A line card of a set of line cards is configured to be coupled to a set of switch-fabric cards to collectively define at least a portion of an orthogonal cross fabric without a midplane board. The line card has an edge portion, a first side and a second side, opposite the first side. The line card includes a set of first set of connectors and a second set of connectors. The first set of connectors is disposed along the edge portion on the first side of the line card and the second set of connectors is disposed along the edge portion on the second side of the line card.

A storage layer is configured to store data at respective offsets within storage units of a storage device. Physical addresses of the data may be segmented into a first portion identifying the storage unit in which the data is stored, and a second portion that indicates the offset of the data within the identified storage unit. An index of the data offsets (e.g., second portions of the physical addresses) may be persisted on the storage device. The first portion of the address may be associated with logical addresses of the data in a forward index. The forward index may omit the second portion of the physical addresses, which may reduce the memory overhead of the index and/or allow the forward index to reference larger storage devices. Data of a particular logical address may be accessed using the first portion of the physical address maintained in the forward index, and the second portion of the media address stored on the storage device.

An electronic module includes, a circuit board having front and rear edges, and first and second connectors. The rear edge includes, (i) a first section at a first distance from the front edge, and (ii) a second section at a second distance from the front edge, different from the first distance. The first and second connectors are mounted along the rear edge at the first and second sections, respectively, and are configured to connect the circuit board to an interconnect unit.

An electronic module includes, a circuit board having front and rear edges, and first and second connectors. The rear edge includes, (i) a first section at a first distance from the front edge, and (ii) a second section at a second distance from the front edge, different from the first distance. The first and second connectors are mounted along the rear edge at the first and second sections, respectively, and are configured to connect the circuit board to an interconnect unit.

The technology of this application relates to an optical backplane interconnection apparatus that may include at least one optical backplane and at least one board. One side surface of each optical backplane is disposed opposite to one side surface of any board. All boards are located on a same side of any optical backplane. Each optical backplane is pluggably connected to any board. In embodiments of this application, the optical backplane is connected to any board by using only one side surface, so that a position of the optical backplane is not limited by another component. In this way, the optical backplane can be pluggably connected to the board. When the optical backplane is faulty, the optical backplane can be replaced separately without replacing an entire cabinet. In addition, each optical backplane is configured to be pluggably connected to any board, so that the optical backplane can be replaced more flexibly and more easily.

An example optical cross-connect architecture includes at least one front inserting board and at least one rear inserting board, where each front inserting board is orthogonal to any rear inserting board, one side of each front inserting board is disposed opposite to one side of any rear inserting board, all of the at least one rear inserting board is located on one side of any front inserting board, and each front inserting board is pluggably connected to any rear inserting board. An optical signal distribution module is disposed in the at least one front inserting board, and/or an optical signal distribution module is disposed in the at least one rear inserting board.

A storage layer is configured to store data at respective offsets within storage units of a storage device. Physical addresses of the data may be segmented into a first portion identifying the storage unit in which the data is stored, and a second portion that indicates the offset of the data within the identified storage unit. An index of the data offsets (e.g., second portions of the physical addresses) may be persisted on the storage device. The first portion of the address may be associated with logical addresses of the data in a forward index. The forward index may omit the second portion of the physical addresses, which may reduce the memory overhead of the index and/or allow the forward index to reference larger storage devices. Data of a particular logical address may be accessed using the first portion of the physical address maintained in the forward index, and the second portion of the media address stored on the storage device.

A device is described. The device includes a daughterboard having a first distinct side and a second distinct side. A first connector on the first distinct side is attached to a first baseboard. A second connector on the second distinct side is attached to a second baseboard. A method for attaching a daughterboard to a second device is described. Connectors are included on opposing distinct sides of the daughterboard. The second device includes baseboards mechanically secured in parallel by lead screw actuators. As part of the method, the lead screw actuators are actuated so as to move the baseboards away from each other. A first connector is attached to one of the baseboards. The lead screw actuators are again actuated so as to move the baseboards toward each other until a second connector is brought into attachment with the other of the baseboards.

An apparatus and system are disclosed for a storage area network (SAN). In one embodiment, a computer system includes an internal storage device and an internal storage controller. In this embodiment, the internal storage controller is configured to implement a SAN that includes at least the internal storage device and a storage device external to the computer system. In this embodiment, the internal storage controller is further configured to service a storage request received from a client that involves data stored by the internal storage device. In this embodiment, the internal storage controller is configured to communicate with the external storage device via a network.

The invention includes a proxy request receiver module and a proxy request command module. The proxy request receiver module executes on a designated command proxy host and receives a proxy request from a requesting host. The requesting host is one of two or more hosts. Each of the hosts executes an operating system independent from the other hosts and a shared device. One of the hosts is designated as the command proxy host. A system bus connects the hosts and shared device. The proxy request includes a control request to be executed by the shared device sufficient to configure the shared device for a data transfer between the requesting host and shared device independent of the command proxy host. The control request is free of data. The proxy request command module transmits the control request to the shared device.