storage device
By introducing network switches, extenders, and baseboard management controllers into the storage devices, in-band and out-of-band management compatibility of the SAS JBOD cabinet is achieved, solving the problem of the single management method in the existing technology, providing greater management flexibility and reliability, and ensuring remote management even when the host server is shut down or under attack.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2022-01-05
- Publication Date
- 2026-04-07
AI Technical Summary
In existing technologies, SAS JBOD cabinets can only use one of the in-band or out-of-band management methods, and cannot support both management methods at the same time, resulting in insufficient management flexibility, especially when the host server is shut down or under attack and cannot be remotely managed.
By introducing network switches, extenders, and baseboard management controllers into storage devices, rack data translation and transmission are achieved. Redfish format is supported, allowing remote management of storage devices in out-of-band management mode, and translated data is transmitted to the server via network switches and external networks.
It achieves compatibility between in-band and out-of-band management, allowing users to choose the management method as needed, providing greater management flexibility and reliability, and ensuring that storage devices can still be remotely managed when the host server is shut down or under attack.
Smart Images
Figure CN116418845B_ABST
Abstract
Description
[Technical Field]
[0001] This invention relates to a storage device, and more particularly to a storage device that provides out-of-band management. [Background Technology]
[0002] The Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) expander plays a management role in the SAS JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) rack. It is responsible for logging the JBOD rack's status and controlling information such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive) status, power supply status, fan status, I / O module status, cable type, HDD LEDs, and fan speed.
[0003] SCSI Enclosure Service (SES) is a standard method for managing devices. It defines commands that a host sends to a target device requesting information or control. Servers connect to external SAS JBOD enclosures via external SAS cables using HBA or RAID cards. Host servers typically use the SCSI Enclosure Service's diagnostic page to manage the SAS JBOD enclosures and monitor their status via the external SAS cable. This method of using a host server to store data in JBODs and manage them via SAS cables is called in-band management.
[0004] Because the SAS JBOD racks are deployed under a host server, users must query the host server to obtain the JBOD status. When the host server is shut down or under external attack, users will be unable to manage the SAS JBOD racks. Therefore, out-of-band management was proposed. Out-of-band management connects the SAS JBOD racks to an Ethernet network, allowing users to manage the JBODs directly without going through the host server.
[0005] Redfish is an out-of-band management specification over Ethernet. SES diagnostic pages must be converted to Redfish format before they can be transmitted remotely over Ethernet for users to remotely manage JBOD racks. However, the computing power of SAS extender chipsets is limited, making it impossible to convert diagnostic pages to Redfish format. Therefore, some administrators still prefer in-band management, reserving the Ethernet interface only as a debugging port for transmitting debugging data. Furthermore, currently, out-of-band or in-band management can only be developed as an alternative, failing to provide administrators with flexible options for different management methods. [Summary of the Invention]
[0006] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a storage device that allows users to remotely manage it through out-of-band management.
[0007] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention provides a storage device that is connected to a server via an external network. The storage device includes a network switch, an extender electrically connected to the network switch, and a baseboard management controller electrically connected to the network switch and the extender.
[0008] This extender is used to generate rack data that supports a rack service format for small computer system interface racks.
[0009] The baseboard management controller is used to translate rack data that supports the small computer system interface rack service format into rack translated data that supports the Redfish format.
[0010] The extender generates and transmits the rack data to the baseboard management controller via an internal network through the network switch. After the baseboard management controller receives the rack data from the extender via the internal network through the network switch, the baseboard management controller translates the rack data into rack translation data that supports the Redfish format, and then transmits the rack translation data to the server via the external network through the network switch.
[0011] Compared to existing technologies, this invention uses a baseboard management controller to translate rack data into Redfish-formatted rack translation data, and then transmits this data to the server via an external network through a network switch. This allows users to remotely manage storage devices through out-of-band management. Because the baseboard management controller can translate rack data into Redfish-formatted rack translation data, users can directly manage the storage devices based on this data, rather than simply using the Ethernet interface as a debugging port. Therefore, out-of-band and in-band management can coexist in the storage device without conflict, thus flexibly providing administrators with different management methods. [Attached Image Description]
[0012] Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the drawings, wherein:
[0013] Figure 1 It is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the storage device of the present invention connected to a server via an external network;
[0014] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the storage device of the present invention operating in an out-of-band management mode;
[0015] Figure 3This is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of the storage device of the present invention executing a rack data transmission program of an out-of-band management method;
[0016] Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of the storage device of the present invention executing an external data transfer program of the out-of-band management method;
[0017] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of the storage device of the present invention operating in an in-band management mode;
[0018] Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of the storage device of the present invention executing a rack data transmission program of an in-band management method;
[0019] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of the storage device of the present invention executing an external data transfer program of the in-band management method; and
[0020] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of the storage device of the present invention executing a debugging data transfer procedure of the in-band management method.
