Rack Group IMM Leader Selection for Server Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional rack systems require redundant Integrated Management Modules (IMMs) to prevent server failures, increasing hardware costs and management complexity.
Innovation Solution
Selecting one or two IMMs from each rack group as primary and secondary leaders to monitor and report anomalies within the group, allowing for timely failure reporting without additional hardware, enabling automatic leader or deputy leader substitution when necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If redundant IMMs are deployed in each rack system to ensure system reliability, then system reliability is improved, but hardware cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the monitoring functions of multiple IMMs by designating one IMM per rack group as a primary monitor that oversees all other IMMs in that group. This consolidation approach maintains system reliability through monitoring while reducing the number of redundant IMM hardware units needed, thereby decreasing device complexity and hardware costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The primary IMM serves multiple functions: it monitors other IMMs in the rack group, receives failure messages from them, and coordinates the replacement process. This multi-functionality allows a single IMM to perform what would traditionally require multiple dedicated monitoring units, reducing hardware requirements while maintaining reliability.
2Reliability
If redundant IMMs are deployed in each rack system to ensure system reliability, then system reliability is improved, but hardware cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the monitoring functions of multiple IMMs by designating one IMM per rack group as a primary monitor that oversees all other IMMs in that group. This consolidation approach maintains system reliability through monitoring while reducing the number of redundant IMM hardware units needed, thereby decreasing device complexity and hardware costs.
3Measurement precision
If each IMM independently monitors its own rack system, then monitoring accuracy is improved, but communication efficiency and failure reporting timeliness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where monitored IMMs send failure messages directly to the primary IMM when anomalies are detected. The primary IMM then coordinates the replacement process. This feedback loop ensures timely failure reporting and rapid response without requiring complex peer-to-peer communication between all IMMs, maintaining monitoring accuracy while improving response timeliness.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for monitoring a plurality of rack systems is provided, which includes the following steps. The rack systems are provided, in which each rack system includes an integrated management module (IMM) and a plurality of servers. The IMM is communicatively connected to the servers in each rack system and manages and controls the servers. The rack systems are distributed into at least one rack group, and one of the IMMs in each rack group is selected to serve as a primary IMM, in which the IMMs in each rack group are communicatively connected to each other. The primary IMM monitors other IMMs than the primary IMM in the corresponding rack group. When an anomaly occurs in one of the other IMMs, the primary IMM sends a warning message including the abnormal IMM.