METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO OFFLOAD OVERLAY NETWORK PACKET ENCAPSULATION TO HARDWARE

A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network is provided. The method, at a virtualization software of a host, sends a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with the host. The mapping table maps the identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel on the overlay network. The method, at the virtualization software, receives a packet from a VM of the tenant. The method sends the packet to the physical NIC. The method, at the physical NIC, encapsulates the packet for transmission over the overlay network by using the mapping table. The method of claim also tags the packet by the virtualization software as a packet that requires encapsulation for transmission in the overlay network prior to sending the packet to the physical NIC. 1. A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network , the method comprising:at a virtualization software of a host, sending a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with the host, the mapping table associating an identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host with an identification of a tunnel on the overlay network;at the virtualization software, receiving a packet from a VM of the tenant;sending the packet to the physical NIC; andat the physical NIC, encapsulating the packet, for transmission through the tunnel associated with the VM, using the mapping table.2. The method of further comprising tagging the packet by the virtualization software as a packet that requires encapsulation for transmission in the overlay network prior to sending the packet to the physical NIC.3. The method of further comprising updating the mapping table by the virtualization software after receiving a control event in a set of control events trigging the update of the mapping table; andsending the updated mapping ...

Methods and systems to achieve multi-tenancy in RDMA over converged Ethernet

A method for providing multi-tenancy support for RDMA in a system that includes a plurality of physical hosts. Each physical host hosts a set of data compute nodes (DCNs). The method, at an RDMA protocol stack of the first host, receives a packet that includes a request from a first DCN hosted on a first host for RDMA data transfer from a second DCN hosted on a second host. The method sends a set of parameters of an overlay network that are associated with the first DCN to an RDMA physical network interface controller of the first host. The set of parameters are used by the RDMA physical NIC to encapsulate the packet with an RDMA data transfer header and an overlay network header by using the set of parameters of the overlay network to transfer the encapsulated packet to the second physical host using the overlay network.

Methods and systems to achieve multi-tenancy in RDMA over converged ethernet

A method for providing multi-tenancy support for RDMA in a system that includes a plurality of physical hosts. Each physical host hosts a set of data compute nodes (DCNs). The method, at an RDMA protocol stack of the first host, receives a packet that includes a request from a first DCN hosted on a first host for RDMA data transfer from a second DCN hosted on a second host. The method sends a set of parameters of an overlay network that are associated with the first DCN to an RDMA physical network interface controller of the first host. The set of parameters are used by the RDMA physical NIC to encapsulate the packet with an RDMA data transfer header and an overlay network header by using the set of parameters of the overlay network to transfer the encapsulated packet to the second physical host using the overlay network.

METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO ACHIEVE MULTI-TENANCY IN RDMA OVER CONVERGED ETHERNET

A method for providing multi-tenancy support for RDMA in a system that includes a plurality of physical hosts. Each physical host hosts a set of data compute nodes (DCNs). The method, at an RDMA protocol stack of the first host, receives a packet that includes a request from a first DCN hosted on a first host for RDMA data transfer from a second DCN hosted on a second host. The method sends a set of parameters of an overlay network that are associated with the first DCN to an RDMA physical network interface controller of the first host. The set of parameters are used by the RDMA physical NIC to encapsulate the packet with an RDMA data transfer header and an overlay network header by using the set of parameters of the overlay network to transfer the encapsulated packet to the second physical host using the overlay network. 1. A method for providing multi-tenancy support for remote direct memory access (RDMA) in a system comprising a plurality of physical hosts , each physical host hosting a set of data compute nodes (DCNs) , the method comprising:at an RDMA protocol stack of the first host, receiving a packet comprising a request from a first DCN hosted on a first host for RDMA data transfer from a second DCN hosted on a second host; andsending a set of parameters of an overlay network associated with the first DCN to a physical RDMA network interface controller (NIC) of the first host;wherein the set of parameters are for the physical RDMA NIC to encapsulate the packet with (i) an RDMA data transfer header and (ii) an overlay network header using the set of parameters of the overlay network for transferring the encapsulated packet to the second physical host using the overlay network.2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first physical host comprises virtualization software comprising a logical forwarding element (LFE) claim 1 , wherein the first DCN is connected to a port of the LFE through a virtual NIC claim 1 , the method further comprising:determining said ...

METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO OFFLOAD OVERLAY NETWORK PACKET ENCAPSULATION TO HARDWARE

A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network is provided. The method, at a virtualization software of a host, sends a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with the host. The mapping table maps the identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel on the overlay network. The method, at the virtualization software, receives a packet from a VM of the tenant. The method sends the packet to the physical NIC. The method, at the physical NIC, encapsulates the packet for transmission over the overlay network by using the mapping table. The method of claim also tags the packet by the virtualization software as a packet that requires encapsulation for transmission in the overlay network prior to sending the packet to the physical NIC. 120-. (canceled)21. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network , the program for execution by at least one processing unit of a host machine , the program comprising sets of instructions for:sending a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (PNIC) of the host machine, the mapping table associating at least one tunnel endpoint of the overlay network with each data compute node (DCN) of a set of DCNs executing on the host machine;determining that overlay network encapsulation of a packet received from a DCN on the host machine should be offloaded; andassociating the packet with a tag to specify that the PNIC has to perform the overlay-network packet encapsulation, wherein the PNIC receives the packet without an overlay-network encapsulation header, and encapsulates the packet with an overlay-network encapsulation header by using the mapping table to identify a tunnel endpoint based on an overlay network identifier.22. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the ...

Methods and systems to achieve multi-tenancy in RDMA over converged ethernet

A method for providing multi-tenancy support for RDMA in a system that includes a plurality of physical hosts. Each each physical host hosts a set of data compute nodes (DCNs). The method, at an RDMA protocol stack of the first host, receives a packet that includes a request from a first DCN hosted on a first host for RDMA data transfer from a second DCN hosted on a second host. The method sends a set of parameters of an overlay network that are associated with the first DCN to an RDMA physical network interface controller of the first host. The set of parameters are used by the RDMA physical NIC to encapsulate the packet with an RDMA data transfer header and an overlay network header by using the set of parameters of the overlay network to transfer the encapsulated packet to the second physical host using the overlay network.

Methods and systems to offload overlay network packet encapsulation to hardware

A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network is provided. The method, at a virtualization software of a host, sends a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with the host. The mapping table maps the identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel on the overlay network. The method, at the virtualization software, receives a packet from a VM of the tenant. The method sends the packet to the physical NIC. The method, at the physical NIC, encapsulates the packet for transmission over the overlay network by using the mapping table. The method of claim also tags the packet by the virtualization software as a packet that requires encapsulation for transmission in the overlay network prior to sending the packet to the physical NIC.

METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO ACHIEVE MULTI-TENANCY IN RDMA OVER CONVERGED ETHERNET

A method for providing multi-tenancy support for RDMA in a system that includes a plurality of physical hosts. Each each physical host hosts a set of data compute nodes (DCNs). The method, at an RDMA protocol stack of the first host, receives a packet that includes a request from a first DCN hosted on a first host for RDMA data transfer from a second DCN hosted on a second host. The method sends a set of parameters of an overlay network that are associated with the first DCN to an RDMA physical network interface controller of the first host. The set of parameters are used by the RDMA physical NIC to encapsulate the packet with an RDMA data transfer header and an overlay network header by using the set of parameters of the overlay network to transfer the encapsulated packet to the second physical host using the overlay network.

METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO ACHIEVE MULTI-TENANCY IN RDMA OVER CONVERGED ETHERNET

A method for providing multi-tenancy support for RDMA in a system that includes a plurality of physical hosts. Each each physical host hosts a set of data compute nodes (DCNs). The method, at an RDMA protocol stack of the first host, receives a packet that includes a request from a first DCN hosted on a first host for RDMA data transfer from a second DCN hosted on a second host. The method sends a set of parameters of an overlay network that are associated with the first DCN to an RDMA physical network interface controller of the first host. The set of parameters are used by the RDMA physical NIC to encapsulate the packet with an RDMA data transfer header and an overlay network header by using the set of parameters of the overlay network to transfer the encapsulated packet to the second physical host using the overlay network.

METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO OFFLOAD OVERLAY NETWORK PACKET ENCAPSULATION TO HARDWARE

A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network is provided. The method, at a virtualization software of a host, sends a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with the host. The mapping table maps the identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel on the overlay network. The method, at the virtualization software, receives a packet from a VM of the tenant. The method sends the packet to the physical NIC. The method, at the physical NIC, encapsulates the packet for transmission over the overlay network by using the mapping table. The method of claim also tags the packet by the virtualization software as a packet that requires encapsulation for transmission in the overlay network prior to sending the packet to the physical NIC.

