System and method for data reporting in a tile management controller

• US 9,964,935 B2
• Filed: 01/13/2015
• Issued: 05/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Masuyama, Jinsaku, Ahmen, Syed S., Palmer, John R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rampuria, Satish
• Application Number:
  US14/595,517
• Publication Number:
  US 20150253028A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,211 Days
• Field of Search: 700275-306
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1492 having electrical distribution arrangements, e.g. power supply or data communications
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1497 Rooms for data centers; Shipping containers therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20836 Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control

Abstract

A floor tile for a data center floor a management controller, a first communication port to couple the management controller to a server rack, and a second communication port to couple the management controller to an adjacent floor tile. A method of using a data center floor tile includes receiving, by a management controller of the data center floor tile, first configuration information for a first server rack of a data center, wherein the first configuration information is received via a first communication port of the data center floor tile, and providing, from the management controller, the first configuration information to an adjacent data center floor tile, wherein the first configuration information is provided via a second communication port of the data center floor tile.

Claims

1. A floor tile for a data center, the floor tile comprising:

a Power-Over-Ethernet power source,

a hardware management controller coupled to receive power from the power source;

a communication device coupled to receive power from the power source, the communication device including a first port to couple the hardware management controller to a data center management system, a second port to couple the hardware management controller to a server rack, and a third port to couple the hardware management controller to an adjacent floor tile;

wherein the hardware management controller;

receives first configuration information from the management system via the first port;

determines whether the data center floor tile is located at the first physical location of the data center;

provides the first configuration information to a server rack located at the first physical location when the data center floor tile is located at the first physical location, wherein the first configuration information is provided via the second port; and

provides the first configuration information to an adjacent data center floor tile located at the first physical location when the data center floor tile is not located at the first physical location, wherein the first configuration information is provided via the third port.

2. The floor tile of claim 1, wherein the hardware management controller:

receives first and second configuration information from the server rack via the first port; and

compares the first configuration information to the second configuration information.

3. The floor tile of claim 2, wherein the hardware management controller places the floor tile into an optimized operation mode in response to determining that the first configuration information matches the second configuration information.

4. The floor tile of claim 3, wherein, when operating in the optimized operation mode, the hardware management controller directs the server rack to operate without a power limit.

5. The floor tile of claim 2, wherein the hardware management controller places the floor tile into a safe operation mode in response to determining that the first configuration information does not match the second configuration information.

6. The floor tile of claim 5, wherein, when operating in the safe operation mode, the hardware management controller directs the server rack to operate under a power limit threshold.

7. The floor tile of claim 1, wherein the hardware management controller:

forms a hierarchical network with the server rack via the first port; and

forms a mesh network with the adjacent floor tile via the second port.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, by a hardware management controller of a data center floor tile, first configuration information associated with a first physical location of the data center floor, wherein the first configuration information is received via a first port of a communication device of the data center floor tile, the first port coupled to a data center management system;

determining, by the hardware management controller, whether the data center floor tile is located at the first physical location;

providing, from the hardware management controller, the first configuration information to a server rack located at the first physical location when the data center floor tile is located at the first physical location, wherein the first configuration information is provided via a second port of the communication device, the second port coupled to the server rack; and

providing, from the hardware management controller, the first configuration information to an adjacent data center floor tile located at the first physical location when the data center floor tile is not located at the first physical location, wherein the first configuration information is provided via a third port of the communication device, the third port coupled to the adjacent data center floor tile.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, by the hardware management controller, second configuration information via the first communication port; and

comparing, by the management controller, the first configuration information to the second configuration information.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

placing the floor tile into an optimized operation mode in response to determining that the first configuration information matches the second configuration information.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

directing, by the hardware management controller, the server rack to operate without a thermal limit when the floor tile is operating in the optimized operation mode.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

placing the floor tile into a safe operation mode in response to determining that the first configuration information does not match the second configuration information.

13. The floor tile of claim 12, further comprising:

directing, by the hardware management controller, the server rack to operate under a thermal limit threshold when the floor tile is operating in the safe operation mode.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

powering the management controller via a Power-Over-Ethernet power source.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including code for performing a method, the method comprising:

receiving, by a hardware management controller of a data center floor tile, first configuration information associated with a first physical location of the data center floor, wherein the first configuration information is received via a first port of a communication device of the data center floor tile, the first port coupled to a data center management system;

determining, by the hardware management controller, whether the data center floor tile is located at the first physical location;

providing, from the hardware management controller, the first configuration information to a server rack located at the first physical location when the data center floor tile is located at the first physical location, wherein the first configuration information is provided via a second port of the communication device, the second port coupled to the server rack; and

providing, from the hardware management controller, the first configuration information to an adjacent data center floor tile located at the first physical location when the data center floor tile is not located at the first physical location, wherein the first configuration information is provided via a third port of the communication device, the third port coupled to the adjacent data center floor tile.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the hardware management controller, second configuration information from the second server rack via the first port; and

comparing, by the hardware management controller, the first configuration information to the second configuration information.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, the method further comprising:

placing the floor tile into an optimized operation mode in response to determining that the first configuration information matches the second configuration information; and

directing, by the hardware management controller, the second server rack to utilize the second configuration information when the floor tile is operating in the optimized operation mode.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the method further comprising:

placing the floor tile into a safe operation mode in response to determining that the first configuration information does not match the second configuration information; and

directing, by the hardware management controller, the server rack to lock its wheels when the floor tile is operating in the safe operation mode.