Apparatus and method for hardware implementation or acceleration of operating system functions
First Claim
1. Apparatus for handling service requests over a network, wherein the network utilizes a protocol, the apparatus comprising:
- a network subsystem (a) for receiving, via a network receive interface, service requests using the network protocol and forwarding such requests to a service output and (b) for receiving, via a service input, data to satisfy network requests and transmitting, via a network transmit interface, such data using the network protocol; and
a service subsystem having (a) a service request receive interface coupled to the service output of the network subsystem and (b) a service request transmit interface coupled to the service input of the network subsystem for delivering data to the network subsystem satisfying the network service requests;
so that a first data path runs in a first direction from the network receive interface though the network subsystem via the service output to the service subsystem and a second data path runs in a second direction from the service subsystem into the network subsystem at the service input and through the network subsystem to the network transmit interface.
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Abstract
An apparatus in one embodiment handles service requests over a network, wherein the network utilizes a protocol. In this aspect, the apparatus includes: a network subsystem for receiving and transmitting network service requests using the network protocol; and a service subsystem, coupled to the network subsystem, for satisfying the network service requests. At least one of the network subsystem and the service subsystem is hardware-implemented; the other of the network subsystem and the service subsystem may optionally be hardware-accelerated. A variety of related embodiments are also provided, including file servers and web servers.
116 Citations
41 Claims
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1. Apparatus for handling service requests over a network, wherein the network utilizes a protocol, the apparatus comprising:
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a network subsystem (a) for receiving, via a network receive interface, service requests using the network protocol and forwarding such requests to a service output and (b) for receiving, via a service input, data to satisfy network requests and transmitting, via a network transmit interface, such data using the network protocol; and
a service subsystem having (a) a service request receive interface coupled to the service output of the network subsystem and (b) a service request transmit interface coupled to the service input of the network subsystem for delivering data to the network subsystem satisfying the network service requests;
so that a first data path runs in a first direction from the network receive interface though the network subsystem via the service output to the service subsystem and a second data path runs in a second direction from the service subsystem into the network subsystem at the service input and through the network subsystem to the network transmit interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. Apparatus for handling service requests over a network, wherein the network utilizes a protocol, the apparatus comprising:
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a network subsystem for receiving and transmitting network service requests using the network protocol; and
a service subsystem, coupled to the network subsystem, for satisfying a first predetermined set of the network service requests;
wherein the network subsystem and the service subsystem are interconnected by a first unidirectional communication link for conveying data from the network subsystem to the service subsystem and by a second unidirectional communication link for conveying data from the service subsystem to the network subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. Scalable apparatus for handling service requests over a network, wherein the network utilizes a protocol, the apparatus comprising:
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a first plurality of network subsystems for receiving and transmitting network service requests using the network protocol;
a second plurality of service subsystems, for satisfying a first predetermined set of the network service requests;
wherein the network subsystems and the service subsystems are interconnected by a first unidirectional communication link for conveying data from the network subsystems to the service subsystems and by a second unidirectional communication link for conveying data from the service subsystems to the network subsystems. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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36. A scalable service subsystem for interfacing a storage arrangement with a network over which may be generated a storage access request, the subsystem comprising:
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a first plurality of service modules that receive network service requests and fulfill such service requests and in doing so may issue data storage access requests;
a second plurality of file system modules that receive data storage access requests and fulfill such storage access requests and in doing so may issue storage arrangement access requests;
wherein the service modules and the file system modules are interconnected by a first unidirectional communication link for conveying data from the service modules to the file system modules and by a second unidirectional communication link for conveying data from the file system modules to the service modules. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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Specification