Programmable logic device configuration over communication fabrics

A method comprising:

• instructing, by a management processor, a communication fabric to establish a first logical partition segregating a first set of communication switch ports within the communication fabric that includes the management processor and a target device comprising a memory device configured to program a field-programmable gate array (FPGA);
• directing configuration data configured to program the FPGA to the target device over the first logical partition;
• after transfer of the configuration data, instructing, by the management processor, the communication fabric to remove the first logical partition in the communication fabric, wherein the configuration data remains stored at the target device after removal of the first logical partition;
• and
• instructing, by the management processor, the communication fabric to establish a second logical partition segregating a second set of communication switch ports within the communication fabric that includes at least a selected device and the target device configured according to the configuration data.

A computing apparatus comprising:

• a management processor configured to:
• receive user commands to establish a compute unit among a plurality of physical computing components coupled by a communication fabric, wherein the user command identifies configuration data stored in a storage device accessible to the management processor;
• and
• establish the compute unit by:
• instructing the communication fabric to establish a first partition segregating a first set of communication switch ports within the communication fabric to include the management processor and a target device comprising a memory device configured to program a field-programmable gate array (FPGA);
• directing at least the configuration data to the target device using the first partition;
• after transfer of the configuration data over the first partition, instructing the communication fabric to de-establish the first partition including the management controller and the target device, wherein the configuration data remains stored at the target device after de-establishment of the first partition;
• and
• instructing the communication fabric to establish a second partition segregating a second set of communication switch ports within the communication fabric including a selected device and the target device, the second partition within the communication fabric configured such that the selected device has visibility over the communication fabric to the target device that stores the configuration data.