Detailed Implementation Methods
[0021] See Figure 1 In an embodiment of the present invention, the storage device 1 is connected to a server 2 via an external network. The storage device 1 includes a network switch 11, an extender 12 electrically connected to the network switch 11, and a baseboard management controller 13 electrically connected to the network switch 11 and the extender 12. The server 2 includes a network card 21 and a SAS host bus adapter (HBA).
[0022] The network switch 11 includes a first Medium Dependent Interface (MDI) port 111, a second MDI port 112, a first Reduced Gigabit Media Independent Interface (RGMII) port 113, a second RGMII port 114, and a first Management Data Clock (MDC / MDIO) port 115. The network switch 11 can operate in either an out-of-band management mode or an in-band management mode. When operating in out-of-band management mode, the network switch 11 provides an internal connection between the baseboard management controller 13 and the extender 12, and an external connection between the baseboard management controller 13 and the server 2.
[0023] The extender 12 includes a first Media Access Control (MAC) port 121, a first Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) port 122, and a Serial Small Computer System Interface (SAS) port 123. The extender 12 can operate in either out-of-band management mode or in-band management mode. When operating in out-of-band management mode, the extender 12 establishes an internal connection to the baseboard management controller 13 via the network switch 11. When operating in in-band management mode, the extender 12 establishes an external connection to the server 2 via the network switch 11 and connects to the server 2 via a Serial Small Computer System Interface cable. In this embodiment, when the extender 12 operates in out-of-band management mode, the extender 12 establishes its internal connection with the baseboard management controller 13 by connecting its first media access control port 121 to the first simplified media independent interface port 113 of the network switch 11. At this time, data received by the network switch 11 via the first simplified media independent interface port 113 is transmitted through the internal network via the first media associated interface port 111. When the extender 12 operates in in-band management mode, the extender 12 establishes its external connection with the server 2 by connecting its first media access control port 121 to the first simplified media independent interface port 113 of the network switch 11. At this time, data received by the network switch 11 via the first simplified media independent interface port 113 is transmitted through the external network via the second media associated interface port 112.
[0024] The baseboard management controller 13 includes a second media access control port 131, a third media access control port 132, a second sequence management interface port 133, and a second general asynchronous transceiver port 134. The baseboard management controller 13 can operate in either out-of-band management mode or in-band management mode. When operating in out-of-band management mode, the baseboard management controller 13 establishes an internal connection with the extender 12 via the network switch 11, and establishes an external connection with the server 2 via the network switch 11. When operating in in-band management mode, the baseboard management controller 13 does not establish any connection with the extender 12 via the network switch 11. In this embodiment, when the baseboard management controller 13 operates in the out-of-band management mode, the baseboard management controller 13 establishes its internal connection with the extender 12 by connecting its second media access control port 131 to the first simplified media independent interface port 113 of the network switch 11, and establishes its external connection with the server 2 by connecting its third media access control port 132 to the second simplified media independent interface port 114 of the network switch 11.
[0025] The extender 12, the baseboard management controller 13, and the network switch 11 can be controlled by the server 2 to operate in either out-of-band or in-band management mode. When the extender 12 receives a mode command from the server 2 via the serial small computer system interface cable, instructing the extender 12 to operate in either out-of-band or in-band management mode, the extender 12 operates in either out-of-band or in-band management mode according to the mode command, and transmits a mode notification instructing the baseboard management controller 13 to operate in either out-of-band or in-band management mode via the first general asynchronous transceiver port 122 to the second general asynchronous transceiver port 134 of the baseboard management controller 13. After receiving the mode notification at asynchronous transceiver port 134, the baseboard management controller 13 operates in the out-of-band management mode or the in-band management mode according to the mode notification, and transmits a mode instruction instructing the network switch 11 to operate in the out-of-band management mode or the in-band management mode through the second sequence management interface port 133 to the first sequence management interface port 115 of the network switch 11. After receiving the mode instruction through the first sequence management interface port 115, the network switch 11 operates in the out-of-band management mode or the in-band management mode according to the mode instruction.
