Sharing a network interface card among multiple hosts
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A network interface device, comprising:
- a fabric interface, adapted to exchange messages over a switch fabric with a plurality of host processors, the messages containing data;
a network interface, comprising one or more ports adapted to be coupled to a network external to the switch fabric; and
message processing circuitry, coupled between the fabric interface and the network interface, so as to enable at least first and second host processors among the plurality of the host processors to use a single one of the ports substantially simultaneously so as to transmit and receive frames containing the data over the network.
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Abstract
A network interface device includes a fabric interface, adapted to exchange messages over a switch fabric with a plurality of host processors, the messages containing data, and a network interface, including one or more ports adapted to be coupled to a network external to the switch fabric. Message processing circuitry is coupled between the fabric interface and the network interface, so as to enable at least first and second host processors among the plurality of the host processors to use a single one of the ports substantially simultaneously so as to transmit and receive frames containing the data over the network.
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Citations
55 Claims
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1. A network interface device, comprising:
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a fabric interface, adapted to exchange messages over a switch fabric with a plurality of host processors, the messages containing data;
a network interface, comprising one or more ports adapted to be coupled to a network external to the switch fabric; and
message processing circuitry, coupled between the fabric interface and the network interface, so as to enable at least first and second host processors among the plurality of the host processors to use a single one of the ports substantially simultaneously so as to transmit and receive frames containing the data over the network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for interfacing a plurality of host processors to a network, comprising:
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providing a network interface device having one or more ports connected to a network;
coupling the host processors to exchange messages containing data over a switch fabric with the network interface device, such that at least first and second host processors among the plurality of the host processors are assigned to use a single one of the ports of the network interface device; and
processing the messages exchanged with the host processors so as to enable the first and second host processors to use the single one of the ports substantially simultaneously to transmit and receive frames containing the data over the network. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A network interface device, comprising:
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a fabric interface, adapted to exchange messages over a switch fabric with a plurality of host processors, including first and second host processors, the messages containing data and including outgoing messages sent by the host processors over the switch fabric;
a network interface, adapted to be coupled to a network external to the switch fabric; and
message processing circuitry, coupled between the fabric interface and the network interface, and adapted to extract the data from the outgoing messages and to generate frames containing the extracted data for transmission over the network via the network interface, and further adapted to determine whether any of the frames generated in response to one of the outgoing messages from the first host processor are destined to be received by the second host processor and, if so, to loop the data in the frames destined to be received by the second host processor back to the fabric interface, to be conveyed over the switch fabric to the second host processor without being transmitted over the network. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49)
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50. A network interface device, comprising:
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a fabric interface, adapted to exchange messages over a switch fabric with a plurality of host processors, the messages containing data;
a network interface, adapted to be coupled to a network external to the switch fabric; and
message processing circuitry, coupled between the fabric interface and the network interface, so as to enable at least first and second host processors among the plurality of the host processors to transmit and receive frames containing the data over the network via the network interface, the message processing circuitry comprising a plurality of counters, which are adapted to collect performance statistics individually for each of the first and second host processors regarding the frames transmitted and received via the network interface.
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51. A method for interfacing a plurality of host processors to a network, comprising:
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connecting a network interface device to a network;
coupling the host processors, including at least first and second host processors among the plurality of the host processors, to exchange messages containing data over a switch fabric with the network interface device, the messages including outgoing messages sent by the host processors over the switch fabric;
processing the messages so as to extract the data from the outgoing messages and to generate frames containing the extracted data for transmission over the network via the network interface device; and
determining whether any of the frames generated for transmission over the network in response to one of the outgoing messages from the first host processor are destined to be received by the second host processor and, if so, looping the data in the frames destined to be received by the second host processor back to the fabric interface, to be conveyed over the switch fabric to the second host processor without being transmitted over the network. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54)
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55. A method for interfacing a plurality of host processors to a network, comprising:
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connecting a network interface device to a network;
coupling the host processors to exchange messages containing data over a switch fabric with the network interface device;
processing the messages exchanged with the host processors so as to enable the first and second host processors to transmit and receive frames containing the data over the network via the network interface device; and
collecting performance statistics at the network interface device individually for each of the first and second host processors regarding the frames transmitted and received via the network interface device.
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Specification