Transaction based remote direct memory access

A remote direct memory access (RDMA) controller configurable to be in communication with a computing host comprising at least one processor, a network adapter, a transaction memory, and a main memory, the RDMA controller being configured to accelerate an RDMA operation bypassing the computing host by:

• responsive to receiving an RDMA initiation packet indicating initiation of an RDMA transaction, generating and storing a first transaction identifier in the transaction memory, the first transaction identifier being derived from at least two fields of an RDMA header of the RDMA initiation packet;
• and
• producing and storing RDMA context data for the RDMA transaction in the transaction memory at a memory address associated with the first transaction identifier, wherein:
• the main memory is configured to store transaction identifiers for all active RDMA transactions handled by the computing host, and
• the transaction memory is configured to store transaction identifiers and context data derived from respective RDMA headers for at least two active RDMA transactions being processed by the RDMA controller.

A method of performing a remote direct memory access (RDMA) operation with a computing system having a host processor and an RDMA controller, the method comprising:

• with the RDMA controller:
• deriving a transaction identifier from at least two fields of a remote direct memory access (RDMA) header of at least one RDMA packet of a plurality of RDMA packets for the RDMA operation;
• storing the transaction identifier in a transaction memory not accessible to a host processor;
• storing RDMA context data for the RDMA operation in the transaction memory at an address associated with the transaction identifier, the RDMA context data being derived from an RDMA header of the RDMA packet;
• associating the derived transaction identifier with the RDMA operation;
• and
• performing the RDMA operation, a destination address of the RDMA operation being derived at least in part using RDMA context data stored for the transaction identifier in the transaction memory.

A computing device comprising:

• means for deriving a transaction identifier from data in a received remote direct memory access (RDMA) packet;
• means for storing the derived transaction identifier;
• and
• a host comprising a processor and a main memory, the processor being configured to access data stored in the main memory but not connected to the means for storing the derived transaction identifier.