[0026] The following describes the operational details of the extender 12, the baseboard management controller 13, and the network switch 11 in out-of-band management mode using an out-of-band management method. This out-of-band management method includes a cabinet data transmission procedure and an external data transmission procedure.
[0027] See Figure 2 and Figure 3 The rack data transfer procedure describes how to transfer rack data to server 2 and includes the following steps.
[0028] In step 31, the extender 12 generates and transmits the rack data supporting the small computer system interface rack service format through the first media access control port 121 to the first simplified media independent interface port 113 of the network switch 11, so as to transmit the rack data to the baseboard management controller 13 through the network switch 11.
[0029] In step 32, after the network switch 11 receives the rack data through the first simplified media independent interface port 113, the network switch 11 controls the rack data to be transmitted through the first media associated interface port 111 via the internal network to the second media access control port 131 of the baseboard management controller 13.
[0030] In step 33, after the baseboard management controller 13 receives the rack data from the extender 12 via the internal network through the second media access control port 131, the baseboard management controller 13 translates the rack data into rack translated data that supports the Redfish format, and transmits the rack translated data to the second simplified media independent interface port 114 of the network switch 11 through the third media access control port 132, so that the rack translated data can be transmitted to the server 2 through the network switch 11.
[0031] In step 34, after the network switch 11 receives the rack translation data through the second simplified media independent interface port 114, the network switch 11 controls the rack translation data to be transmitted to the server 2 through the second media associated interface port 112 via the external network.
[0032] It is worth mentioning that, in this embodiment, when data is received by the network switch 11 via the first simplified media independent interface port 113, the network switch 11 will transmit the data through the internal network via the first media associated interface port 111. When data is received by the network switch 11 via the second simplified media independent interface port 114, the network switch 11 will transmit the data through the external network via the second media associated interface port 112. However, in other embodiments, the network switch 11 may also be designed to determine whether to transmit data via the internal network or the external network based on the source address of the data. When the network switch 11 determines that the source address of the data belongs to the internal network, the network switch 11 controls the data to be transmitted via the internal network through the first media-dependent interface port 111. When the network switch 11 determines that the source address of the data does not belong to the internal network (i.e., the source address is an address of the external network), the network switch 11 controls the data to be transmitted via the second media-dependent interface port 112 through the external network.
[0033] See Figure 2 and Figure 4 The external data transfer procedure describes how to transfer external data to the extender 12 and includes the following steps.
[0034] In step 41, after the network switch 11 receives external data from one of the servers 2 that supports the Redfish format via the external network through the second media-dependent interface port 112, the network switch 11 controls the external data to be transmitted through the second simplified media independent interface port 114 to the third media access control port 132 of the board management controller 13.
[0035] In step 42, after the baseboard management controller 13 receives the external data from the server 2 through the third media access control port 132, the baseboard management controller 13 translates the external data into external translated data that supports the small computer system interface cabinet service format, and transmits the external translated data to the first media associated interface port 111 of the network switch 11 through the second media access control port 131, so that the external translated data can be transmitted to the extender 12 through the network switch 11.
[0036] In step 43, after the network switch 11 receives the externally translated data through the first media-related interface port 111, the network switch 11 controls the externally translated data to be transmitted through the first simplified media independent interface port 113 via the internal network to the first media access control port 121 of the extender 12.
[0037] It is worth mentioning that, in this embodiment, when data is received by the network switch 11 through the first media-dependent interface port 111 of the network switch 11 via the internal network, the network switch 11 will transmit the data through the first simplified media independent interface port 113. When data is received by the network switch 11 through the second media-dependent interface port 112 of the network switch 11 via the external network, the network switch 11 will transmit the data through the second simplified media independent interface port 114. However, in other embodiments, the network switch 11 may also be designed to determine whether to transmit data via the first simplified media independent interface port 113 or the second simplified media independent interface port 114 based on the source address of the data. When the network switch 11 determines that the source address of the data belongs to the internal network, the network switch 11 controls the data to be transmitted through the first simplified media independent interface port 113. When the network switch 11 determines that the source address of the data does not belong to the internal network (i.e., the source address is an address of the external network), the network switch 11 controls the data to be transmitted through the second simplified media independent interface port 114.
[0038] When the extender 12, the baseboard management controller 13 and the network switch 11 are operating in the out-of-band management mode, the rack data can be translated into rack translated data by the baseboard management controller 13 and then transmitted to the server 2 through the external network. Therefore, the Ethernet interface can be used for users to remotely manage the storage device 1 in the out-of-band management mode, rather than simply as a debugging port.