Methods and systems to offload overlay network packet encapsulation to hardware

A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network is provided. The method, at a virtualization software of a host, sends a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with the host. The mapping table maps the identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel on the overlay network. The method, at the virtualization software, receives a packet from a VM of the tenant. The method sends the packet to the physical NIC. The method, at the physical NIC, encapsulates the packet for transmission over the overlay network by using the mapping table. The method of claim also tags the packet by the virtualization software as a packet that requires encapsulation for transmission in the overlay network prior to sending the packet to the physical NIC.

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING MULTI-TENANCY SUPPORT FOR SINGLE ROOT I/O VIRTUALIZATION

A method for providing support for multi-tenancy in single root input/out virtualization (SR-IOV) enabled physical network interface controller (NIC) is provided. The NIC is associated with a host. The SR-IOV provides a physical function (PF) and a set of virtual functions (VFs) for the NIC. The method at a VF of the physical NIC, receives a mapping table of an overlay network which associates an identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel end point on the overlay network. The method receives a transmit packet from a VM connected to the VF and performs a lookup in the mapping table to identify source and destination tunnel end points associated with source and destination VMs in the packet. The method encapsulates the packet, for transmission through the tunnel end point associated with the source VM. 1. A method for providing support for multi-tenancy in single root input/out virtualization (SR-IOV) enabled physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with a host , the SR-IOV providing a physical function (PF) and a set of virtual functions (VFs) for the NIC , the method comprising:at a VF of the physical NIC, receiving a mapping table of an overlay network, the mapping table associating an identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel end point on the overlay network;at the VF, receiving a transmit packet from a VM connected to the VF;at the VF, performing a lookup in the mapping table to identify source and destination tunnel end points associated with source and destination VMs in the packet; andat the VF, encapsulating the packet, for transmission through the tunnel end point associated with the source VM.2. The method of further comprising transmitting the encapsulated packet through the tunnel end point associated with the source VM.3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification of the tunnel comprises an ...

METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO OFFLOAD OVERLAY NETWORK PACKET ENCAPSULATION TO HARDWARE

A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network is provided. The method, at a virtualization software of a host, sends a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with the host. The mapping table maps the identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel on the overlay network. The method, at the virtualization software, receives a packet from a VM of the tenant. The method sends the packet to the physical NIC. The method, at the physical NIC, encapsulates the packet for transmission over the overlay network by using the mapping table. The method of claim also tags the packet by the virtualization software as a packet that requires encapsulation for transmission in the overlay network prior to sending the packet to the physical NIC. 1. A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network , the method comprising:at a virtualization software of a host, sending a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with the host, the mapping table associating an identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host with an identification of a tunnel on the overlay network;at the virtualization software, receiving a packet from a VM of the tenant;sending the packet to the physical NIC; andat the physical NIC, encapsulating the packet, for transmission through the tunnel associated with the VM, using the mapping table.2. The method of further comprising tagging the packet by the virtualization software as a packet that requires encapsulation for transmission in the overlay network prior to sending the packet to the physical NIC.3. The method of further comprising updating the mapping table by the virtualization software after receiving a control event in a set of control events trigging the update of the mapping table; andsending the updated mapping ...

METHODS AND SYSTEMS TO ACHIEVE MULTI-TENANCY IN RDMA OVER CONVERGED ETHERNET

A method for providing multi-tenancy support for RDMA in a system that includes a plurality of physical hosts. Each each physical host hosts a set of data compute nodes (DCNs). The method, at an RDMA protocol stack of the first host, receives a packet that includes a request from a first DCN hosted on a first host for RDMA data transfer from a second DCN hosted on a second host. The method sends a set of parameters of an overlay network that are associated with the first DCN to an RDMA physical network interface controller of the first host. The set of parameters are used by the RDMA physical NIC to encapsulate the packet with an RDMA data transfer header and an overlay network header by using the set of parameters of the overlay network to transfer the encapsulated packet to the second physical host using the overlay network. 120-. (canceled)21. A method of performing remote direct memory access (RDMA) between first and second host computers respectively executing first and second virtual machines (VMs) associated with a logical overlay network , the method comprising:{'claim-text': ['receiving an RDMA request that the first VM sends directly to the PNIC;', 'encapsulating the request with an encapsulation header associated with the logical overlay network;', 'sending the encapsulated RDMA request to a second PNIC of the second host computer to decapsulate the RDMA request and to send the decapsulated RDMA request directly to the second VM executing on the second host computer.'], '#text': 'at a first physical network interface controller (PNIC) of the first host computer:'}22. The method of further comprising encapsulating claim 21 , at the first PNIC claim 21 , the received RDMA request with an RDMA data transfer header.23. The method of further comprising:{'claim-text': ['receiving RDMA data from the second VM; and', 'directly inserting the RDMA data from the first PNIC into a memory buffer of the first VM bypassing a virtualization software over which the first ...

