Unified system area network and switch
First Claim
1. A method of transmitting messages between a plurality of servers, each server having a local memory and processor, comprising:
- connecting each of said plurality of servers to a switch using PCI EXPRESS, said switch comprising a plurality of non-transparent bridges, one of said non-transparent bridges used to connect to a respective one of said plurality of servers,configuring each of said non-transparent bridges to allow said network switch to access at least a portion of said local memory of said server connected to said non-transparent bridge;
building a look up table in said network switch associating a destination address with one of said plurality of non-transparent bridges;
creating a message in said local memory in a first server, said message having a destination address;
using said network switch to read said destination address in said message by accessing said local memory of said first server using a first non-transparent bridge associated with said first server;
determining the destination server by looking up said destination address in said look up table;
using said network switch to read said message by accessing said local memory of said first server using said first non-transparent bridge; and
copying said message to local memory of said destination server by accessing said local memory of said destination server by using a second non-transparent bridge associated with said destination server.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A network switch, based on the PCI EXPRESS protocol, is disclosed. The switch includes a processor, local memory and a plurality of non-transparent bridges. By configuring the non-transparent bridges appropriately, the network switch can facilitate a number of different communication mechanisms, including TCP/IP communication between servers, server clusters, and virtualized I/O device utilization. For example, the network switch may configure the non-transparent bridges so as to have access to the physical memory of every server attached to it. It can then move data from the memory of any server to the memory of any other server. In another embodiment, the network switch is connected to an I/O device, and multiple servers are given access to that I/O device via virtualized connections.
40 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of transmitting messages between a plurality of servers, each server having a local memory and processor, comprising:
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connecting each of said plurality of servers to a switch using PCI EXPRESS, said switch comprising a plurality of non-transparent bridges, one of said non-transparent bridges used to connect to a respective one of said plurality of servers, configuring each of said non-transparent bridges to allow said network switch to access at least a portion of said local memory of said server connected to said non-transparent bridge; building a look up table in said network switch associating a destination address with one of said plurality of non-transparent bridges; creating a message in said local memory in a first server, said message having a destination address; using said network switch to read said destination address in said message by accessing said local memory of said first server using a first non-transparent bridge associated with said first server; determining the destination server by looking up said destination address in said look up table; using said network switch to read said message by accessing said local memory of said first server using said first non-transparent bridge; and copying said message to local memory of said destination server by accessing said local memory of said destination server by using a second non-transparent bridge associated with said destination server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for transmitting messages between a plurality of servers, comprising:
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a first server having a first local memory, a first processor and a first PCI EXPRESS port, A second server having a second local memory, a second processor and a second PCI EXPRESS port; a third server having a third local memory, a third processor and a third PCI EXPRESS port; a network switch comprising a fourth processor, a fourth local memory, a first non-transparent bridge connected to said first PCI EXPRESS port, a second non-transparent bridge connected to said second PCI EXPRESS port, and a third non-transparent bridge connected to said third PCI EXPRESS port wherein said fourth local memory further comprises computer executable instructions adapted to; configure each of said first, second and third non-transparent bridges to allow said network switch to access at least a portion of said local memory of said first, second and third servers; build a look up table in said fourth local memory associating a destination address with one of said non-transparent bridges; read a destination address in a message in said first local memory by accessing said first local memory by using said first non-transparent bridge; determine the destination server by looking up said destination address in said look up table, wherein said destination server is selected from said second and said third server; read said message by accessing said first local memory of said first server using said first non-transparent bridge; and copy said message to local memory of said destination server by accessing said local memory of said destination server by using said non-transparent bridge associated with said destination server. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification