Disaggregated fault tolerant backplane

A method comprising:

• configuring a front side of a backplane with at least two daughter card slots;
• configuring a back side of the backplane to connect to at least two switch boards (SBs) through at least two SB connectors, the SBs configured to provide power to the at least two daughter card slots through at least two slot power rails;
• configuring the back side of the backplane to connect to at least one main fanout board (MFB) through at least one MFB connector, the at least one MFB configured to enable and supervise the at least two SBs;
• installing the at least two SBs on the back side of the backplane;
• installing the at least one MFB on the back side of the backplane;
• and
• installing the backplane, the at least two SBs, and the at least one MFB, in a chassis, the chassis configured to protect and support the backplane, the at least two SBs, and the at least one MFB.

An apparatus comprising:

• a backplane having a front side and a back side, the backplane comprising:
• a nominal power rail providing electrical power to the backplane;
• at least two slot power rails;
• at least two switch board (SB) connectors configured on the back side, each connected to the nominal power rail and to one of the slot power rails;
• and
• at least two daughter card slot connectors configured on the front side, each connected to one of the slot power rails and to backplane electrical signals;
• and
• at least two switch boards (SBs) configured to connect to the backplane through the SB connectors, each SB comprising:
• a SB nominal power;
• a SB output power;
• a SB backplane connector connected to the SB nominal power and the SB output power and configured such that mating the SB backplane connector with one of the SB connectors attaches the nominal power rail to the SB nominal power and attaches the SB output power to one of the slot power rails;
• at least one nominal SB switch enable signal;
• and
• at least one nominal power fault tolerant blocking switch configured to connect the SB nominal power to the SB output power when closed by the at least one nominal SB switch enable signal, thereby conveying the electrical power from the nominal power rail to one of the at least two daughter card slot connectors.

An apparatus comprising:

• a disaggregated fault tolerant backplane having a front side and a back side, wherein at least two daughter card slots are configured on the front side and configured to send and receive slot fanout signals over the disaggregated fault tolerant backplane;
• at least two switch boards (SBs) configured to provide electrical power to the at least two daughter card slots via slot power rails,
• wherein the at least two SBs connect to the disaggregated fault tolerant backplane through at least two SB connectors configured on the back side of the disaggregated fault tolerant backplane, and
• wherein the electrical power comprises:
• a nominal power supplying a specified voltage and a specified current;
• and
• a redundant power supplying the specified voltage and the specified current, wherein in case of a failure of the nominal power, the apparatus continues to function without interruption;
• and
• at least one main fanout board (MFB) configured to send and receive SB control signals to and from the at least two SBs, wherein the at least one MFB connects to the disaggregated fault tolerant backplane through at least one MFB connector configured on the back side of the disaggregated fault tolerant backplane.