US6151297A — Method and system for link level server/switch tr…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 120 words

In a computer network, a method for trunking multiple links between a switch and a server, the server having either of additional network interface cards (NICs) and multi-port NICs installed therein, the method comprising the steps of: recognizing and configuring said additional NICs or multi-port NICs as members of a group; making said group appear to be a single NIC to said server's operating system and clients; treating said group as a trunk having multiple ports; selecting, from a source address of a packet received at said switch, one of said ports to reach said server; and selecting, from a destination address of a packet sent from said server, one of said ports to reach a one of said clients.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 120 words

In a computer network, a method for trunking multiple links between a switch and a server, the server having either of additional network interface cards (NICs) and multi-port NICs installed therein, the method comprising the steps of: recognizing and configuring said additional NICs or multi-port NICs as members of a group; making said group appear to be a single NIC to said server's operating system and clients; treating said group as a trunk having multiple ports; selecting, from a source address of a packet received at said switch, one of said ports to reach said server; and selecting, from a destination address of a packet sent from said server, one of said ports to reach a one of said clients.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method of claim 1, wherein said recognizing and configuring step is performed by a server driver.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 36 words

The method of claim 2, wherein said step of making said group appear to be a single NIC is one of a driver shim overlaying at least one of said server drivers, or a monolithic driver.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of one or more of said NICs in said server programming their MAC address to be the same on all interfaces.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 24 words

The method of claim 1, wherein said step of treating said group as a trunk is performed by a switch connected to said group.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting a port to reach said server further comprises the step of said switch performing a deterministic algorithm on said packet.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 114 words

The method of claim 6, wherein said step of performing said deterministic algorithm further comprises the steps of: said switch looking up the destination address of said server packet in an address table of said switch; returning to said switch a flag indicating said server is to be reached via said multiple ports; said flag directing said switch to a table containing the numbers of each of said multiple ports distributed therein as entries; said switch indexing into said table, wherein the lowest M bits of a source MAC address of said packet are used to calculate an index; said switch selecting one of said ports based upon said entry found at said index.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 74 words

The method of claim 1, wherein said step of selecting a port to reach said client further comprises the steps of: a server driver indexing into a table containing the numbers of said multiple ports distributed therein as entries, wherein the lowest M bits of a destination MAC address of said packet are used to calculate an index; said server driver selecting one of said ports based upon said entry found at said index.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 34 words

The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of mitigating the effects of a same source MAC address appearing on packets received from said multiple ports and preventing resulting interruptions in said switch.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 44 words

The method of claim 9, wherein said mitigating step comprises the steps of: notifying said switch that it is acceptable to see said server's source MAC address appearing on said multiple ports; and directing said switch not to notify said network's system operator thereof.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 13 words

The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing fault tolerance.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 68 words

The method of claim 11, wherein said fault tolerance step comprises the steps of: the switch seeing a MAC address used as said server's source on multiple NIC ports; and the switch selecting one of said multiple ports by looking at said client's MAC address; wherein data communication between said server and said client is maintained in the event of a disruption in a link to said ports.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 86 words

The method of claim 11, wherein said fault tolerance step comprises the steps of: connecting said server via multiple NIC links to a plurality of switches, in a hubbed tree structure; and connecting said switches together with a switch-to-switch link to create a plurality of paths in said tree, such that a packet may be communicated over any of said paths; wherein data communication between said server and said client is maintained in the event of a disruption in one of said links to said ports.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 176 words

In a computer network, a method for trunking multiple links between a switch and a server having either of additional network interface cards (NICs) and multi-port NICs installed therein, comprising the steps of: a server driver recognizing and configuring said additional NICs or multi-port NICs as members of a group; making said group appear to be a single NIC to said server's operating system and clients using one of a monolithic driver, or a driver shim overlaying at least one of said server drivers; a switch connected to said group treating said group as a trunk having multiple ports; providing fault tolerance; selecting, from a source address of a packet received at said switch, one of said ports to reach said server; selecting, from a destination address of a packet sent from said server, one of said ports to reach a one of said clients; notifying said switch that it is acceptable to see said server's source MAC address appearing on said multiple ports; and directing said switch not to notify said network's system operator thereof.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 176 words

In a computer network, a method for trunking multiple links between a switch and a server having either of additional network interface cards (NICs) and multi-port NICs installed therein, comprising the steps of: a server driver recognizing and configuring said additional NICs or multi-port NICs as members of a group; making said group appear to be a single NIC to said server's operating system and clients using one of a monolithic driver, or a driver shim overlaying at least one of said server drivers; a switch connected to said group treating said group as a trunk having multiple ports; providing fault tolerance; selecting, from a source address of a packet received at said switch, one of said ports to reach said server; selecting, from a destination address of a packet sent from said server, one of said ports to reach a one of said clients; notifying said switch that it is acceptable to see said server's source MAC address appearing on said multiple ports; and directing said switch not to notify said network's system operator thereof.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 70 words

The method of claim 14, wherein said step of providing fault tolerance comprises the steps of: the switch seeing a MAC address used as said server's source on multiple NIC ports; and the switch selecting one of said multiple ports by looking at said client's MAC address; wherein data communication between said server and said client is maintained in the event of a disruption in a link to said ports.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 88 words

The method of claim 14, wherein said step of providing fault tolerance comprises the steps of: connecting said server via multiple NIC links to a plurality of switches, in a hubbed tree structure; and connecting said switches together with a switch-to-switch link to create a plurality of paths in said tree, such that a packet may be communicated over any of said paths; wherein data communication between said server and said client is maintained in the event of a disruption in one of said links to said ports.

