In-rack network for power signals
AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.
InventorMichael Jon Moen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
It may be beneficial in the case of an undesired lapse of external power to provide a back-up power supply to protect electronic components in an electronic equipment rack. This can frequently be difficult and/or costly due to the necessary addition of electronic infrastructure, such as cabling and/or logic. One means of overcoming this obstacle is to utilize unused or reserved conductors in an already utilized management cable to convey a loss-of-power signal to the components in tandem with the existing cable signals.
Claims19
A method for preserving unsaved data to a server in an electronic equipment rack in the event of an external power outage, the method comprising:
- detecting, by an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) housed in a power shelf in the rack, a lapse in external power being delivered to the rack;
- activating the UPS power supply to supply power to a management switch in the rack and the server, wherein the management switch is coupled to the server using a network cable;
- transmitting messages between the management switch and the server using the network cable, wherein the messages relate to performance metrics of the server;
- transmitting a power-loss signal from the power shelf to the management switch indicating that a loss of external power has occurred;
- re-transmitting the power-loss signal by the management switch to the server through connections on the management switch and over the network cable coupled between the management switch and the server so that the messages related to the performance metrics and the power-loss signal are transmitted over the network cable;
- storing the unsaved data in the server to a non-volatile memory of the server based on the power-loss signal while the server is powered by the backup power supply;
- and
- shutting down the server once the unsaved data has been stored to the non-volatile memory.
A method, comprising:
- receiving a loss-of-power indication signal from a rack component in an electronic equipment rack;
- transmitting the loss-of-power signal to a management switch disposed in the electronic equipment rack;
- re-transmitting the loss-of-power signal from the management switch to a server in the electronic equipment rack, wherein the re-transmitting is over a network cable coupled between the management switch and the server, and wherein a message related to performance metrics of the server is also transmitted over the network cable;
- and
- storing unsaved data in the server upon receipt of the loss-of-power signal at the server.
A system, comprising:
- a management switch mountable in an equipment rack and configured to:
- receive a first loss-of-power signal from a monitoring component over a first network cable on a first network cable conductor;
- transmit a second loss-of-power signal over a second network cable on a second network cable conductor to a server computer in the equipment rack;
- and
- transmit a message related to performance metrics of the server computer using a same second network cable as the second loss-of-power signal is transmitted, wherein the first and second loss-of-power signals do not propagate outside of the equipment rack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.