Servers, Switches, and Systems with Virtual Interface to External Network Connecting Hardware and Integrated Networking Driver

A networked device, comprising:

• a switching module having,
• one or more ports with a PCIe communication interface,
• one or more ports with an Ethernet communication interface, and
• a switch fabric;
• a switch controller in communication with the switch module via the PCIe communication interface, the switch controller having,
• one or more processors,
• a first network device operating system (ndOS) executed by the one or more processors for controlling packet switching policy in the switch module, the packet switching policy including a definition for switching incoming packets through the switch module, and
• a permanent storage for storing network resources;
• a server in communication with the switch module via the PCIe communication interface, the server having,
• one or more ports with the PCIe communication interface for communicating with the switch module;
• one or more processors,
• a second ndOS executed by the one or more processors, and
• one or more virtual network interface cards (VNIC) executed by the one or more processors for communicating with the switch module via the PCIe communication interface.

A multi-server networked device, comprising:

• a switching module having,
• one or more ports with a PCIe communication interface,
• one or more ports with an Ethernet communication interface, and
• a switch fabric;
• a switch controller in communication with the switch module via the PCIe communication interface, the switch controller having,
• one or more processors,
• a first network device operating system (ndOS) executed by the one or more processors for controlling packet switching policy in the switch module, the packet switching policy including a definition for switching incoming packets through the switch module, and
• a permanent storage for storing network resources;
• a plurality of servers in communication with the switch module via the PCIe communication interface, each of the plurality of servers having,
• one or more ports with the PCIe communication interface for communicating with the switch module;
• one or more processors,
• a respective additional ndOS executed by the one or more processors, and
• one or more virtual network interface cards (VNIC) executed by the one or more processors for communicating with the switch module via the PCIe communication interface.