Verifying network connectivity
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsMichael McGee, Mark Stratton, Darda Chang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system comprising a computer including a plurality of network interface controllers (Niches), the plurality of NICs associated with an address. The system further comprises a switching apparatus coupled to the computer and an echo device coupled to the switching apparatus. The echo device is adapted to send a packet to the switching apparatus to verify connectivity with the plurality of NICs. The packet comprises the address. The switching apparatus compares the address with a data structure to locate a matching address. If no matching address is located, the switching apparatus sends copies of the packet to each of the plurality of NICs coupled to the switching apparatus.
Claims25
A system, comprising:
- a computer comprising a plurality of network interface controllers (NICs), said plurality of NICs associated with an address;
- a switching apparatus coupled to the computer;
- and
- an echo device coupled to the switching apparatus and adapted to send a packet to the switching apparatus to verify connectivity with the plurality of NICs, said packet comprising the address;
- wherein the switching apparatus compares the address with a data structure to locate a matching address;
- and
- wherein, if no matching address is located, the switching apparatus sends copies of the packet to each of the plurality of NICs coupled to the switching apparatus.
A switching device, comprising:
- a plurality of ports adapted to couple to a plurality of network interface controllers (NICs), said plurality of NICs associated with a community address;
- and
- a data structure comprising a plurality of entries, each entry cross-referencing one of said plurality of ports with a different address;
- wherein the switching device receives a packet comprising the community address and compares the community address against the different addresses in the data structure to locate a match;
- wherein, if the switching device does not find a match, the switching device sends a copy of the packet on each of said plurality of ports.
A computer, comprising:
- a plurality of NICs capable of coupling to a network device, said plurality of NICs associated with an address;
- wherein one of the plurality of NICs sends a request packet to the network device to verify connectivity with said device, said address designated as a source address in the request packet;
- wherein the plurality of NICs receive response packets from the network device in response to the request packet, said address designated as a destination address in the response packets.
A method for verifying connectivity, comprising:
- receiving a packet comprising a community address associated with a plurality of network interface controllers (NICs) capable of coupling to a switching apparatus;
- comparing said community address against a data structure comprising a plurality of addresses to locate a match;
- and
- if no match is located, sending copies of the packet to each of the plurality of NICs coupled to the switching apparatus.
A system, comprising:
- a plurality of network interface controllers (NICs) associated with an address;
- means for generating a packet to verify connectivity with the plurality of NICs, said packet comprising the address;
- and
- means for comparing the address with a data structure to locate a matching address;
- wherein the means for comparing is also for sending copies of the packet to any of the plurality of NICs coupled to the means for comparing if no match is located.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.