TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to communications technologies, and in particular, to a data communications system and method.

BACKGROUND

Development of communications technologies has resulted in application and development of a multi-chassis cluster data communications device system. The multi-chassis cluster data communications device system includes a plurality of data communications chassis that are connected to implement internal and external data exchange tasks between data communications chassis.

A central switching chassis needs to be disposed and connected to each data communications chassis in the multi-chassis cluster data communications device system, so that each data communications chassis completes a data exchange task between chassis by using the central switching chassis. Specifically, m data switching modules are deployed in each data communications chassis, and m central switching modules are deployed in the central switching chassis, where m is a positive integer. Each data switching module in the data communications chassis is connected to one central switching module in a one-to-one correspondence, so that the data communications chassis completes the data exchange task between the chassis by using a data switching module and a central switching module corresponding to the data switching module.

However, a manner of deploying the central switching chassis in the multi-chassis cluster data communications device system needs to occupy a footprint. Further, the multi-chassis cluster data communications device system needs to occupy a comparatively large equipment room area, which is inconvenient for deployment of the multi-chassis cluster data communications device system. In addition, when the central switching chassis is deployed, hardware devices such as a power supply unit, a heat dissipation unit, and a control unit need to be configured for the central switching chassis. These hardware devices need to consume a large amount of power consumption. As a result, costs are increased.

SUMMARY

This application provides a data communications system and method, to resolve a problem that a multi-chassis cluster data communications device system with a central switching chassis occupies a large footprint, consumes a large amount of power consumption, and has comparatively high costs.

A first aspect of this application provides a data communications system, including a first chassis and a second chassis, where

the first chassis includes a first high-performance switching module and a first low-performance switching module;

the second chassis includes a second high-performance switching module and a second low-performance switching module;

the first high-performance switching module is connected to the second low-performance switching module, and the first low-performance switching module is connected to the second high-performance switching module; and

the first high-performance switching module is configured to connect to a third low-performance switching module in a third chassis that is to be added to the communications system, and the second high-performance switching module is configured to connect to a fourth low-performance switching module in the third chassis that is to be added to the communications system. Therefore, a central switching chassis is removed, and only a type-A service chassis and a type-B service chassis are deployed. The type-A service chassis is a service chassis that includes a high-performance switching module. The type-B service chassis is a service chassis that does not include a high-performance switching module but includes only a low-performance switching module. Therefore, a footprint of the data communications system is reduced. In addition, because the central switching chassis is removed, there is no need to add an auxiliary hardware device, and power consumption and costs are reduced. A structure of the data communications system provided in the first aspect has a feature of smooth expansion. During capacity expansion of the data communications system including the first chassis and the second chassis, the third chassis that is to be added to the system can be separately connected to the first chassis and the second chassis without changing cables and interfaces between the first chassis and the second chassis. This facilitates the capacity expansion, so that a back-to-back cluster system may be smoothly expanded to a multi-chassis cluster data communications system in this embodiment.

In one embodiment, the data communications system further includes a fourth chassis, and the fourth chassis includes a fifth low-performance switching module and a sixth low-performance switching module, and

the first high-performance switching module is connected to the fifth low-performance switching module, and the second high-performance switching module is connected to the sixth low-performance switching module. Therefore, during capacity expansion of the data communications system including the first chassis, the second chassis, and the fourth chassis, the third chassis that is to be added to the system can be separately connected to the first chassis and the second chassis without changing cables and interfaces between the first chassis, the second chassis, and the fourth chassis. This facilitates the capacity expansion, so that the back-to-back cluster system may be smoothly expanded to the multi-chassis cluster data communications system in this embodiment.

In one embodiment, the data communications system further includes a fifth chassis, the fifth chassis includes a third high-performance switching module, a seventh low-performance switching module, and an eighth low-performance switching module, the first chassis further includes a ninth low-performance switching module, and the second chassis further includes a tenth low-performance switching module,

the third high-performance switching module is connected to the ninth low-performance switching module and the tenth low-performance switching module, the first high-performance switching module is connected to the seventh low-performance switching module, and the second high-performance switching module is connected to the eighth low-performance switching module, and

the third high-performance switching module is configured to connect to an eleventh low-performance switching module in the third chassis that is to be added to the communications system. Therefore, during capacity expansion of the data communications system including a plurality of type-A service chassis, a type-B service chassis that is to be added to the system can be separately connected to the type-A service chassis without changing cables and interfaces between the type-A service chassis. This facilitates the capacity expansion, and implements the smooth capacity expansion.

In one embodiment, the data communications system further includes a sixth chassis, and the sixth chassis includes a twelfth low-performance switching module, a thirteenth low-performance switching module, and a fourteenth low-performance switching module, and

the twelfth low-performance switching module is connected to the first high-performance switching module, the thirteenth low-performance switching module is connected to the second high-performance switching module, and the fourteenth low-performance switching module is connected to the third high-performance switching module. Therefore, during capacity expansion of the data communications system including the plurality of type-A service chassis, and at least one type-B service chassis, a type-B service chassis that is to be added to the system can be separately connected to the type-A service chassis without changing cables and interfaces between the type-A service chassis, or cables and interfaces between the deployed type-B service chassis and the type-A service chassis. This facilitates the capacity expansion, and implements the smooth capacity expansion.

In one embodiment, the first chassis further includes a first service forwarding module and a second service forwarding module, the first service forwarding module and the second service forwarding module are configured to communicate with a device outside the data communications system, and the first low-performance switching module is configured to:

send data received from the first service forwarding module to the second high-performance switching module; and

send data received from the second high-performance switching module to the second service forwarding module. Therefore, a service forwarding module is disposed in the first chassis, and in other words, the service forwarding module is disposed in each type-A service chassis, so that a chassis in the data communications system may communicate with another device outside the data communications system by using the service forwarding module. In addition, each type-A service chassis may complete data exchange between the chassis in the data communications system by using the service forwarding module, a low-performance switching module in a current type-A service chassis, and a high-performance switching module in another type-A service chassis.

In one embodiment, the first chassis further includes a third service forwarding module and a fourth service forwarding module, the third service forwarding module and the fourth service forwarding module are configured to communicate with the device outside the data communications system, and the first high-performance switching module is configured to:

send data received from the third service forwarding module to the second low-performance switching module; and

send data received from the second low-performance switching module to the fourth service forwarding module. Therefore, a plurality of service forwarding modules are disposed in the first chassis, and in other words, the plurality of service forwarding modules are disposed in each type-A service chassis, so that the chassis in the data communications system may communicate with the another device outside the data communications system by using the service forwarding module. In addition, each type-A service chassis may complete the data exchange between the chassis in the data communications system by using the service forwarding module, a high-performance switching module in a current type-A service chassis, and a low-performance switching module in another type-A service chassis.

In one embodiment, the first high-performance switching module is configured to:

after the third chassis is added to the communications system, send data received from the third low-performance switching module to the second low-performance switching module; and

after the third chassis is added to the communications system, send data received from the second low-performance switching module to the third low-performance switching module. Therefore, when the data communications system includes two type-A service chassis and one type-B service chassis, data may be sent and received between each type-A service chassis and the type-B service chassis by using a low-performance switching module in the type-B service chassis. Each type-A service chassis may send data of the type-B service chassis to another type-A service chassis. Each type-A service chassis may send data of the another type-A service chassis to the type-B service chassis. Therefore, the data is exchanged between chassis in the data communications system.

In one embodiment, the first high-performance switching module is configured to:

send data received from the fifth low-performance switching module to the second low-performance switching module; and

send data received from the second low-performance switching module to the fifth low-performance switching module. Therefore, when the data communications system includes at least one type-A service chassis and at least one type-B service chassis, data may be sent and received between the type-A service chassis and the type-B service chassis by using a low-performance switching module in the type-B service chassis. Each type-A service chassis may send data of the type-B service chassis to another type-A service chassis. Each type-A service chassis may send data of the another type-A service chassis to the type-B service chassis. Therefore, the data is exchanged between chassis in the data communications system. When more type-B service chassis are added to the data communications system, the foregoing data exchange process can still be implemented.

In one embodiment, the first high-performance switching module is configured to:

send data received from the second low-performance switching module to the seventh low-performance switching module;

send data received from the seventh low-performance switching module to the second low-performance switching module;

after the third chassis is added to the communications system, send data received from the third low-performance switching module to one of the second low-performance switching module and the seventh low-performance switching module; and

after the third chassis is added to the communications system, send data received from the one of the second low-performance switching module and the seventh low-performance switching module to the third low-performance switching module. Therefore, for the data communications system including the plurality of type-A service chassis, during capacity expansion of the data communications system including the type-A service chassis, the type-B service chassis that is to be added to the data communications system can be separately connected to the type-A service chassis without changing the cables and interfaces between the type-A service chassis. This facilitates the capacity expansion, and implements the smooth capacity expansion. In addition, data communication in the data communications system is implemented between various service chassis and the type-B service chassis by using a high-performance switching module, and a low-performance switching module.

In one embodiment, the first high-performance switching module is configured to:

send data received from the twelfth low-performance switching module to one of the second low-performance switching module and the seventh low-performance switching module; and

send data received from the one of the second low-performance switching module and the seventh low-performance switching module to the twelfth low-performance switching module. Therefore, during capacity expansion of the data communications system including the plurality of type-A service chassis, and the at least one type-B service chassis, the type-B service chassis that is to be added to the system can be separately connected to the type-A service chassis without changing the cables and interfaces between the type-A service chassis, or the cables and the interfaces between the deployed type-B service chassis and the type-A service chassis. This facilitates the capacity expansion, and implements the smooth capacity expansion. In addition, the type-A service chassis and the type-B service chassis each have a service forwarding module, so that the chassis in the data communications system may communicate with the another device outside the data communications system by using the service forwarding module. The type-A service chassis and the type-B service chassis each complete the data communication in the data communications system by using a high-performance switching module, and a low-performance switching module.

A second aspect of this application provides a data communications system, including a first chassis and a second chassis, where

the first chassis includes a first high-performance switching module, a first service forwarding module, and a second service forwarding module, and the first service forwarding module and the second service forwarding module are configured to communicate with a device outside the data communications system;

the second chassis includes a first low-performance switching module;

the first high-performance switching module is connected to the first low-performance switching module;

the first high-performance switching module is configured to send data received from the first service forwarding module to the first low-performance switching module, and send data received from the first low-performance switching module to the second service forwarding module; and

the first high-performance switching module is further configured to connect to a second low-performance switching module in a third chassis that is to be added to the communications system. Therefore, a central switching chassis is removed, and only a type-C service chassis and at least one type-D service chassis are deployed. The type-C service chassis is a service chassis that includes only a high-performance switching module. The type-D service chassis is a service chassis that includes only a low-performance switching module. Therefore, a footprint of the data communications system is reduced. In addition, because the central switching chassis is removed, there is no need to add an auxiliary hardware device, and power consumption and costs are reduced. A structure of the data communications system provided in the second aspect has a feature of being capable of smooth expansion. During capacity expansion of the data communications system including the first chassis and the second chassis, the third chassis that is to be added to the system can be separately connected to the first chassis without changing cables and interfaces between the first chassis and the second chassis. This facilitates the capacity expansion, so that a back-to-back cluster system may be smoothly expanded to a multi-chassis cluster data communications system in this embodiment.

In one embodiment, the first high-performance switching module is further configured to:

after the third chassis is added to the communications system, send data received from the second low-performance switching module to one of the first low-performance switching module, the first service forwarding module, and the second service forwarding module; and

after the third chassis is added to the communications system, send data received from the one of the first low-performance switching module, the first service forwarding module, and the second service forwarding module to the second low-performance switching module. Therefore, when more type-D service chassis are to be added to the data communications system provided in the second aspect, the type-D service chassis that is to be added is connected to the type-C service chassis. There is no need to change services on both the deployed type-C service chassis and the deployed type-D service chassis, or inter-chassis connections between the deployed type-C service chassis and the deployed type-D service chassis. This implements the smooth capacity expansion. In addition, the type-C service chassis may receive, by using a high-performance switching module, data sent by the type-D service chassis, and then store the data in a current type-C service chassis, or send the data to another type-D service chassis. The type-C service chassis may further send data of the type-C service chassis to the type-D service chassis, so as to implement data communication between chassis in the data communications system.

A third aspect of this application provides a data communications method applied to a data communications system. The data communications system includes a first chassis and a second chassis. The first chassis includes a first high-performance switching module and a first low-performance switching module. The second chassis includes a second high-performance switching module and a second low-performance switching module. The first high-performance switching module is connected to the second low-performance switching module. The first low-performance switching module is connected to the second high-performance switching module. The first high-performance switching module is configured to connect to a third low-performance switching module in a third chassis that is to be added to the communications system. The second high-performance switching module is configured to connect to a fourth low-performance switching module in the third chassis that is to be added to the communications system. The method includes:

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the third low-performance switching module to the second low-performance switching module, and sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the second low-performance switching module to the third low-performance switching module; and

sending, by the second high-performance switching module, data received from the fourth low-performance switching module to the first low-performance switching module, and sending, by the second high-performance switching module, data received from the first low-performance switching module to the fourth low-performance switching module.

In one embodiment, the data communications system further includes a fourth chassis, and the fourth chassis includes a fifth low-performance switching module and a sixth low-performance switching module; and

the first high-performance switching module is connected to the fifth low-performance switching module, and the second high-performance switching module is connected to the sixth low-performance switching module.

In one embodiment, the data communications system further includes a fifth chassis, the fifth chassis includes a third high-performance switching module, a seventh low-performance switching module, and an eighth low-performance switching module, the first chassis further includes a ninth low-performance switching module, and the second chassis further includes a tenth low-performance switching module,

the third high-performance switching module is connected to the ninth low-performance switching module and the tenth low-performance switching module, the first high-performance switching module is connected to the seventh low-performance switching module, and the second high-performance switching module is connected to the eighth low-performance switching module, and

the third high-performance switching module is configured to connect to an eleventh low-performance switching module in the third chassis that is to be added to the communications system, and

the method further includes:

sending, by the third high-performance switching module, data received from the eleventh low-performance switching module to one of the ninth low-performance switching module and the tenth low-performance switching module, and sending data received from the one of the ninth low-performance switching module and the tenth low-performance switching module to the eleventh low-performance switching module.

In one embodiment, the data communications system further includes a sixth chassis, and the sixth chassis includes a twelfth low-performance switching module, a thirteenth low-performance switching module, and a fourteenth low-performance switching module, and

the twelfth low-performance switching module is connected to the first high-performance switching module, the thirteenth low-performance switching module is connected to the second high-performance switching module, and the fourteenth low-performance switching module is connected to the third high-performance switching module.

In one embodiment, the first chassis further includes a first service forwarding module and a second service forwarding module, the first service forwarding module and the second service forwarding module are configured to communicate with a device outside the data communications system, and the method further includes:

sending, by the first low-performance switching module, data received from the first service forwarding module to the second high-performance switching module; and

sending, by the first low-performance switching module, data received from the second high-performance switching module to the second service forwarding module.

In one embodiment, the first chassis further includes a third service forwarding module and a fourth service forwarding module, the third service forwarding module and the fourth service forwarding module are configured to communicate with the device outside the data communications system, and the method further includes:

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the third service forwarding module to the second low-performance switching module; and

sending, by the second low-performance switching module, data received from the second high-performance switching module to the fourth service forwarding module.

In one embodiment, the method further includes:

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the fifth low-performance switching module to the second low-performance switching module; and

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the second low-performance switching module to the fifth low-performance switching module.

In one embodiment, the method further includes:

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the second low-performance switching module to the seventh low-performance switching module;

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the seventh low-performance switching module to the second low-performance switching module;

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the third low-performance switching module to one of the second low-performance switching module and the seventh low-performance switching module; and

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the one of the second low-performance switching module and the seventh low-performance switching module to the third low-performance switching module.

In one embodiment, the method further includes:

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the twelfth low-performance switching module to one of the second low-performance switching module and the seventh low-performance switching module; and

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the one of the second low-performance switching module and the seventh low-performance switching module to the twelfth low-performance switching module.

A fourth aspect of this application provides a data communications method applied to a data communications system. The data communications system includes a first chassis and a second chassis. The first chassis includes a first high-performance switching module, a first service forwarding module, and a second service forwarding module. The first service forwarding module and the second service forwarding module are configured to communicate with a device outside the data communications system. The second chassis includes a first low-performance switching module. The first high-performance switching module is connected to the first low-performance switching module. The first high-performance switching module is configured to connect to a second low-performance switching module in a third chassis that is to be added to the communications system. The method includes:

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the first service forwarding module to the first low-performance switching module;

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the first low-performance switching module to the second service forwarding module;

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the second low-performance switching module to one of the first low-performance switching module, the first service forwarding module, and the second service forwarding module; and

sending, by the first high-performance switching module, data received from the one of the first low-performance switching module, the first service forwarding module, and the second service forwarding module to the second low-performance switching module.

According to a fifth aspect, a data communications system is provided, including units or means (means) configured to perform operations of any method in the third aspect.

According to a sixth aspect, a data communications system is provided. Each chassis in the data communications system includes a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program. The processor invokes the computer program stored in the memory, to perform any method in the third aspect.

According to a seventh aspect, a data communications system is provided, including at least one processing element or chip configured to perform any method in the third aspect.

According to an eighth aspect, a program is provided. When being executed by a processor, the program is used to perform any method in the third aspect.

According to a ninth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, including the program in the eighth aspect.

According to a tenth aspect, a data communications system is provided, including units or means (means) configured to perform operations of any method in the fourth aspect.

According to an eleventh aspect, a data communications system is provided. Each chassis in the data communications system includes a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program. The processor invokes the computer program stored in the memory, to perform any method in the fourth aspect.

According to a twelfth aspect, a data communications system is provided, including at least one processing element or chip configured to perform any method in the fourth aspect.

According to a thirteenth aspect, a program is provided. When being executed by a processor, the program is used to perform any method in the fourth aspect.

According to a fourteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, including the program in the thirteenth aspect.

