Solid-State Disks: Pushing the Envelope in Blade Server Design
Hardware Standardization
While the telecommunications industry has a long history of developing standards, the move towards COTS components has driven new hardware standardization efforts. In recent years, the telecomm industry has collaboratively developed and adopted standards such those that make up the CompactPCI (CPCI) Specification and the Advanced Telecomm Computing Architecture (AdvancedTCA or simply ATCA), both supported by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturer's Group (PICMG).
Compact peripheral component interconnect (CPCI) is an adaptation of the peripheral component interconnect (PCI) specification used in most desktop computer systems today. CPCI was developed in 1994 to meet the needs of industrial computer applications requiring a stronger, more rugged mechanical form factor than that used in desktop systems. CPCI uses the Eurocard form factor (3U and 6U) first popularized by VME and supports twice as many PCI slots (eight) on a single bus as does standard PCI. It provides integrated support for live insertion and removal, standardized administration through protocols such as the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), and provides the traditional data routing and interconnect advantages of any backplane/chassis solution.
The Advanced Telecomm Computing Architecture (AdvancedTCA or simply ATCA) is a new emerging standard that builds upon the experience gained adapting CPCI to the needs of telecommunications and network equipment providers. ATCA focuses on providing a high-performance, more-scalable backplane environment that supports higher levels of throughput, interconnection, better system management facilities, serviceability, and scalability. ATCA mandates a standard management framework (built on IPMI 1.5), star and full-mesh interconnect mechanisms, and robustness and availability features such as redundant power connections to each board. For additional ATCA information, see Web sites such as www.intel.com/technology/atca, www.motorola.com, and www.freescale.com.
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