Abstract
A group of at least one cluster and at least one device in a datacenter, wherein the cluster comprises vertically stacked housings, each configured to house one device, the cluster comprising one bus connected to one controlling module, and comprising one data and power line and one ground line both extending vertically continuously along the cluster. The device comprises one electronic tag configured to store an identifier of said device and fixed on the surface of the device in a way to automatically connect the bus when the device is housed in any housing of the cluster. The controlling module is configured to read the identifier when the electronic tag is connected to the bus, to identify the device housed in the cluster.
Claims
1) A group of at least one cluster and at least one device in a datacenter, wherein: each cluster of said at least one cluster comprises a plurality of vertically stacked housings, each housing of said plurality of vertically stacked housings being configured to house one device of said at least one device, each cluster comprising at least one controlling module and at least one bus connected to the at least one controlling module, each bus of the at least one bus comprising one data and power line and one ground line both extending vertically continuously along each cluster, the data and power line and the ground line extending in an elementary motif identically repeated for each housing; each device of the at least one device comprises at least one electronic tag configured to store an identifier of each device and forming together with the at least one controlling module and the at least one bus a device identification system, the at least one electronic tag being fixed on an external surface of each device in a way to come in physical contact with both the data and power line and the ground line, when each device is housed in any housing of the at least one cluster, so as to automatically connect the at least one bus; and the at least one controlling module is configured to read the identifier, when the at least one electronic tag is connected to the at least one bus, so as to identify each device housed in each cluster.
2) The group according to claim 1, wherein each cluster comprises a single bus.
3) The group according to claim 1, wherein each bus is only constituted of one data and power line and one ground line.
4) The group according to claim 1, wherein the data and power line comprises a bare wire to connect the at least one electronic tag by physical contact.
5) The group according to claim 1, wherein: each cluster comprises two vertical side walls delimiting a central cavity with a front opening so as to define the plurality of vertically stacked housings, each housing comprising guiding members mounted onto the two vertical side walls and an abutment portion at a front end of the two vertical side walls, the at least one bus being mounted onto the abutment portion of each housing; and each device comprises a main body and rails laterally mounted onto the main body to cooperate with the guiding members of a housing to slide the main body into said housing, each device comprising lateral grip members configured to abut the abutment portion when each device is housed in said housing, the at least one electronic tag being fixed on at least one of the lateral grip members.
6) The group according to claim 5, wherein the at least one electronic tag is fixed on a back face of a lateral grip member of said lateral grip members.
7) The group according to claim 1, wherein: each cluster comprises two vertical side walls delimiting a central cavity with a front opening so as to define the plurality of vertically stacked housings, each housing comprising guiding members mounted onto the two vertical side walls, the at least one bus being mounted onto at least one of the two vertical side walls crossing the guiding members of each housing; and each device comprises a main body and rails laterally mounted onto the main body to cooperate with the guiding members of a housing to slide the main body into said housing, the at least one electronic tag being laterally fixed on the main body.
8) The group according to claim 1, comprising a datacenter management system connected to the at least one controlling module and configured to provide, from the identifier of each device housed in the at least one cluster, an updated overview of the at least one device in the datacenter.
9) The group according to claim 1, further comprising a mounting process wherein, when the at least one device is housed in any housing of the at least one cluster, the at least one electronic tag fixed on said at least one device automatically comes in physical contact with both the data and power line and the ground line, so as to automatically connect the at least one bus.
