High speed information processing and mass storage system and method, particularly for information and application servers

Abstract

A high speed, microcomputer based, Fibre Channel compatible and fault tolerant information processing and mass storage system especially suited for information servers and application servers. A unique and extremely versatile system architecture, including a dual loop arbitrated, Fibre Channel capable, multiple-fault tolerant, hot swappable mass storage disk array, permits combinations of servers and mass storage arrays which can be tailored for a wide variety of applications and which can be configured with emphasis on the system characteristics such as redundancy, speed, processing capability, storage capability, and the like, as desired. A unique backplane and/or midplane arrangement for connecting the system components allows for easy and, in most cases, on-line field upgrading and/or service and at the same time provides for the very effective cooling of components, particularly those such as disk drives which tend to produce a lot of heat.

1 . A high speed mass storage system, comprising: 
 a first server including a first controller and at least one first computer connected in communication with said first controller;    a second server including a second controller and at least one second computer connected in communication with said second controller;    first and second mass storage modules each including a plurality of plug-in storage devices for storing information;    said first controller providing a communication path between the first server and each said storage device, said second controller providing a communication path between the second server and each said storage device; and    at least one of said servers being operative to establish direct communication between the first and second controllers, and said first and second controllers being operative to maintain direct communication between the first and second controllers independent of said at least one first computer of said first server and said at least one second computer of said second server.    
   
   
       2 . The high speed mass storage system of  claim 1 , wherein each of said storage devices is associate with a corresponding storage device bypass circuit board, each of said storage devices being plugged into a corresponding connector on the corresponding storage device bypass circuit board, and each said storage device bypass circuit board completes the connection of the at least one first computer or the at least one second computer with the other storage device bypass circuit boards.  
   
   
       3 . The high speed mass storage system of  claim 1 , each of said second mass storage modules further including a module bypass circuit board including an optical input/output connector for outputting electrical signals from the module as light signals and for inputting light signals into the module as electrical signals, and wherein the optical input/output connectors of the module bypass circuit boards of the first and second mass storage modules are connected by a fiber optic transmission medium such that signals are communicated between the first and second mass storage modules in the form of light, wherein each said module bypass circuit board outputs electrical signals from the corresponding mass storage module via the optical input/output connector when light signals are received by said optical input/output connector.  
   
   
       4 . The high speed mass storage system of  claim 3 , wherein the module bypass circuit board of the first mass storage module outputs electrical signals from the first mass storage module to the second mass storage module via the optical input/output connector when light signals are received from the second mass storage module by said optical input/output connector.  
   
   
       5 . The high speed mass storage system of  claim 2 , wherein each said mass storage module includes a storage device bypass board connector for each of the storage device bypass circuit boards with an opening between each connector to permit the flow of air between the connectors and alongside the bypass circuit boards and storage devices for cooling purposes.  
   
   
       6 . The high speed mass storage system of  claim 2 , wherein the storage devices are disk drives and the storage device bypass circuit boards are disk drive bypass circuit boards each having a connector to receive a disk drive.  
   
   
       7 . The high speed mass storage system of  claim 6 , wherein each said mass storage module includes a disk drive bypass circuit board connector for each of the drive bypass circuit boards with an opening between each connector to permit the flow of air between the connectors, and wherein each drive bypass circuit board is a relatively flat circuit board with a connector on opposite edges, wherein one of the connectors is the connector which receives the disk drive and the other connector connects to said drive bypass circuit board connector, said connectors, bypass circuit boards and drives being arranged such that when they are connected there is a path for air flow from outside the module alongside each bypass circuit board and its associated disk drive for cooling purposes without any backplane obstruction.  
   
   
       8 . The high speed mass storage system of  claim 7 , wherein each said mass storage module is housed in an enclosure and at least one fan is mounted to force air from outside said enclosure through the spaces between said bypass boards and drives.  
   
   
       9 . The high speed mass storage system of  claim 2 , wherein the first and second controllers operate with a Fibre Channel protocol.  
   
   
       10 . The high speed mass storage system of  claim 9 , wherein the first and second controllers comprise an arbitrated dual channel Fibre Channel controller.  
   
   
       11 . The high speed mass storage system of  claim 9  wherein each storage device is a disk drive and wherein each storage device bypass circuit board comprises a disk drive bypass circuit board including a circuit which completes the connection of the at least one first computer or the at least one second computer with the other drive bypass circuits and their associated disk drives whether or not the disk drive is present.  
   
   
       12 . The high speed mass storage system of  claim 5 , wherein each said mass storage module is housed in an enclosure and at least one fan is mounted to force air from outside said enclosure through the spaces between said bypass boards and drives.