COMPUTING ENCLOSURE BACKPLANE WITH FLEXIBLE NETWORK SUPPORT

Computing unit enclosures are often configured to connect units (e.g., server racks or trays) with a wired network. Because the network type may vary (e.g., Ethernet, InfiniBand, and Fibre Channel), such enclosures often provide network resources connecting each unit with each supported network type. However, such architectures may present inefficiencies such as unused network resources, and may constrain network support for the units to a small set of supported network types. Presented herein are enclosure architectures enabling flexible and efficient network support by including a backplane comprising a backplane bus that exchanges data between the units and a network adapter using an expansion bus protocol, such as PCI-Express. By shifting the point of network specialization from the enclosure to the network adapter, such architectures may be compatible with network adapters of any network type that communicate with the units according to a widely supported and network-type-independent expansion bus protocol.