[0039] The following will use an in-band management method to illustrate the operational details of the extender 12, the baseboard management controller 13, and the network switch 11 when operating in the in-band management mode. The in-band management method includes a rack data transmission procedure, an external data transmission procedure, and a debugging data transmission procedure.
[0040] See Figure 5 and Figure 6 The rack data transfer procedure describes how to transfer rack data to server 2 and includes the following steps.
[0041] In step 61, the extender 12 transmits the rack data to the server 2 via the serial small computer system interface port 123 and the serial small computer system interface cable.
[0042] See Figure 5 and Figure 7 The external data transfer procedure describes how to transfer another external data to the server 2 and includes the following steps.
[0043] In step 71, the server 2 transmits another external data supporting the MSCIA Rack Service Format to the extender 12 via the serial small computer system interface cable.
[0044] See Figure 5 and Figure 8 The debugging data transmission procedure describes how to transmit debugging data to the server 2 and includes the following steps.
[0045] In step 81, the extender 12 transmits the debugging data to the first simplified media independent interface port 113 of the network switch 11 through the first media access control port 121, so as to transmit the debugging data to the server 2 through the network switch 11.
[0046] In step 82, after the network switch 11 receives the debugging data through the first simplified media independent interface port 113, the network switch 11 controls the debugging data to be transmitted to the server 2 through the second media associated interface port 112 via the external network.
[0047] When the extender 12, the baseboard management controller 13 and the network switch 11 are operating in the in-band management mode, the rack data is transmitted to the server 2 via the serial small computer system interface cable. Therefore, if the storage device 1 is to be managed, it can be managed through the serial small computer system interface cable, and the Ethernet interface is used as a debugging port.
[0048] In summary, the storage device 1 of the present invention supports both in-band and out-of-band management. When the storage device 1 operates in out-of-band management mode, the baseboard management controller 13 translates the rack data into rack translation data that supports the Redfish format, and transmits the rack translation data to the server 2 via the network switch 11 through the external network. This enables users to remotely manage the storage device 1 using out-of-band management. If the user manages the storage device 1 using in-band management mode, the server 2 can easily send a mode command to instruct the storage device 1 to operate in in-band management mode, thereby controlling the storage device 1 to operate in in-band management mode. This provides a more flexible management architecture, allowing users to select the desired management mode according to their needs, thus effectively achieving the purpose of the present invention.
[0049] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.
Claims
1. A storage device connected to a server via an external network, characterized in that, The storage device contains: A network switch; An extender, electrically connected to the network switch, is used to generate rack data in a format supporting the Small Computer System Interface Rack Service (SCA). A baseboard management controller, electrically connected to the network switch and the extender, is used to translate the rack data supporting the small computer system interface rack service format into rack translated data supporting the Redfish format. The extender generates and transmits the rack data to the baseboard management controller via an internal network through the network switch. After the baseboard management controller receives the rack data from the extender via the internal network through the network switch, the baseboard management controller translates the rack data into rack translation data that supports Redfish format, and transmits the rack translation data to the server via the external network through the network switch. The network switch includes a first media-dependent interface port, a second media-dependent interface port, a first simplified media independent interface port, and a second simplified media independent interface port. The extender includes a first media access control port, and the baseboard management controller includes a second media access control port and a third media access control port. The extender transmits rack data to the first simplified media independent interface port of the network switch through the first media access control port, so that the rack data can be transmitted to the baseboard management controller through the network switch. The network switch receives the data through the first simplified media independent interface port. After receiving the rack data, the network switch controls the rack data to be transmitted through the first media-related interface port via the internal network to the second media access control port of the baseboard management controller. The baseboard management controller then transmits the rack translated data through the third media access control port to the second simplified media independent interface port of the network switch, so that the rack translated data can be transmitted to the server through the network switch. After receiving the rack translated data through the second simplified media independent interface port, the network switch controls the rack translated data to be transmitted through the second media-related interface port via the external network to the server.
2. The storage device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, After the network switch receives external data from one of the servers supporting the Redfish format via the external network through the second media-dependent interface port, the network switch controls the external data to be transmitted through the second simplified media independent interface port to the third media access control port of the baseboard management controller. After the baseboard management controller receives the external data from the server through the third media access control port, the baseboard management controller translates the external data into external translation data supporting the Small Computer System Interface Rack Service format, and transmits the external translation data through the second media access control port to the first media-dependent interface port of the network switch, so that the network switch can transmit the external translation data to the extender. After the network switch receives the external translation data through the first media-dependent interface port, the network switch controls the external translation data to be transmitted through the first simplified media independent interface port via the internal network to the first media access control port of the extender.
