Upon transmitting or receiving messages, the classical network interface card (NIC) generates an interrupt to the operating system kernel and thus to the host processor, which must service the interrupt. As network speed increases towards 10 Gigabit Ethernet, the host can be tied down with interrupt latency. New Operating Systems (OS) Bypass systems (hardware and software) are needed to provide a direct interface from the application to the NIC. This project will implement a variation of Remote Direct Data Placement that uses network interface hardware to offload the host. Phase I will develop a modular, scalable architecture, capable of handling bandwidths through 10 Gigabits per second, while providing true OS Bypass performance. The feasibility of the architecture will be determined by simulating system integrity and data flow. A new code for a Gigabit Ethernet system with dual network processors will be constructed and tested. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by awardee: Applications should include high-speed networking capabilities for communications, medical, and defense systems manufacturers. Additional applications include enterprise servers, professional workstations, high-end Unix servers, blade servers, redundant arrays of independent disks, storage area networks, and wide area networks.