10) The group according to claim 1, further comprising a device identification process wherein, when the at least one electronic tag of each device is connected to the at least one bus of a cluster, the at least one controlling module reads the identifier stored in the at least one electronic tag, so as to identify each device housed in the at least one cluster.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0043] The invention will be better understood by reading the description that follows, only given as an example, and by referring to the appended figures in which:
[0044] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cluster and a device in a datacenter according to prior art;
[0045] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cluster and a device in a datacenter comprising a device identification system according to the invention;
[0046] FIG. 3 is a front view of two housings of the cluster from FIG. 2;
[0047] FIG. 4 is a rear view of the device from FIG. 2;
[0048] FIG. 5 is an upper view of the device mounting process in a housing of the cluster from FIG. 2;
[0049] FIG. 6A,
[0050] FIG. 6B and
[0051] FIG. 6C are front views of two housings of the cluster with a bus according to three variants of the invention;
[0052] FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a cluster and a device in a datacenter with a bus according to another embodiment of the invention;
[0053] FIG. 7B is a lateral view of two housings of the cluster from FIG. 7A;
[0054] FIG. 7C is a lateral view of the device from FIG. 7A;
[0055] FIG. 7D is an upper view of the device mounting process in a housing of the cluster from FIG. 7A;
[0056] FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of the device identification process according to the invention;
[0057] FIG. 9A and
[0058] FIG. 9B are schematic illustrations of the device identification process according to two embodiments of the invention;
[0059] It should be noted that the figures set out the invention in a detailed manner to implement the invention, said figures obviously being able to serve to better define the invention if need be.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0060] As illustrated in FIG. 2, one or more embodiments of the invention relate to a datacenter comprising several devices 2, such as servers, switches and routers, to organize, process and store data. The datacenter also comprises several racks, called “clusters 1”, arranged in rows within the datacenter and configured to house said devices 2, to optimize footprint and for ease of wiring. For instance, the datacenter comprises more than one hundred clusters 1 each housing up to twenty devices 2. A single cluster 1 is represented on the example of FIG. 2 extending vertically along a vertical axis Z of an orthogonal system (X, Y, Z) and housing two devices 2, a third device 2 being about to be housed.
[0061] As represented on FIG. 2, a cluster 1 comprises two vertical side walls 10 delimiting a central cavity C with a front opening O, so as to define vertically stacked housings 11 along vertical axis Z. Each housing 11 is configured to house a device 2 and comprises guiding members 12, mounted horizontally onto the two vertical side walls 10, and an abutment portion 13 at the front end of the vertical side walls 10.
[0062] As represented on FIG. 2, each device 2 comprises a main body 20 and rails 21 laterally mounted onto the main body 20 to cooperate with the guiding members 12 of a housing 11 to horizontally slide the main body 20 into said housing 11. Each device 2 also comprises lateral grip members 22 configured to abut the abutment portion 13 when said device 2 is housed in said housing 11 along horizontal axis X. The lateral grip members 22 usually comprise fixation means 23 to the abutment portion 13 to ensure proper mechanical mounting of the device 2. Besides its mechanical mounting, each device 2 is connected to a power distribution unit, known as PDU, and to a network thanks to a management node (not represented) located within the cluster 1.
[0063] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the datacenter also comprises a datacenter management system 4 configured to control the devices 2 of the datacenter. Due to the large number of devices 2 and so as to ensure operability and maintenance in the datacenter, it is requested for the datacenter management system 4 to provide an updated overview of the devices 2 housed in each cluster 1.
[0064] To do so, as represented on FIG. 2 and according to the invention, each cluster 1 comprises at least one controlling module 30 and at least one bus 31, connected to the controlling module 30, which comprises one data and power line 32 and one ground line 33 both extending vertically continuously along the cluster 1. Still according to the invention, each device 2 comprises at least one electronic tag 34 fixed on it in a way to come in physical contact with both the data and power line 32 and the ground line 33, when the device 2 is housed in any housing 11 of the cluster 1, so as to automatically connect to the bus 31. The electronic tag 34 is configured to store an identifier of said device 2 to be read by the controlling module 30, when the electronic tag 34 is connected to the bus 31, so as to identify the device 2 housed in the cluster 1.
