Calculation of network data check sums by dedicated hardware with software corrections

摘要

A method and apparatus are presented for an improved data transferring technique between a network and a computing system. A network adapter implements a data transfer from a network to the memory of a destination computing system, accumulating a checksum of all data transferred. The dedicated hardware allows data to be transferred through it and a checksum to be accumulated without intervention by the processor of the destination computing system. Software corrections can generate a checksum of the header data and then generate a net checksum by subtracting the header checksum from the gross checksum accumulated by the dedicated hardware, thus achieving the desired result with minimal intervention by the processor of the destination computing system.