Infiniband TM work queue to TCP/IP translation

An apparatus in a server connected to an Infiniband fabric for implementing accelerated TCP/IP connections between the server and clients, the clients being connected to a TCP/IP network, the apparatus comprising:

• a connection acceleration driver, configured to manage the accelerated TCP/IP connections, wherein said connection acceleration driver designates memory locations within server memory such that transaction data can be retrieved/provided via Infiniband remote direct memory access operations, wherein said connection acceleration driver comprises:
• correlation logic, configured to map TCP/IP connection parameters with a host work queue number for each of the accelerated TCP/IP connections, wherein said host work queue number corresponds to a work queue pair;
• and
• a host channel adapter, coupled to said connection acceleration driver, configured to execute Infiniband operations via the Infiniband fabric, and configured to execute direct memory access functions to retrieve/provide said transaction data responsive to said Infiniband remote direct memory access operations issued to said work queue pair, wherein an accelerated connection processor handles TCP/IP processing of said transaction data;
• whereby the accelerated TCP/IP connections offload TCP/IP processing performed by the server by bypassing a TCP/IP stack employed in the server to retrieve/provide said transaction data.

An apparatus within a client-server environment for managing an accelerated TCP/IP connection between a server connected to an Infiniband fabric and a client connected to a TCP/IP network, the apparatus comprising;

• a host driver, for providing a host work queue pair through which transaction data corresponding to the accelerated TCP/IP connection is transmitted/received via the Infiniband fabric;
• and
• a TCP-aware target adapter, coupled to said host driver, for providing a target work queue pair corresponding to said host work queue pair, and for executing a remote direct memory access operation to receive/transmit said transaction data via the Infiniband fabric, wherein said TCP-aware target adapter receives/transmits said transaction data responsive to said remote direct memory access operation issued to said target work queue pair, and wherein said TCP-aware target adapter handles TCP/IP processing of said transaction data, said TCP-aware target adapter comprises:
• a connection correlator, for mapping TCP/IP connection parameters for the accelerated connection with a target work queue number corresponding to said target work queue pair;
• whereby the accelerated TCP/IP connection offloads TCP/IP processing performed by the server by bypassing a TCP/IP stack employed in the server to receive/transmit said transaction data.

A method for accelerating TCP/IP connections in a client-server environment having clients that are connected to a TCP/IP network and servers that are connected to an Infiniband fabric, the method comprising:

• mapping TCP/IP connection parameters for accelerated connections to corresponding host and target work queue numbers that correspond to host and target work queue pairs;
• offloading TCP/IP processing performed by the servers by bypassing a TCP/IP stack employed in one or more of the servers by executing Infiniband remote direct memory access operations to retrieve/transmit data associated with the accelerated connections from/to memory within the servers;
• issuing the Infiniband remote direct memory access operations to said target work queue pairs;
• and
• providing the data to/from a TCP-aware target adapter responsive to said issuing;
• wherein the TCP-aware target adapter handles TCP/IP processing of said data.

A method for offloading server TCP/IP processing in a client-server environment, comprising:

• bypassing a TCP/IP stack employed in a server utilizing remote direct memory access operations via an Infiniband fabric to directly access data from/to server memory, wherein the data is provided to/from a TCP-aware target adapter, the TCP-aware target adapter providing native network ports that connect to clients, wherein said utilizing comprises:
• mapping TCP/IP connection parameters for a particular TCP/IP connection with a work queue number that corresponds to a work queue pair within the TCP-aware target adapter;
• issuing remote direct memory access requests to the work queue pair;
• and
• providing the data to/from the TCP-aware target adapter responsive to said issuing, wherein the TCP-aware target adapter handles TCP/IP processing of said data;
• and
• via the TCP-aware target adapter, generating native network transactions to transfer the data to/from clients.

A TCP-aware target adapter, for accelerating TCP/IP connections between a plurality of clients and a plurality of server, the plurality of servers being accessed via an Infiniband fabric, the plurality of clients being accessed via a TCP/IP network, the TCP-aware target adapter comprising:

• an accelerated connection processor, configured to bridge TCP/IP transactions between the plurality of clients and the plurality of servers, wherein said accelerated connection processor accelerates the TCP/IP connections by bypassing a TCP/IP stack employed in one or more of the plurality of servers by issuing remote direct memory access operations to retrieve/provide transaction data from/to the plurality of servers, and wherein said accelerated connection processor comprises:
• a connection correlator, configured to map TCP/IP connection parameters which uniquely identify the TCP/IP connections with corresponding work queue numbers, wherein said work queue numbers correspond to work queue pairs;
• and
• a target channel adapter, coupled to said accelerated connection processor, configured to support Infiniband operations with the plurality of servers, and configured to retrieve/provide said transaction data responsive to said remote direct memory access operations issued to said work queue pairs, wherein said accelerated connection processor handles TCP/IP processing of said transaction data, and configured to route said transaction data to/from the plurality of clients as embedded payloads within Infiniband packets;
• whereby the TCP/IP connections are accelerated by offloading TCP/IP processing performed by the plurality of servers to retrieve/provide said transaction data.

An Infiniband-to-native protocol translation apparatus, for routing TCP/IP transactions between a plurality of clients and a plurality of Infiniband devices, the plurality of Infiniband devices being accessed via an Infiniband fabric, the plurality of clients being accessed via a TCP/IP network, the Infiniband-to-native protocol translation apparatus comprising:

• an unaccelerated connection processor, configured to bridge the TCP/IP transactions between the plurality of clients and the plurality of Infiniband devices by encapsulating/stripping TCP/IP packets within/from Infiniband raw packets, said unaccelerated connection processor comprising:
• an unaccelerated connection correlator, for mapping native addresses to/from Infiniband local identifiers and work queue numbers, wherein said work queue numbers correspond to work queue pairs;
• and
• a target channel adapter, coupled to said unaccelerated connection processor, configured to receive/transmit said Infiniband raw packets from/to the plurality of Infiniband devices responsive to remote direct memory access operations issued to said work queue pairs;
• wherein said unaccelerated connection processor encapsulates/strips said TCP/IP packets within/from Infiniband raw packets according to said mapping.