[0065] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the controlling module 30 and the bus 31 of one cluster 1 form, together with the electronic tag 34 of each device 2 housed in said cluster 1, a device identification system 3. The controlling modules 30 of the device identification systems 3 attached to each cluster 1 are connected to the datacenter management system 4 to provide, from the identifier of each device 2, an updated overview of the devices 2 in the datacenter.
[0066] Such a device identification system 3 avoids omissions or errors thanks to automatic connection while mounting and automatic data transmission as it will be better understood with the following description of different embodiments of the invention.
[0067] In the example shown in FIG. 2, according to a first embodiment, the cluster 1 comprises a single proper controlling module 30 and a single proper bus 31 to optimize the footprint of the device identification system 3. In the same way, each device 2 comprises a single electronic tag 34. In this embodiment, the bus 31 is fixed on the abutment portion 13 of one of the vertical side walls 10 so that the data and power line 32 and the ground line 33 extend vertically from the upper housing 11 to the lower housing 11 along vertical axis Z. The electronic tag 34 of a device 2 is fixed on one lateral grip member 22 of said device 2 in a way to come in physical contact with the bus 31, when the lateral grip member 22 abuts the abutment portion 13, that is, when the device 2 is housed in the cluster 1. The controlling module 30 is mounted in the cluster 1 at any location and connected to the bus 31.
[0068] More precisely, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the data and power line 32 and the ground line 33 of the bus 31 extend in parallel straight lines so as to form an elementary motif M identical for each housing 11. In other words, in each housing 11, the data and power line 32 and the ground line 33 extend at the same place, with the same shape and the same relative spacing. This advantageously enables the connection between an electronic tag 34 of a device 2 and the bus 31, regardless of the housing 11 in which said device 2 is housed, that is, universally for all the housings 11. Such a configuration in parallel straight lines is also easy to install, for example by gluing the lines 32, 33 on the abutment portion 13. Furthermore, in this example, the data and power line 32 and the ground line 33 are arranged laterally outside of fixation holes 14 configured to cooperate with the fixation means 23 of the device 2. This avoids to bother the fixation of the device 2 in the housing 11 while its mounting process. In addition, it is precised that the data and power line 32 and the ground line 33 both extend continuously from the upper housing 11 to the lower housing 11 so as to connect in series the electronic tag 34 of all the devices 2 housed in the cluster 1 to the controlling module 30.
[0069] In one or more embodiments, the data and power line 32 and the ground line 33 are both in the form of a bare wire, that is, free from electrical insulating sheath. This enables a connection with the electronic tag 34 of the devices 2 by simple physical contact. Thereafter, the bus 31 is free from any plug connector which needs a manual action as in the prior art.
[0070] Referring now to FIG. 4 representing a device 2 from the back, the electronic tag 34 is fixed, for example by gluing, on the lateral grip member 22 configured to abut the side vertical wall 10, on which is fixed the bus 31. More precisely, the electronic tag 34 is fixed on the back face 25 of said lateral grip member 22, which extends vertically along vertical axis Z and is configured to be in contact with the abutment portion 13 of said side vertical wall 10. This allows a safe connection, guaranteed by the cooperation between the fixation means 23 of the device 2, such as screws, and the fixation holes 14 of the housing 11. In this example, the electronic tag 34 is positioned laterally outside the fixation means 23 as the bus 31 is positioned laterally outside the fixation holes 14, to permit their alignment during the mounting process (see FIG. 5).
[0071] Referring to FIG. 5, the electronic tag 34 fixed on a device 2 and the bus 31 fixed on the cluster 1 are thus positioned so as to automatically come in mutual contact while the mounting process of the device 2 in a housing 11. Indeed, when the main body 20 of the device 2 is inserted in the cavity C, the lateral grip members 22 are aligned with the abutment portion 13 of the side vertical walls 10, as well as the electronic tag 34 with the bus 31. The device 2 is then pushed in the housing 11 until the lateral grip members 22 abut the abutment portions 13. This action has the effect of bringing the electronic tag 34 nearer to the bus 31 by horizontal translation along axis X until they are in contact. The fixation means 23 then cooperate with the fixation holes 14 to both maintain the device 2 in the housing 11 and the electronic tag 34 against the bus 31. The connection of the electronic tag 34 thus requires no specific manual action as it results from the device 2 mounting process.