Methods and systems to offload overlay network packet encapsulation to hardware

A method for offloading packet encapsulation for an overlay network is provided. The method, at a virtualization software of a host, sends a mapping table of the overlay network to a physical network interface controller (NIC) associated with the host. The mapping table maps the identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel on the overlay network. The method, at the virtualization software, receives a packet from a VM of the tenant. The method sends the packet to the physical NIC. The method, at the physical NIC, encapsulates the packet for transmission over the overlay network by using the mapping table. The method of claim also tags the packet by the virtualization software as a packet that requires encapsulation for transmission in the overlay network prior to sending the packet to the physical NIC.

Methods and systems to achieve multi-tenancy in RDMA over converged Ethernet

A method for providing multi-tenancy support for RDMA in a system that includes a plurality of physical hosts. Each each physical host hosts a set of data compute nodes (DCNs). The method, at an RDMA protocol stack of the first host, receives a packet that includes a request from a first DCN hosted on a first host for RDMA data transfer from a second DCN hosted on a second host. The method sends a set of parameters of an overlay network that are associated with the first DCN to an RDMA physical network interface controller of the first host. The set of parameters are used by the RDMA physical NIC to encapsulate the packet with an RDMA data transfer header and an overlay network header by using the set of parameters of the overlay network to transfer the encapsulated packet to the second physical host using the overlay network.

Methods and systems for providing multi-tenancy support for Single Root I/O Virtualization

A method for providing support for multi-tenancy in single root input/out virtualization (SR-IOV) enabled physical network interface controller (NIC) is provided. The NIC is associated with a host. The SR-IOV provides a physical function (PF) and a set of virtual functions (VFs) for the NIC. The method at a VF of the physical NIC, receives a mapping table of an overlay network which associates an identification of each of a set of virtual machine (VM) of a tenant on the host to an identification of a tunnel end point on the overlay network. The method receives a transmit packet from a VM connected to the VF and performs a lookup in the mapping table to identify source and destination tunnel end points associated with source and destination VMs in the packet. The method encapsulates the packet, for transmission through the tunnel end point associated with the source VM.

Method and apparatus for real-time transport of multi-media information in a network

In one embodiment of a networking module, a first block receives a serial digital media signal, and provides a parallel digital media signal based on the serial digital media signal. A second block, operative with the first block, stores the parallel digital media signal in a corresponding slot in an outgoing frame, and sends the outgoing frame in response to receiving an incoming frame.

Method and apparatus for networking musical instruments

In one embodiment of a networking module, a first block receives a serial digital media signal, and provides a parallel digital media signal based on the serial digital media signal. A second block, operative with the first block, stores the parallel digital media signal in a corresponding slot in an outgoing frame, and sends the outgoing frame in response to receiving an incoming frame. 158-. (canceled)59. A method for communicating information in a network , said method comprising:receiving a serial digital media signal;generating a parallel digital media signal based on the serial digital media signal;receiving an incoming frame;generating an outgoing frame by storing the generated parallel digital media signal in a corresponding slot in the incoming frame; andtransmitting, by a processor, the outgoing frame in response to receipt of another incoming frame, wherein the outgoing frame includes network addressing information in addition to the generated parallel digital media signal.60. The method according to claim 59 , wherein the incoming frame is one of a series of incoming frames claim 59 , said method further comprising:receiving each frame at a predetermined interval;providing a new parallel digital media signal based on the serial digital media signal during the predetermined interval; andsending a new outgoing frame with the new parallel digital media signal each time the incoming frame is received.61. The method according to claim 59 , wherein the digital media signal is at least one of a audio signal and a video signal.62. The method according to claim 59 , further comprising receiving the serial digital media signal and generating the parallel digital media signal by a first block and receiving an incoming frame and storing the generated parallel digital media signal by a second block claim 59 , wherein the first block comprises a first block input output interface and the second block comprises a second block input output interface operatively coupled ...

