Method and apparatus for providing virtual server lades

Abstract

Methods and apparatus to provide virtual server blades are described. In one embodiment, a first virtual machine (VM) in a processing system may emulate a first server blade, and a second VM in the processing system may emulate a second server blade. The emulated server blades may be referred to as virtual server blades. A virtual machine monitor (VMM) in the processing system may provide a communication channel to at least one of the virtual server blades. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

1 . A method comprising:
 using a first virtual machine (VM) in a processing system to emulate a first server blade;   using a second VM in the processing system to emulate a second server blade; and   using a virtual machine monitor (VMM) in the processing system to provide a communication channel to at least one of the emulated server blades.   
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 executing a virtual blade supervisor within the VMM, the virtual blade supervisor to manage the emulated server blades.   
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, at the VMM, data pertaining to an operational status of one of the emulated server blades; and   forwarding the data pertaining to the operational status of the emulated server blade from the VMM to a remote data processing system.   
     
     
         4 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 using the VMM to emulate a chassis management module (CMM) to manage the emulated server blades.   
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the operation of using a VMM in the processing system to provide a communication channel to at least one of the emulated server blades comprises:
 using the VMM to emulate an out-of-band communication channel for at least one of the emulated server blades.   
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 5 , further comprising:
 using the emulated out-of-band communication channel to communicate data pertaining to an operational status of one of the emulated server blades to server blade management software.   
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 using the VMM to emulate a baseboard management controller (BMC) for at least one of the emulated server blades.   
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 7 , further comprising:
 receiving status data from one of the emulated BMCs, wherein the status data pertains to an operational status of the emulated server blade associated with the emulated BMC.   
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 8 , further comprising:
 automatically modifying an operational parameter of one or more of the emulated server blades, in response to receiving the data from the emulated BMC.   
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 retrieving policy data from a policy database associated with the processing system; and   configuring at least one of the emulated server blades in accordance with the policy data from the policy database.   
     
     
         11 . A processing system comprising:
 a machine accessible medium;   a processor responsive to the machine accessible medium;   on or more processing cores in the processor; and   instructions encoded in the machine accessible medium, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, perform operations comprising:   using a first virtual machine (VM) in the processing system to emulate a first server blade;   using a second VM in the processing system to emulate a second server blade; and   using a virtual machine monitor (VMM) in the processing system to provide a communication channel to at least one of the emulated server blades.   
     
     
         12 . A processing system according to  claim 11 , wherein the operations performed by the instructions further comprise:
 receiving, at the VMM, data pertaining to an operational status of one of the emulated server blades; and   forwarding the data pertaining to the operational status of the emulated server blade from the VMM to a remote data processing system.   
     
     
         13 . A processing system according to  claim 11 , wherein the operations performed by the instructions further comprise:
 using the VMM to emulate a chassis management module (CMM) to manage the emulated server blades.   
     
     
         14 . A processing system according to  claim 11 , wherein the operation of using a VMM in the processing system to provide a communication channel to at least one of the emulated server blades comprises:
 using the VMM to emulate an out-of-band communication channel for at least one of the emulated server blades.   
     
     
         15 . A processing system according to  claim 14 , wherein the operations performed by the instructions further comprise:
 using the emulated out-of-band communication channel to communicate data pertaining to an operational status of one of the emulated server blades to server blade management software.   
     
     
         16 . A processing system according to  claim 11 , wherein the operations performed by the instructions further comprise:
 using the VMM to emulate a baseboard management controller (BMC) for at least one of the emulated server blades.   
     
     
         17 . A processing system according to  claim 16 , wherein the operations performed by the instructions further comprise:
 receiving status data from one or more of the emulated BMCs, the status data pertaining to an operational status of the corresponding emulated server blade.   
     
     
         18 . A processing system according to  claim 17 , wherein the operations performed by the instructions further comprise:
 automatically modifying an operational parameter of one or more of the emulated server blades, in response to receiving the status data from the emulated BMC.   
     
     
         19 . A processing system according to  claim 11 , wherein the operations performed by the instructions further comprise:
 retrieving policy data from a policy database associated with the processing system; and   configuring at least one of the emulated server blades in accordance with the policy data from the policy database.