Integrator for a storage device, corresponding storage device and method of manufacturing the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10635320-B2
Application number	US-201816171958-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 26, 2018
Priority date	Oct 27, 2017
Publication date	Apr 28, 2020
Grant date	Apr 28, 2020

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an integrator for a storage device, a corresponding storage device and a method of manufacturing the same. The integrator comprises a base board comprising a first interface and a second interface; a connector coupled to the first interface of the base board, the connector being connectable with at least one server in the storage device; an input/output (I/O) part coupled to the second interface of the base board and connectable with an I/O device; and a switcher arranged on the base board and adapted to exchange data between the first interface and the second interface to support data transmission of the I/O device or other servers with the server via the integrator.

First claim

We claim:

1. An integrator for a storage device, comprising:
a base board comprising a first interface and a second interface;
one or more connectors coupled to the first interface of the base board, the one or more connectors being connectable with a set of multiple servers in the storage device;
one or more input/output (I/O) parts coupled to the second interface of the base board and connectable with first and second I/O devices of different types; and
a switcher arranged on the base board and adapted to exchange data between the first and second interfaces to support data transmission of the first and second I/O devices with the set of multiple servers via the integrator;
wherein the integrator is deployed in a separate integrator chassis relative to the set of multiple servers and the first and second I/O devices, the set of multiple servers and the first and second I/O devices thereby being deployed external to the integrator chassis.

2. The integrator of claim 1 , wherein the one or more connectors are compliant with Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) protocol.

3. The integrator of claim 2 , wherein the one or more input/output (I/O) parts are compliant with at least one of the following protocols: PCIe protocol, Ethernet protocol, Serial SCSI (SAS) protocol, Fiber Channel (FC) protocol, Infiniband (IB) protocol, small input/output card (SLIC) protocol and non-volatile memory express (NVME) protocol.

4. The integrator of claim 1 , wherein the switcher comprises a plurality of PCIe switch chips.

5. The integrator of claim 4 , wherein the data is exchanged between the PCIe switch chips via a non-transparent bridge (NTB).

6. The integrator of claim 1 , further comprising a heat radiator ( 107 ) for dissipating heat for the integrator.

7. The integrator of claim 1 , further comprising a power supply module coupled to the base board for powering the integrator.

8. A storage device, comprising:
a set of multiple servers;
first and second I/O devices of different types; and an integrator comprising:
a base board comprising a first interface and a second interface;
one or more connectors coupled to the first interface of the base board, the one or more connectors being connectable with the set of multiple servers in the storage device;
one or more input/output (I/O) parts coupled to the second interface of the base board and connectable with the first and second I/O devices; and
a switcher arranged on the base board and adapted to exchange data between the first and second interfaces to support data transmission of the first and second I/O devices with the set of multiple servers via the integrator;
wherein the integrator is deployed in a separate integrator chassis relative to the set of multiple servers and the first and second I/O devices, the set of multiple servers and the first and second I/O devices thereby being deployed external to the integrator chassis.

9. A method for manufacturing an integrator for a storage device, comprising:
providing a base board comprising a first interface and a second interface;
coupling one or more connectors to the first interface of the base board, the one or more connectors being connectable with a set of multiple servers in the storage device;
coupling one or more input/output (I/O) parts to the second interface of the base board, the one or more input/output (I/O) parts (being connectable with first and second I/O devices of different types; and
arranging a switcher on the base board, the switcher being adapted to exchange data between the first and second interfaces to support data transmission of the first and second I/O devices with the set of multiple servers via the integrator;
wherein the integrator is deployed in a separate integrator chassis relative to the set of multiple servers and the first and second I/O devices, the set of multiple servers and the first and second I/O devices thereby being deployed external to the integrator chassis.

10. The integrator of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second I/O devices comprises at least one of a storage array enclosure and a non-volatile memory cluster.

11. The integrator of claim 1 , wherein the one or more connectors comprise one or more removable connectors.

12. The integrator of claim 1 , wherein the one or more connectors are connectable with the set of multiple servers by wire or wirelessly.

13. The integrator of claim 1 , wherein the one or more connectors comprise a plurality of connectors and the one or more input/output (I/O) parts comprise a plurality of input/output (I/O) parts.

14. The storage device of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the first and second I/O devices comprises at least one of a storage array enclosure and a non-volatile memory cluster.

15. The storage device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more connectors comprise one or more removable connectors.

16. The storage device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more connectors are connectable with the set of multiple servers by wire or wirelessly.

17. The storage device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more connectors comprise a plurality of connectors and the one or more input/output (I/O) parts comprise a plurality of input/output (I/O) parts.

18. The method of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the first and second I/O devices comprises at least one of a storage array enclosure and a non-volatile memory cluster.

19. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more connectors comprise one or more removable connectors.

20. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more connectors comprise a plurality of connectors and the one or more input/output (I/O) parts comprise a plurality of input/output (I/O) parts.

Assignees

• Emc Ip Holding Co Llc

Inventors

• Zhai Haifang
• Wu Hendry
• Dong David
• Zhou Yujie

Classifications

• G06F3/0655

  Vertical data movement, i.e. input-output transfer; data movement between one or more hosts and one or more storage devices · CPC title

• G06F13/4221

  being an input/output bus, e.g. ISA bus, EISA bus, PCI bus, SCSI bus · CPC title

• G06F2213/0028

  Serial attached SCSI [SAS] · CPC title

• G06F3/0679

  Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP] · CPC title

• G06F3/0607

  by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device · CPC title