Switch adapter testing
First Claim
1. In a computer network system that includes a multiplicity of nodes interconnected by a network of switches, wherein the nodes are linked to the network by respective data link adapters, a method for testing the adapters, comprising:
- selecting one of the nodes to serve as a destination node;
conveying data at a controlled rate from a plurality of the nodes, other than the destination node, through the respective adapters to the destination node; and
detecting an error in the data conveyed from one of the nodes so as to identify a fault in the adapter of that node, wherein conveying the data at the controlled rate comprises transmitting data from the plurality of the nodes at a substantially maximal transmission rate that the transmitting nodes can achieve.
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Abstract
In a computer network system that includes a multiplicity of nodes interconnected by a network of switches, wherein the nodes are linked to the network by respective data link adapters, a method for testing the adapters. One of the nodes is selected to serve as a destination node, and data are conveyed at a controlled rate from a plurality of the nodes, other than the destination node, through the respective adapters to the destination node. An error is detected in the data conveyed from one of the nodes so as to identify a fault in the adapter of that node.
90 Citations
16 Claims
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1. In a computer network system that includes a multiplicity of nodes interconnected by a network of switches, wherein the nodes are linked to the network by respective data link adapters, a method for testing the adapters, comprising:
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selecting one of the nodes to serve as a destination node;
conveying data at a controlled rate from a plurality of the nodes, other than the destination node, through the respective adapters to the destination node; and
detecting an error in the data conveyed from one of the nodes so as to identify a fault in the adapter of that node, wherein conveying the data at the controlled rate comprises transmitting data from the plurality of the nodes at a substantially maximal transmission rate that the transmitting nodes can achieve. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. In a computer network system that includes a multiplicity of nodes interconnected by a network of switches, wherein the nodes are linked to the network by respective data link adapters, a method for testing the adapters, comprising:
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selecting one of the nodes to serve as a destination node;
conveying data at a controlled rate from a plurality of the nodes, other than the destination node, through the respective adapters to the destination node; and
detecting an error in the data conveyed from one of the nodes so as to identify a fault in the adapter of that node, wherein conveying the data comprises conveying data packets, and wherein detecting the error comprises detecting a corrupted packet at the destination node. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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6. In a computer network system that includes a multiplicity of nodes interconnected by a network of switches, wherein the nodes are linked to the network by respective data link adapters, a method for testing the adapters, comprising:
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selecting one of the nodes to serve as a destination node;
conveying data at a controlled rate from a plurality of the nodes, other than the destination node, through the respective adapters to the destination node; and
detecting an error in the data conveyed from one of the nodes so as to identify a fault in the adapter of that node, wherein conveying the data comprises conveying data packets, and wherein detecting the error comprises finding a discrepancy between a number of packets sent by one of the plurality of the nodes to a number of packets received therefrom by the destination node.
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7. In a computer network system that includes a multiplicity of nodes interconnected by a network of switches, wherein the nodes are linked to the network by respective data link adapters, a method for testing the adapters, comprising:
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selecting one of the nodes to serve as a destination node;
conveying data at a controlled rate from a plurality of the nodes, other than the destination node, through the respective adapters to the destination node; and
detecting an error in the data conveyed from one of the nodes so as to identify a fault in the adapter of that node, wherein conveying the data comprises selecting groups of a predetermined number of the nodes and sending data from the nodes in a given one of the groups simultaneously through a selected one of the switches to the destination node. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. In a computer network system that includes a multiplicity of nodes interconnected by a network of switches, wherein the nodes are linked to the network by respective data link adapters, a method for testing the adapters, comprising:
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selecting one of the nodes to serve as a destination node;
conveying data at a controlled rate from a plurality of the nodes, other than the destination node, through the respective adapters to the destination node; and
detecting an error in the data conveyed from one of the nodes so as to identify a fault in the adapter of that node, wherein conveying the data comprises sending data packets, which in normal operation of the system are routed between any pair of the nodes over a plurality of different routes in alternation, and wherein sending the data packets comprises routing substantially all of the packets conveyed from at least one of the plurality of nodes to the destination node over at least one respectively-assigned route. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A manageable computer network system, comprising:
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a multiplicity of nodes, including a management node;
a network of switches, each switch having multiple ports; and
a multiplicity of data link adapters, each linking a respective one of the nodes to one of the ports of one of the switches, wherein the management node carries out a diagnostic test of the switch adapters by selecting one of the nodes to serve as a destination node and commanding a plurality of the other nodes to send data at a controlled rate through the respective adapters to the destination node, and wherein the destination node detects an error in the data conveyed from one of the sending nodes so as to identify a fault in the adapter of that node. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer software product for testing data link adapters respectively linking a multiplicity of processor nodes, one of which nodes is designated a primary node, to switches in a computer network system, the product comprising a computer-readable medium, in which program code is stored, which code, when read by the primary node, causes the primary node to select one of the nodes to serve as a destination node, and to command a plurality of the nodes, other than the destination node, to convey data through the respective adapters to the destination node and to detect an error in the data conveyed from one of the nodes so as to identify a fault in the adapter of that one of the nodes.
Specification