Method and system for network communication

1. A method for network communication, comprising:

a network adapter receiving network data from a network connection and sending the received network data to an application executed by a host system through a host system driver executed by the host system;

setting a data size for the network connection;

monitoring the amount of network data that is received by the host system driver from the network adapter;

monitoring the amount of network data that is sent by the network adapter to the host system; and

the network adapter sending no more than the set data size to the application executed by the host system until the application passes a buffer to the adapter or acknowledges that at least some of the sent data has been received;

wherein a first counter value indicates an amount of network data that is received by the host system driver and a second counter value is increased when the network adapter sends network data to the host system; and

wherein the first counter is reset when the first counter value is equal to the data size value and received network data has been accepted by the application.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein after the first counter is reset and there is no pending named buffer, the host system driver issues an acknowledgement to the network adapter so that the network adapter can open a new window for sending network data.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second counter value is increased by the network adapter, when a segment of network data is sent from the network adapter to the host system.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the network adapter suspends sending network data when a second counter value is similar to the data size value.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network adapter decreases the second counter value by a value specified in an acknowledgement sent by the host system driver.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network adapter resumes sending network data to the host system when the host system driver posts a named buffer or the host system driver acknowledges to the network adapter that some or all of network data sent by the network adapter has been received by the application.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data size is set for every interaction between the host system and the network adapter.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data size is set for every network connection.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data size is read by the host system driver from a user interface, from a driver parameter file, from a value stored in a memory or received from the network adapter.

10. A method for network communication, comprising:

a network adapter receiving network data from a network connection and sending the received network data to an application executed by a host system through a host system driver executed by the host system;

setting a data size for the network connection;

monitoring an amount of network data that is received by the host system driver from the network adapter; wherein a value for a first counter for a host system memory indicates the amount of network data received by the host system driver from the network adapter;

monitoring an amount of network data that is sent by the network adapter to the host system; wherein a value for a second counter for a network adapter memory indicates the amount of data that is sent by the network adapter to the host system; and

the network adapter sending no more than the set data size to the application executed by the host system until the application passes a buffer to the adapter or acknowledges that at least some of the sent data has been received;

wherein the first counter is reset when the first counter value is equal to the data size value and received network data has been accepted by the host application.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the second counter value is increased when the network adapter sends network data to the host system.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein after the first counter is reset and there are no pending named buffers, the host system driver issues an acknowledgement to the network adapter so that the network adapter can open a new window for sending network data.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the second counter value is increased by the network adapter, when a segment of network data is sent to the host system.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the network adapter suspends sending network data when a second counter value is similar to the data size value.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the network adapter decreases the second counter value by a value specified in an acknowledgement sent by a host system driver.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the network adapter resumes sending network data when the host system driver posts a named buffer for a network connection; or the host system driver acknowledges that some or all of network data has been received.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the data size is set for every interaction between the host system and the network adapter.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the data size is set for every network connection.

19. The method of claim 10 , wherein the data size is read by the host system driver from a user interface, from a driver parameter file, from a value stored in a memory or received from the network adapter.

20. A system for network communication, comprising:

a host system executing an application for communicating with at least one networked device using a network connection; and

a network adapter configured to interface with the host system, receive network data from the at least one network device and send received network data to the application through a host system driver executed by the host system; wherein a data size is set for the network connection and the network adapter sends no more than the set data size to the application executed by the host system until the application passes a buffer to the adapter or acknowledges that at least some of the sent data has been received after monitoring the amount of network data that is received by the host system driver from the network adapter and monitoring the amount of network data that is sent by the network adapter to the host system;

wherein a first counter value indicates an amount of network data that is received by the host system driver and a second counter value is increased when the network adapter sends network data to the host system; and

wherein the first counter is reset when the first counter value is equal to the data size value and received network data has been accepted by the application.

21. The system of claim 20 , wherein after the first counter is reset and there is no pending named buffer, the host system driver issues an acknowledgement to the network adapter so that the network adapter can open a new window for sending network data.

22. The system of claim 20 , wherein the second counter value is increased by the network adapter, when a segment of network data is sent to the host system.

23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the network adapter suspends sending network data when a second counter value is similar to the data size value.

24. The system of claim 20 , wherein the network adapter decreases the second counter value by a value specified in an acknowledgement sent by the host system driver.

25. The system of claim 20 , wherein the network adapter resumes sending network data when the host system driver posts a named buffer; or the host system driver acknowledges that some or all of network data has been received.

26. The system of claim 20 , wherein the data size is set for every interaction between the host system and the network adapter.

27. The system of claim 20 , wherein the data size is set for every network connection.

28. The system of claim 20 , wherein the data size is read by the host system driver from a user interface, from a driver parameter file, from a value stored in a memory or received from the network adapter.