Work queue to TCP/IP translation

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

• a host driver, for providing a work queue pair through which transaction data corresponding to the accelerated TCP/IP connection is transmitted/received;
• and
• a TCP-aware target adapter, coupled to said host driver, for executing a remote direct memory access operation to receive/transmit said transaction data, wherein said TCP-aware target adapter receives/transmits said transaction data responsive to said remote direct memory access operation issued to said work queue pair, and wherein said TCP-aware target adapter handles TCP/IP processing of said transaction data, said TCP-aware target adapter comprising:
• a plurality of native network ports, each of said native network ports communicating with TCP/IP clients via a corresponding native network protocol;
• an accelerated connection processor, for supporting TCP/IP transactions with the client by receiving/transmitting native transactions in accordance with said native network protocol, and
• a connection correlator, for mapping TCP/IP connection parameters for the accelerated TCP/IP connection with a work queue number corresponding to said 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 retrieve/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, the method comprising:

• mapping TCP/IP connection parameters for accelerated connections to a corresponding work queue number that is associated with a work queue pair;
• offloading TCP/IP processing performed by a server by bypassing a TCP/IP stack employed in the server by executing remote direct memory access operations to retrieve/transmit data associated with the accelerated connections from/to memory within the server;
• issuing remote direct memory access operations to said work queue pair;
• 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 by utilizing remote direct memory access operations 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, wherein the TCP/IP connection parameters comprise source TCP port number, destination TCP port number, source IP address, and destination IP address;
• and
• issuing remote direct memory access operations to said work queue pair;
• 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 server, 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 server, wherein said accelerated connection processor accelerates the TCP/IP connections by bypassing a TCP/IP stack employed in the server by issuing remote direct memory access operations to retrieve/provide transaction data from/to the server, 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 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;
• whereby the TCP/IP connections are accelerated by offloading TCP/IP processing performed by the server to retrieve/provide said transaction data.

A connection acceleration apparatus, for routing TCP/IP transactions between a plurality of clients and a server, the plurality of clients being accessed via a TCP/IP network, the connection acceleration apparatus comprising:

• a connection correlator, within an accelerated connection processor, for mapping TCP/IP connection parameters to work queue numbers, said work queue numbers corresponding to work queue pairs, wherein said accelerated connection processor handles TCP/IP processing of transaction data;
• and
• a target channel adapter, coupled to said connection correlator, configured to retrieve/provide said transaction data responsive to remote direct memory access operations issued to said work queue pairs, and configured to receive/transmit the TCP/IP transactions from/to the plurality of clients;
• whereby the TCP/IP transactions are accelerated by offloading TCP/IP processing performed by the server by bypassing a TCP/IP stack employed in the server to retrieve/provide said transaction data.