Logical memory addressing for network devices
Some embodiments provide a method for, at a network interface controller (NIC) of a computer, accessing data in a network. From the computer, the method receives a request to access data stored at a logical memory address. The method translates the logical memory address into a memory address of a particular network device storing the requested data. The method sends a data message to the particular network device to retrieve the requested data.
1. A method for accessing data in a network, the method comprising:
receiving, by a network controller (NIC), a first set of configuration data from a first network device for translating logical memory addresses into memory addresses of the first network device;
receiving a request to access data stored at a logical memory address;
translating the logical memory address into a memory address of the first network device that stores the requested data using a translation table;
replacing, by a second network device replaces, the first network device in a storage network after sending a data message to retrieve the request data; and
receiving a second set of configuration data from a second network device for translating the logical memory addresses into memory addresses of the second network device, wherein the first network device is shut down after a grace period that allows for the NIC and NICs of other computers to update configuration data for translating logical memory addresses.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request is received from a client process executed by a processing unit of the computer.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein modifications to a location of the data in the network are transparent to the client process.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request is a first request and the logical memory address is a first logical memory address, the method further comprising:
from the computer, receiving a second request to access data stored at a second logical memory address;
translating the second logical memory address into a memory address of a local memory of the computer; and
reading the requested data from the local memory using the translated memory address.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein translating the logical memory address comprises determining a network address for the particular network device and a logical block address for reading data at a specific memory location of the particular network device.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the network address is used to send the data message to the particular network device.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data message is a non-volatile memory express (NVMe) over fabric data message.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a set of data messages from the particular network device conveying the requested data; and
providing the requested data to the computer.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data message is sent to the first network device.
10. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving configuration data from a plurality of respective network devices for translating respective sets of logical memory addresses into memory addresses of the respective network devices.
11. The method of claim 1 further comprising updating the translation table.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising detecting a network change cause updating the translation table.
13. A network interface controller (NIC) device comprising:
a memory storing a translation table for converting logical memory addresses;
a processor configured to:
receive a first set of configuration data from a first network device for translating logical memory addresses into memory addresses of the first network device;
translate the logical memory address into a memory address of the first network device using the translation table;
send a data message to the first network device to retrieve the requested data, wherein after the sending of the data message a second network device replaces the first network device in a storage network; and
receiving a second set of configuration data from a second network device for translating the logical memory addresses into memory addresses of the second network device, wherein the first network device is shut down after a grace period that allows for the NIC and NICs of other computers to update configuration data for translating logical memory addresses.
14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the request is received from a client process executed by a processing unit of the computer, wherein modifications to a location of the data in the network are transparent to the client process.
15. The device of claim 13 , wherein the request comprises a first request and the logical memory address comprises a first logical memory address, wherein the processor is further configured to:
from a computer, receive a second request to access data stored at a second logical memory address;
translate the second logical memory address into a memory address of a local memory of the computer; and
read the requested data from the local memory using the translated memory address.
16. The device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine a network address for the particular network device and a logical block address for reading data at a specific memory location.
17. The device of claim 16 , wherein the network address is used to send the data message to the particular network device.
18. The device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
receive a set of data messages from the particular network device conveying the requested data; and
provide the requested data to the computer.
19. The device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to update the translation table.
20. The device of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to process configuration data from a plurality of respective network devices for translating respective sets of logical memory addresses into memory addresses of the respective network devices.