[0072] More precisely, the electronic tag 34 comprises two connection areas to the bus 31, that is, a data and power connection area and a ground connection area configured respectively to come in contact with the data and power line 32 and the ground line 33.
[0073] As illustrated in FIG. 4, for example, the electronic tag 34 is in the form of a 1-Wire® sensor with an embedded memory to store an identifier Id of the device 2 on which the electronic tag 34 is fixed. Such an electronic tag 34 is advantageously very compact as it is free from proper powering source. In one or more embodiments, the electronic tag 34 comprises a flat form with a thickness of less than 1 mm, for example, less than 0.8 mm. The device identification system 3 is thus in the form of a One-Wire® communication system wherein the controlling module 30 is configured to both power and communicate with the electronic tag 34 through the data and power line 32, in order to read the identifier Id. In other words, the data and power line 32 ensures both data and energy transmission between the controlling module 30, i.e. the master, and the electronic tag 34, i.e. the slave. In one or more embodiments, the electronic tag 4 is chosen between the commercial references DS2431G and DS2431GA.
[0074] It goes without saying that the invention is not restricted to the first embodiment previously described. In the example shown on FIG. 6A, the bus 31 extends at a different location, that is, laterally inside the fixation holes 14. In practice, the location of the bus 31 on the abutment portion 13 is adapted to fit with the available place.
[0075] Moreover, in the example shown on FIG. 6B, the bus 31 describes a different elementary motif M, not in straight lines as previously presented. Indeed, the data and power line 32 and the ground line 33 extend, between each housing 11, aligned with the fixation means 14, and ich each housing 11, circumvent said fixation means 14. In other words, the elementary motif M is in the form of a U, pointing the cavity C. It goes without saying that the elementary motif M could be different, for instance in the form of a U pointing outside, as long as it is repeated in each housing 11.
[0076] Referring now to the example of FIG. 6C, the cluster 1 comprises two busses 31, one bus 31 being fixed on each side vertical wall 10. Advantageously, this enables to connect the electronic tag 34 of a device 2 whether it is fixed on a lateral grip member 22 or the other. The device 2 could also comprise two electronic tags 34, one on each lateral grip member for data redundancy.
[0077] Referring now to FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C, according to another embodiment of the invention, the bus 31 is fixed on the interior face 15 of one side vertical wall 10 delimiting the cavity C. As previously, the data and power line 32 and the ground line 33 extend vertically from the upper housing 11 to the lower housing 11, in this case, by crossing the guiding members 12. The electronic tag 34 is fixed on a lateral face 27 of the main body 20, where is also located a rail 21. In this example, the electronic tag 34 is positioned above the rail 21, but it goes without saying that the electronic tag 34 could also be positioned below or even on the rail 21. Furthermore, in this example, the bus 31 and the electronic tag 34 are respectively positioned in the middle of the interior face 15 and the lateral face 27, so as to be aligned in contact when the device 2 is housed in a housing 11. It goes without saying that the bus 31 and the electronic tag 34 could be positioned differently as long as they are aligned to come in contact during the mounting process of the device 2.
[0078] As represented on FIG. 7D, the mounting process of a device 2 in a housing 11 of the cluster 1 according to this embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the electronic tag 34 comes in contact with the bus 31 by sliding in the housing 11 instead of abutting the abutment portion 13. Indeed, in the first embodiment, the electronic tag 34 and the bus 31 are aligned in front of each other along horizontal axis X and come in contact by an abutment along horizontal axis X. In this embodiment, the bus 31 is pointing the cavity C along horizontal axis Y while the electronic tag 34 is pointing in the opposite direction. The sliding along horizontal axis X of the main body 20 of the device 2 then enables to align them along said horizontal axis Y in contact. As previously, the device 2 mounting enables at the same time to connect the electronic tag 34 and the bus 31. The fixation means 23 then cooperate with the fixation holes 14 to both maintain the device 2 in the housing 11 and the electronic tag 34 in alignment with the bus 31.
