Pass-through converged network adaptor (CNA) using existing Ethernet switching device

摘要

According to one embodiment, a switch system includes an external host connected via a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) port to a switch system, the external host being configured to perform functionality of a management plane and a control plane for the switch system, the external host having a processor. In another embodiment, a computer program product includes a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code including computer readable program code configured to perform functionality of a management plane and a control plane for a switch system using a processor of an external host. Other systems, computer program products, and methods are described according to more embodiments.

主权项

1. A system, comprising:
an external host connected via a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) port to a switch system, the external host being configured to perform functionality of a management plane and a control plane for the switch system, the external host comprising a processor, wherein the functionality of the management plane comprises simple network management protocol (SNMP) agent operations and web server operations, wherein the switch system comprises:
a PCIe interface block coupled to a plurality of PCIe ports, the plurality of PCIe ports configured to couple to one or more external PCIe devices, wherein the PCIe interface block comprises logic configured to provide direct memory access (DMA) for each PCIe lane thereof;multiple switched Ethernet ports configured to couple to one or more external Ethernet devices;switching logic configured to switch between the multiple switched Ethernet ports and the plurality of PCIe ports; anda local processor coupled to the PCIe interface block, and wherein the external host comprises a pass-through PCIe adaptor coupled to the switch system via a PCIe port.