Claim 19

Independent Claim 114 words

A system, in a computer network, for trunking multiple links between a switch and a server, comprising: means for recognizing and configuring either of additional network interface cards (NICs) or multi-port NICs as members of a group; means for making said group appear to be a single NIC to said server's operating system and clients; means for treating said group as a trunk having multiple ports; means for selecting, from a source address of a packet received at said switch, one of said ports to reach said server; and means for selecting, from a destination address of a packet sent from said server, one of said ports to reach a one of said clients.

Claim 20

Independent Claim 114 words

A system, in a computer network, for trunking multiple links between a switch and a server, comprising: means for recognizing and configuring either of additional network interface cards (NICs) or multi-port NICs as members of a group; means for making said group appear to be a single NIC to said server's operating system and clients; means for treating said group as a trunk having multiple ports; means for selecting, from a source address of a packet received at said switch, one of said ports to reach said server; and means for selecting, from a destination address of a packet sent from said server, one of said ports to reach a one of said clients.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 15 words

The system of claim 17, wherein said recognizing and configuring means is a server driver.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 34 words

The system of claim 17, wherein said means for making said group appear to be a single NIC is one of a driver shim overlaying at least one server driver or a monolithic driver.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 24 words

The system of claim 17, further comprising multiple NICs in said server whose MAC addresses are programmed to be the same on all interfaces.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 39 words

The system of claim 17, wherein said means for treating said group as a trunk and said means for selecting a port to reach said server is one switch connected to said server via multiple NICs in said group.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 37 words

The system of claim 17, wherein said means for treating said group as a trunk and said means for selecting a port to reach said server is a plurality of NIC links to a plurality of switches.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 34 words

The system of claim 17, further comprising means to mitigate the effects of a same source MAC address appearing on packets received from said multiple ports and to prevent resulting interruptions in said switch.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 44 words

The system of claim 23, wherein said mitigating means comprises: means for notifying said switch that it is acceptable to see said server's MAC address appearing on said multiple ports; and means for directing said switch not to notify said network's system operator thereof.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 12 words

The system of claim 17, further comprising means for providing fault tolerance.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 74 words

The system of claim 25, wherein said fault tolerance means comprises: means for said switch to see a MAC address used as said server's source on multiple NIC ports; and means for said switch to select one of said multiple ports by looking at said client's MAC address; wherein data communication between said server and said client is maintained in the event of a disruption in a data link to one of said ports.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 84 words

The system of claim 25, wherein said fault tolerance means comprises: multiple NIC links for connecting said server to a plurality of switches, in a hubbed tree structure; and at least one switch-to-switch link connecting said switches together to create a plurality of paths in said tree, such that a packet may be communicated over any of said paths; wherein data communication between said server and said client is maintained in the event of a disruption in one of said links to said ports.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 78 words

In a computer network, a method for trunking multiple links between a switch and a network node, the network node having either of additional network interface cards (NICs) and multi-port NICs installed therein, the method comprising the steps of: recognizing and configuring said additional NICs or multi-port NICs as members of a group; making said group appear to be a single NIC to constituents of said network node; and treating said group as a trunk having multiple ports.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 78 words

In a computer network, a method for trunking multiple links between a switch and a network node, the network node having either of additional network interface cards (NICs) and multi-port NICs installed therein, the method comprising the steps of: recognizing and configuring said additional NICs or multi-port NICs as members of a group; making said group appear to be a single NIC to constituents of said network node; and treating said group as a trunk having multiple ports.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 53 words

The method of claim 28, further comprising the steps of: selecting, from a source address of a packet received at said switch, one of said ports to reach said network node; and selecting, from a destination address of a packet sent from said network node, one of said ports to reach a client.

Claim 34

Independent Claim 67 words

A system, in a computer network, for trunking multiple links between a switch and a network node, comprising: means for recognizing and configuring either of additional network interface cards (NICs) or multi-port NICs as members of a group; means for making said group appear to be a single NIC to constituents of said network nod; and means for treating said group as a trunk having multiple ports.

Claim 35

Independent Claim 67 words

A system, in a computer network, for trunking multiple links between a switch and a network node, comprising: means for recognizing and configuring either of additional network interface cards (NICs) or multi-port NICs as members of a group; means for making said group appear to be a single NIC to constituents of said network nod; and means for treating said group as a trunk having multiple ports.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 54 words

The system of claim 30, further comprising: means for selecting, from a source address of a packet received at said switch, one of said ports to reach said network node; and means for selecting, from a destination address of a packet sent from said network node, one of said ports to reach a client.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2003-11-21	2004-05-22	2004-11-21	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2007-11-21	2008-05-22	2008-11-21	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2011-11-21	2012-05-22	2012-11-21	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Method and system for link level server/switch trunking

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