DISTRIBUTED STORAGE SERVICES SUPPORTED BY A NIC

Some embodiments provide a method of providing distributed storage services to a host computer from a network interface card (NIC) of the host computer. At the NIC, the method accesses a set of one or more external storages operating outside of the host computer through a shared port of the NIC that is not only used to access the set of external storages but also for forwarding packets not related to an external storage. In some embodiments, the method accesses the external storage set by using a network fabric storage driver that employs a network fabric storage protocol to access the external storage set. The method presents the external storage as a local storage of the host computer to a set of programs executing on the host computer. In some embodiments, the method presents the local storage by using a storage emulation layer on the NIC to create a local storage construct that presents the set of external storages as a local storage of the host computer. 1. A method of emulating a local storage for a host computer comprising a network interface card (NIC) , the method comprising{'claim-text': ['deploying a storage emulator first program to emulate a local storage, from a plurality of external storages accessed through the NIC, for a set of processes executing on the host computer; and', 'deploying a storage service second program to perform a set of distributed storage services that account for the set of processes on the host computer lack of knowledge regarding plurality of external storages being used to emulate the local storage.'], '#text': 'on the NIC:'}2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of distributed storage services comprises data efficiency processes including at least one of deduplication operations and compression operations.3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of distributed storage services comprises security processes including at least one of end-to-end encryption and access control operations.4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ...

USING PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL FUNCTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A NIC TO ACCESS AN EXTERNAL STORAGE THROUGH NETWORK FABRIC DRIVER

Some embodiments provide a method of providing distributed storage services to a host computer from a network interface card (NIC) of the host computer. At the NIC, the method accesses a set of one or more external storages operating outside of the host computer through a shared port of the NIC that is not only used to access the set of external storages but also for forwarding packets not related to an external storage. In some embodiments, the method accesses the external storage set by using a network fabric storage driver that employs a network fabric storage protocol to access the external storage set. The method presents the external storage as a local storage of the host computer to a set of programs executing on the host computer. In some embodiments, the method presents the local storage by using a storage emulation layer on the NIC to create a local storage construct that presents the set of external storages as a local storage of the host computer. 1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for providing a set of one or more processes executing on a host computer access to an external storage through a network interface card (NIC) connected to a bus of the host computer , the program for execution by at least one processing unit of the NIC , the program comprising sets of instructions for:defining a physical function (PF) module to represent a port of the NIC to the set of processes, said port for use to perform read/write operations to the external storage for the set of processes, said PF for execution by at least one processing unit of the host computer;defining a virtual function (VF) module to associate with the PF and to execute with at least one processing unit of the NIC;passing storage access commands from the set of processes to the external storage through the PF, the bus, and the VF;passing storage access responses from the external storage to the set of processes through the VF, the bus and the PF.2. The non-transitory ...

Using a nic as a network accelerator to access an external storage

Some embodiments provide a method of providing distributed storage services to a host computer from a network interface card (NIC) of the host computer. At the NIC, the method accesses a set of one or more external storages operating outside of the host computer through a shared port of the NIC that is not only used to access the set of external storages but also for forwarding packets not related to an external storage. In some embodiments, the method accesses the external storage set by using a network fabric storage driver that employs a network fabric storage protocol to access the external storage set. The method presents the external storage as a local storage of the host computer to a set of programs executing on the host computer. In some embodiments, the method presents the local storage by using a storage emulation layer on the NIC to create a local storage construct that presents the set of external storages as a local storage of the host computer.

ACCESSING MULTIPLE EXTERNAL STORAGES TO PRESENT AN EMULATED LOCAL STORAGE THROUGH A NIC

Some embodiments provide a method of providing distributed storage services to a host computer from a network interface card (NIC) of the host computer. At the NIC, the method accesses a set of one or more external storages operating outside of the host computer through a shared port of the NIC that is not only used to access the set of external storages but also for forwarding packets not related to an external storage. In some embodiments, the method accesses the external storage set by using a network fabric storage driver that employs a network fabric storage protocol to access the external storage set. The method presents the external storage as a local storage of the host computer to a set of programs executing on the host computer. In some embodiments, the method presents the local storage by using a storage emulation layer on the NIC to create a local storage construct that presents the set of external storages as a local storage of the host computer. 1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for emulating a virtual disk for a host computer from a network interface card (NIC) of the host computer , the program for execution by at least one processing unit of the NIC , the program comprising sets of instructions for:accessing, through a network fabric storage driver, a plurality of external storages each operating outside of the host computer;presenting the external storage as a virtual disk to a set of one or more host programs executing on the host computer; andforwarding read/write requests to the plurality external storages when receiving read/write requests from the set of host programs to the virtual disk, andproviding responses to the read/write requests after receiving responses from the plurality of external storages to the forwarded read/write requests.2. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 , whereinthe requests and responses are sent and received at the NIC through a network fabric storage driver,the set of ...

ACCESSING AN EXTERNAL STORAGE THROUGH A NIC

Some embodiments provide a method of providing distributed storage services to a host computer from a network interface card (NIC) of the host computer. At the NIC, the method accesses a set of one or more external storages operating outside of the host computer through a shared port of the NIC that is not only used to access the set of external storages but also for forwarding packets not related to an external storage. In some embodiments, the method accesses the external storage set by using a network fabric storage driver that employs a network fabric storage protocol to access the external storage set. The method presents the external storage as a local storage of the host computer to a set of programs executing on the host computer. In some embodiments, the method presents the local storage by using a storage emulation layer on the NIC to create a local storage construct that presents the set of external storages as a local storage of the host computer. 1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for emulating a local storage for a set of one or more processes executing on the host computer from a network interface card (NIC) of the host computer , the program for execution by at least one processing unit of the NIC , the program comprising sets of instructions for:accessing, through a network fabric storage driver, an external storage operating outside of the host computer; andusing a module operating in a kernel space of the program to identify a hardware offload unit (HOU) driver for processing commands received from the external storage through the network fabric storage driver, said HOU driver using a HOU of the NIC to convert the received commands from a network fabric storage driver format to a local storage driver format and providing the received commands to a local bus of the host computer for passing to the set of processes of the host computer.2. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the program further ...

Distributed storage services supported by a nic

Some embodiments provide a method of providing distributed storage services to a host computer from a network interface card (NIC) of the host computer. At the NIC, the method accesses a set of one or more external storages operating outside of the host computer through a shared port of the NIC that is not only used to access the set of external storages but also for forwarding packets not related to an external storage. In some embodiments, the method accesses the external storage set by using a network fabric storage driver that employs a network fabric storage protocol to access the external storage set. The method presents the external storage as a local storage of the host computer to a set of programs executing on the host computer. In some embodiments, the method presents the local storage by using a storage emulation layer on the NIC to create a local storage construct that presents the set of external storages as a local storage of the host computer.

Method and apparatus for real-time transport of multi-media information in a network

In one embodiment of a networking module, a first block receives a serial digital media signal, and provides a parallel digital media signal based on the serial digital media signal. A second block, operative with the first block, stores the parallel digital media signal in a corresponding slot in an outgoing frame, and sends the outgoing frame in response to receiving an incoming frame.

Using physical and virtual functions associated with a NIC to access an external storage through network fabric driver

Some embodiments provide a method of providing distributed storage services to a host computer from a network interface card (NIC) of the host computer. At the NIC, the method accesses a set of one or more external storages operating outside of the host computer through a shared port of the NIC that is not only used to access the set of external storages but also for forwarding packets not related to an external storage. In some embodiments, the method accesses the external storage set by using a network fabric storage driver that employs a network fabric storage protocol to access the external storage set. The method presents the external storage as a local storage of the host computer to a set of programs executing on the host computer. In some embodiments, the method presents the local storage by using a storage emulation layer on the NIC to create a local storage construct that presents the set of external storages as a local storage of the host computer.

Method for providing multi-tenancy support for rdma

A method for providing multi-tenancy support for RDMA in a system that includes a plurality of physical hosts. Each each physical host hosts a set of data compute nodes (DCNs). The method, at an RDMA protocol stack of the first host, receives a packet that includes a request from a first DCN hosted on a first host for RDMA data transfer from a second DCN hosted on a second host. The method sends a set of parameters of an overlay network that are associated with the first DCN to an RDMA physical network interface controller of the first host. The set of parameters are used by the RDMA physical NIC to encapsulate the packet with an RDMA data transfer header and an overlay network header by using the set of parameters of the overlay network to transfer the encapsulated packet to the second physical host using the overlay network.

Method for providing multi-tenancy support for rdma

Using physical and virtual functions associated with a nic to access an external storage through network fabric driver

Some embodiments provide a method of providing distributed storage services to a host computer from a network interface card (NIC) of the host computer. At the NIC, the method accesses a set of one or more external storages operating outside of the host computer through a shared port of the NIC that is not only used to access the set of external storages but also for forwarding packets not related to an external storage. In some embodiments, the method accesses the external storage set by using a network fabric storage driver that employs a network fabric storage protocol to access the external storage set. The method presents the external storage as a local storage of the host computer to a set of programs executing on the host computer. In some embodiments, the method presents the local storage by using a storage emulation layer on the NIC to create a local storage construct that presents the set of external storages as a local storage of the host computer.