3. The storage device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The extender transmits rack data to the first simplified media independent interface port of the network switch via the first media access control port. This data is then transmitted to the baseboard management controller via the network switch. After receiving the rack data through the first simplified media independent interface port, the network switch determines whether the source address of the rack data belongs to the internal network. When the network switch determines that the source address of the rack data belongs to the internal network, it controls the rack data to be transmitted through the first media-related interface port via the internal network to the second media access control port of the baseboard management controller. The baseboard management controller transmits the rack translation data to the second simplified media independent interface port of the network switch through the third media access control port. The network switch then transmits the rack translation data to the server. After receiving the rack translation data through the second simplified media independent interface port, the network switch determines whether the source address of the rack translation data belongs to the internal network. When the network switch determines that the source address of the rack translation data does not belong to the internal network, the network switch controls the rack translation data to be transmitted to the server through the external network via the second media-related interface port.
4. The storage device as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The source address of the cabinet data is set to the address of the internal network, and the source address of the cabinet translated data is set to the address of the external network.
5. The storage device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, The extender is also connected to the server via a serial small computer system interface cable. The extender, the baseboard management controller, and the network switch can all operate in either out-of-band or in-band management mode. When the baseboard management controller operates in out-of-band management mode, it establishes an internal network connection with the extender via the network switch and an external network connection with the server via the network switch. When the network switch operates in out-of-band management mode, it provides an internal connection between the baseboard management controller and the extender, and an external connection between the baseboard management controller and the server. When the extender operates in out-of-band management mode, it establishes an internal connection with the baseboard management controller via the network switch and through the network... The switch transmits rack data to the baseboard management controller via the internal network, so that the baseboard management controller translates the rack data into rack-translated data, and then transmits the rack-translated data to the server via the external network through the network switch. When the baseboard management controller is operating in in-band management mode, the baseboard management controller does not establish any connection with the extender through the network switch. When the network switch is operating in in-band management mode, the network switch provides external connection between the extender and the server. When the extender is operating in in-band management mode, the extender transmits rack data to the server through the serial small computer system interface cable. When the extender is operating in in-band management mode, the extender also transmits debugging data to the server via the external network through the network switch.
6. The storage device as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that, When the baseboard management controller operates in out-of-band management mode, it establishes an internal connection with the extender by connecting its second media access control port to the first simplified media independent interface port of the network switch, and establishes an external connection with the server by connecting its third media access control port to the second simplified media independent interface port of the network switch. When the extender operates in out-of-band management mode, it establishes an internal connection with the baseboard management controller by connecting its first media access control port to the first simplified media independent interface port of the network switch. When the extender operates in in-band management mode, it establishes an external connection with the server by connecting its first media access control port to the first simplified media independent interface port of the network switch.
7. The storage device as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that, The extender transmits the debugging data to the first simplified media independent interface port of the network switch through the first media access control port, so as to transmit the debugging data to the server through the network switch. After the network switch receives the debugging data through the first simplified media independent interface port, the network switch controls the debugging data to be transmitted to the server through the second media associated interface port via the external network.
8. The storage device as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that, The network switch includes a first sequence management interface port, the extender includes a first general asynchronous transceiver port, and the baseboard management controller includes a second sequence management interface port and a second general asynchronous transceiver port. When the extender receives a mode command from one of the servers via the sequenced minicomputer interface cable, instructing the extender to operate in the out-of-band management mode or the in-band management mode, the extender operates in the out-of-band management mode or the in-band management mode according to the mode command, and transmits a mode notification instructing the baseboard management controller to operate in the out-of-band management mode or the in-band management mode via the first general asynchronous transceiver port. After receiving the mode notification through the second general asynchronous transceiver port of the baseboard management controller, the baseboard management controller operates in the out-of-band management mode or the in-band management mode according to the mode notification, and transmits a mode instruction instructing the network switch to operate in the out-of-band management mode or the in-band management mode through the second sequence management interface port to the first sequence management interface port of the network switch. After receiving the mode instruction through the first sequence management interface port, the network switch operates in the out-of-band management mode or the in-band management mode according to the mode instruction.
Citation Information
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