[0079] After having presented several embodiments of the invention, the device identification process thanks to the device identification system 3 is thereafter described. As illustrated in FIG. 8 and according to the invention, the device identification process is implemented by the controlling module 30 who reads E1 the identifier Id stored in the electronic tags 34 connected to the bus 31 so as to identify the devices 2 housed in the cluster 1. Each controlling module 30 then sends E2 the list of the identifiers Id of the housed devices 2 to the datacenter management system 4 to have an overview of the devices 2 in the datacenter. In one or more embodiments, the device identification process is repeated, for instance periodically, to update the overview. In other words, the controlling module 30 sends E2 an updating list of the identifiers Id adding the new housed devices 2 and deleting the dismounted devices 2.
[0080] In the example of FIG. 8, three electronic tags 34 (Id-1), 34 (Id-2), 34 (Id-3) are connected by contact to the bus 31. The controlling module 30 thus reads E1 the identifier Id-1, Id-2, Id-3 stored in these electronic tags 34 (Id-1), 34 (Id-2), 34 (Id-3) through the data and power line 32. The controlling module 30 then determines the devices 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 corresponding to the identifiers Id-1, Id-2, Id-3, so as to determine the devices 2 housed in the cluster 1. Such a process is advantageously automatically, easily and quickly implemented and avoids any error or omission. All the devices 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 belonging to the cluster 1 are reported in the overview.
[0081] Referring to FIG. 9A, according to another embodiment of the invention, the device identification system 3 is not proper to a cluster 1. In this example, the device identification system 3 comprises two busses 31-A, 31-B mounted in two different clusters 1-A, 1-B and connected to the same controlling module 30. During the device identification process, the controlling module 30 thus reads, on the one hand, the identifiers Id-1, Id-2, Id-3 through the first bus 31-A to identify the devices 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 housed in the first cluster 1-A, and on the other hand, the identifier Id-4 through the second bus 31-B to identify the device 2-4 housed in the second cluster 1-B.
[0082] Referring to FIG. 9B, according to another embodiment of the invention, the electronic tag 34 of a device 2 is configured to store the position P of the device 2 in the cluster in addition to its identifier Id. The position P of the device 2 corresponds to the housing 11 in which the device 2 is housed. During the device identification process, the controlling module 30 thus reads both the identifier Id-1, Id-2, Id-3 and the position P-A, P-B, P-C stored in each connected electronic tag 34 (Id-1, P-A), 34 (Id-2, P-B), 34 (Id-3, P-C), in order to both identify the devices 2 housed and their position in the cluster 1. In this example, the positions P-A, P-B and P-C correspond to the housings 11-A, 11-B, 11-C. This advantageously enables the datacenter management system 4 to have an overview composed of the identifiers Id and the position P of the devices 2 in the cluster 1. During a maintenance, the position P of a device 2 is thus immediately determined.
[0083] To summarize, the device identification system 3 according to the invention comprises, on one hand, one or several bus(ses) 31 and a controlling module 30 fixed in the cluster 1, and on the other hand, electronic tags 34 fixed on devices 2 so as to automatically connect the controlling module 30 by electrical contact with the bus 31. This automatic connection is advantageously obtained simultaneously with the mounting by positioning the electronic tags 34 in contact to the bus 31, this latter being in the form of bare wires. The device identification process according to the invention is also automatic and enables to identify the devices 2 housed through an identifier Id stored in the electronic tag 34, which is read by the controlling module 30 via the bus 31.
