim
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1. An apparatus comprising:
- a backplane including a plurality of slots;
replaceable stateless storage cartridges; and
at least two replaceable stateless compute cartridges, each compute cartridge comprising;
an interface to a communications network, the compute cartridge remotely managed via the communications network; and
memory to store a distributed manager, the distributed manager to dynamically maximize compute resource utilization over the plurality of compute cartridges;
wherein the backplane includes a network switch and a serial storage protocol expander, the network switch to be used to provide secure and dedicated management communication between all of the compute cartridges, the serial storage protocol expander to allow any-to-any mapping of the compute cartridges to the storage cartridges;
also wherein the plurality of slots includes at least two slots, each of the at least two slots including at least one respective system bus interface, serial storage protocol bus interface, control bus interface, and network interface.
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Abstract
A remotely managed expandable multi-user computer system is provided. The computer system includes a removable compute cartridge and a removable storage cartridge allowing easy upgrade of the computer system. The computer system self-configures when powered on to allow remote management by another system over a network. Automatic failover support is provided without the need for a separate compute element. A self-configurable removable secure-to-wireless converter to couple to a client computer system allows secure communications between the multi-user system and the client computer system via a wireless network.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a backplane including a plurality of slots; replaceable stateless storage cartridges; and at least two replaceable stateless compute cartridges, each compute cartridge comprising; an interface to a communications network, the compute cartridge remotely managed via the communications network; and memory to store a distributed manager, the distributed manager to dynamically maximize compute resource utilization over the plurality of compute cartridges; wherein the backplane includes a network switch and a serial storage protocol expander, the network switch to be used to provide secure and dedicated management communication between all of the compute cartridges, the serial storage protocol expander to allow any-to-any mapping of the compute cartridges to the storage cartridges; also wherein the plurality of slots includes at least two slots, each of the at least two slots including at least one respective system bus interface, serial storage protocol bus interface, control bus interface, and network interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method comprising:
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dynamically maximizing compute resource utilization over at least two replaceable stateless compute cartridges installed in a respective slot of a backplane of a computer system, each compute cartridge including a memory to store a distributed manager; remotely managing the computer system, by a remote system via a communications network through an interface to the communications network in the compute cartridges; providing, via a network switch in the backplane, secure and dedicated management communication between all of the compute cartridges; and establishing, via a serial storage protocol expander in the backplane, a mapping of the compute cartridges to replaceable stateless storage cartridges comprised in the computer system, the serial storage protocol expander allowing any-to-any mapping of the compute cartridges to the storage cartridges; wherein the backplane includes at least two slots, each of the at least two slots including at least one respective system bus interface, serial storage protocol bus interface, control bus interface, and network interface. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system comprising:
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a multi-user system, the multi-user system comprising replaceable stateless storage cartridges including a storage device, at least two replaceable stateless compute cartridges, a backplane including slots, and a wireless communications port; a client system, the client system comprising a wired network port; and a converter removeably coupled to the wired network port in the client system, the converter comprising; a converter wireless interface to communicate via a wireless network using a wireless communications protocol; a converter wired interface to communicate via a wired network using a wired communications protocol; a non-volatile memory to store a unique identifier, the unique identifier stored in the non-volatile memory by a manufacturer and not configurable by a user, the unique identifier used to provide secure communication over the wireless network; and a packet converter to perform packet conversion between the wireless communications protocol and the wired communications protocol, the converter wireless interface to automatically provide secure communication using the stored unique identifier to encrypt and decrypt all packets transferred over the wireless network between the client system and the multi-user system; wherein the backplane includes a network switch and a serial storage protocol expander, the network switch to be used to provide secure and dedicated management communication between all of the compute cartridges, the serial storage protocol expander to allow any-to-any mapping of the compute cartridges to the storage cartridges; also wherein the slots include at least two slots, each of the at least two slots including at least one respective system bus interface, serial storage protocol bus interface, control bus interface, and network interface. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification