Abstract: An example apparatus and method for preventing component overheating and extending system survivability of an appliance is provided and may include a component assembly configured to be inserted in a first slot of the appliance. The component assembly may include a door disposed on its side and extending substantially along the length of the component assembly. The door is movable between a first and a second position and the component assembly is configured so that when the component assembly is inserted in the first slot and the trap door is in the second position, the trap door provides a barrier to airflow in a second slot of the switch that is adjacent to the first slot when a second component assembly has been removed from the second slot.

Abstract: An example apparatus and method for preventing component overheating and extending system survivability of an appliance is provided and may include a component assembly configured to be inserted in a first slot of the appliance. The component assembly may include a door disposed on its side and extending substantially along the length of the component assembly. The door is movable between a first and a second position and the component assembly is configured so that when the component assembly is inserted in the first slot and the trap door is in the second position, the trap door provides a barrier to airflow in a second slot of the switch that is adjacent to the first slot when a second component assembly has been removed from the second slot.

Abstract: A programmable, distributed network routing system and method uses routing tables which are distributed throughout the network. Routing tables are programmed to route packets to the target device by the preferred route. When a packet is injected into the network for delivery to a particular node each router along the path taken by the packet consults its local routing table and sends the packet along the preferred route. In one implementation the router tables contained in each router contain hierarchical information about the network. For nodes that are near the subject router, a complete local table entry exists. For nodes which are more distant, several of these distant nodes share a single remote table entry. When a router receives a packet, it reads the egress port ID from the packet header and begins arbitrating for that egress port so that the packet can be sent to the next router. At the same time, the router accesses the router table to determine the egress port ID for the next router.

Abstract: A vector routing scheme provides an effective method for exploring nodes in a multi-processor computer system consisting of an inter-connection network of nodes connected by edges. The object of this exploration is to determine the configuration of the network to facilitate internode communications. Any node in the network can systematically build a connectivity graph of the network indicating the nodes of the network and the connections to those nodes. This is accomplished by sending vector-routed packets cross the network in various specified directions from an originating node. During this transmission, as the vector-routed packets are sent from the originating node to a target device, the packets gather information about the network, and specifically about each router through which they are muted. The packets are then returned to the originating node with the gathered configuration information. This configuration information is complied to build the connectivity graph of the network.