Programmable NIC Data Trimming for Accurate Bottleneck Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current networked systems struggle to isolate and validate the performance of network interface cards (NICs) due to performance bottlenecks being masked by upstream or downstream components, leading to incorrect conclusions during deployment or troubleshooting, and existing methods fail to distinguish between NIC and server/fabric issues.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a programmable data trimming engine in NICs that allows selective copying of response data based on trim length and offset, enabling efficient data handling and network testing without affecting the responder's performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If full response data is transmitted and stored, then complete information is available for analysis, but memory and bandwidth resources are wasted on unnecessary data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary portion of response data by implementing a trimming engine that copies only the required number of bytes from the response buffer to the application buffer, based on trim length and offset parameters. This eliminates the waste of memory and bandwidth resources on unnecessary data while maintaining the precision needed for performance measurement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by transferring only the necessary subset of data (partial) rather than the complete response. The trimming engine copies only the required portion of response data determined by trim length and offset, avoiding excessive data transfer and storage while maintaining measurement accuracy.
2Reliability
If all response data is copied to application buffer, then complete data is available for processing, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The trimming engine extracts only the necessary portion of response data by copying specified bytes from the response buffer to the application buffer. This reduces data processing time and computational resources while maintaining reliability by ensuring the copied data is sufficient for accurate performance validation of the NIC.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by transferring only the necessary subset of data (partial) rather than the complete response. The trimming engine copies only the required portion of response data determined by trim length and offset, reducing processing time while maintaining validation reliability.
3Measurement precision
If complete response data is analyzed, then comprehensive performance metrics are obtained, but bottleneck identification becomes difficult due to data conflation
Solution Approach 1:
The trimming engine extracts only the necessary portion of response data by copying specified bytes from the response buffer to the application buffer. This reduces data analysis complexity while maintaining bottleneck identification accuracy by providing focused data that isolates NIC performance from other system components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by transferring only the necessary subset of data (partial) rather than the complete response. The trimming engine copies only the required portion of response data determined by trim length and offset, reducing analysis complexity while maintaining bottleneck identification accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and machine-readable media may facilitate programmable data trimming. One or more request instructions may be received from an application. The one or more request instructions may include a request length specifying a response size expected for a response from a responder. The one or more request instructions may further include a trim length specifying a portion of the response to be retained. A request may be configured based at least in part on the request length and the trim length. The request may be transmitted to the responder via a network. The response may be received from the responder. The response may be trimmed to retain only the portion of the response specified by the trim length. Storage of only the portion of the response in a memory location may be caused.