Automated build-out of a cloud-computing stamp

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9641394-B2
Application number	US-201213360876-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 30, 2012
Priority date	Jan 30, 2012
Publication date	May 2, 2017
Grant date	May 2, 2017

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for automatically configuring an inventory of hardware to interact seamlessly with a cloud-computing fabric of a data center are provided. Initially, hardware devices within the hardware inventory are located by sending and receiving communications to network devices via serial-based connections and network-based connections, respectively. Information collected during hardware-device location is cross-referenced against a template file for purposes of validation. This information is also employed to generate an infrastructure state of the hardware inventory. The infrastructure state is shared with a controller of the fabric to integrate the hardware inventory therein. Upon integration, services and security measures are provisioned on the hardware inventory, which is designated as a fabric-computing cluster of the data center in order to extend reachability of the fabric, while distributed services are deployed and enabled on available portions of the hardware inventory, which are managed by the fabric controller.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. One or more computer-readable hardware memory having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, perform a method for discovering and validating an inventory of hardware, the method comprising:
initiating, using a user device of a verification ecosystem, the verification ecosystem comprising the user device having a template file and the hardware inventory, communication with a serial-access device within the hardware inventory or network switch device residing on a secondary out-of-band network within the hardware inventory, wherein the communication triggers intercommunication between the user device and the hardware inventory, the intercommunication excludes an existing infrastructure, wherein the intercommunication for discovery and validation of the hardware inventory is performed based at least in part on a security boundary that serves as a virtual layer that isolates and securely separates the existing infrastructure from the hardware inventory;
configuring the serial-access device to send instructions to a power distribution unit (PDU), wherein the PDU is responsible for selectively supplying power to a set of computing units, and wherein the instructions cause the PDU to deliver power to at least one selected computing unit of the set of computing units and to withhold power from at least one nonselected computing unit of the set of computing units;
receiving a data packet from the at least one selected computing unit;
using the data packet to identify a location of the at least one selected computing unit within a physical topology of the hardware inventory; and
cross-referencing the identified location, address and internal wiring of the at least one selected computing unit against the template file having an expected location, address, and internal wiring, to verify that the physical topology of the hardware inventory corresponds thereto.

2. The computer-readable hardware memory of claim 1 , wherein the data packet is received at a user device via a network-based connection with a network device that is enabled to detect the data packet that originates from the at least one selected computing unit, wherein the method further comprises interrogating the network device for information related to processed traffic.

3. The computer-readable hardware memory of claim 2 , wherein the communication to the serial-access device is initiated by the user device over a serial-based connection, wherein the serial-access device is initially accessed based on a default set of credentials from a vendor of the hardware inventory, the default set of credentials programmed into a hardware schema in the template file.

4. The computer-readable hardware memory of claim 2 , wherein the network device is configured to either identify a port at which the data packet is detected and to append an indicia of the identified port to the data packet or retrieve new active locations at which data packets are being transmitted.

5. The computer-readable hardware memory of claim 4 , wherein using the data packet to identify a location of the at least one selected computing unit comprises reading the identified port carried within a payload of the data packet.

6. The computer-readable hardware memory of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying components associated with the at least one selected computing units based on the information in data packets;
determining configuration settings applied to the components based on the information;
comparing the configuration settings against expected configuration settings maintained within a hardware schema of the template file;
when the configuration settings do not correspond to the expected configuration settings, performing a reconfiguration via at least the serial-access device.

7. The computer-readable hardware memory of claim 1 , wherein the template file includes a topology schema that specifies an expected location of the at least one selected computing unit, and wherein the topology schema is employed by a user device to verify the hardware inventory is properly wired, and wherein the topology schema comprises at least one of wiring rules, device configuration, or device locations.

8. The computer-readable hardware memory of claim 1 , wherein the template file includes a hardware schema that specifies which components are expected to reside within the at least one selected computing unit, and wherein the hardware schema is employed by a user device to verify an internal configuration of the at least one computing unit.

9. The computer-readable hardware memory of claim 3 , wherein the method further comprises:
sending a signal from the user device to the serial-access device over the serial-based connection that, upon verifying the location of the at least one selected computing unit is consistent with the template file, invokes installing confirmation settings on the at least one selected computing unit; and
updating.

10. The computer-readable hardware memory of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises preparing an infrastructure state from information gathered upon verifying the physical topology of the hardware inventory.

11. The computer-readable hardware memory of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises:
sharing the infrastructure state with a controller of a cloud-computing fabric;
deploying services of a cloud-computing fabric onto the hardware inventory; and
designating the hardware inventory as a fabric-computing cluster.

12. The computer-readable hardware memory of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining actual values for one or more symbolic representation indicating preliminary values in the template file;
replacing preliminary values of the one or more symbolic representations in the template file to actual values mined from the delivered hardware inventory; and
providing the template file having the actual values for subsequent phases of a bootstrap process.

13. A computerized method for building out an inventory of hardware to a fabric-computing cluster (FCC) of a data center, the method comprising:
discovering, using a user device of a verification ecosystem, one or more network devices by sending from the user device respective signals to a top-of-rack (TOR) switch via a network-based connection and a serial-access device via a serial-based connection, the verification ecosystem comprising the user device having a template file and the hardware inventory, wherein the respective signals triggers intercommunication between the user device and the hardware inventory, the intercommunication excludes an existing infrastructure, wherein the intercommunication for discovery and validation of the hardware inventory is performed based at least in part on a security boundary that serves as a virtual layer that isolates and securely separates the existing infrastructure from the hardware inventory;
discovering a set of computing units that are interconnected between the TOR switch and the serial-access device by instructing the TOR switch and the serial-access device to listen for signals via respective ranges of ports allocated to the set of computing units, wherein the set of computing units are selectively supplied power based on instructions from the serial-access device to a power distribution unit (PDU);
configuring the serial-access device to direct the set of computing units to recursively send traffic to the TOR switch;
accessing the template file that describes physical topology of the hardware inventory, wherein the template file includes a topology schema that defines internal wiring associated with the set of computing units and the

Assignees

• Jubran Marwan E
• Gershaft Aleksandr
• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Jubran Marwan E
• Gershaft Aleksandr

Classifications

• H04L41/12 Primary

  Discovery or management of network topologies · CPC title

• Y04S40/164

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H04L41/0853

  by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information · CPC title

• Y04S40/162

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y04S40/00

  Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them · CPC title