Electronic guidance for restoring a predetermined cabling configuration

A computer program product including computer usable program code embodied on a non-transitory computer usable storage medium, the computer program product comprising:

• computer usable program code for detecting the disconnection of cables between ports of a plurality of chassis in a computer system, wherein each cable initially connects a port of one chassis to a port of another chassis;
• computer usable program code for causing each chassis to electronically store a sequence in which the plurality of ports are disconnected;
• computer usable program code for causing each chassis to electronically store an indication of the order in which the chassis is fully disconnected from the other chassis;
• and
• computer usable program code for guiding re-cabling of the computer system by sequentially illuminating visual indicators associated with two ports to be reconnected.

A computer system, comprising:

• a plurality of chassis, each chassis having a plurality of communication ports;
• a plurality of visual indicators on the chassis, each visual indicator uniquely associated with a respective one of the communication ports;
• a plurality of cables for removably connecting the chassis in a particular cabling configuration wherein each cable connects a unique port pair consisting of a port of one chassis and a port of another chassis;
• a chassis management entity residing on each chassis, each chassis management entity configured for detecting the order in which the ports of its chassis are disconnected from their respective port pairs;
• wherein the chassis management entities are configured to cooperatively visually guide a re-cabling of the computer system by sequentially identifying the port pairs to be reconnected, wherein identifying each port pair includes illuminating the visual indicators of each port pair to be reconnected using a matching illumination pattern.