Method, system, and program for forwarding messages between nodes

1. An article of manufacture comprising at least one of hardware and a computer readable storage medium having code executed by a processor to implement a gateway for forwarding a message from a transmitting node to a receiving node and to perform operations, the operations comprising:

receiving a first message encoded using a first communication protocol from the transmitting node, wherein the first message includes a direct reference to a memory location in the transmitting node or the receiving node;

determining from a message mapping whether the first message maps to a corresponding message in a second communication protocol;

generating a second message compatible with a second communication protocol by converting the first message to the corresponding message in the second communication protocol in response to determining that the first message maps to the corresponding message, wherein the second message causes the receiving node to perform an operation with respect to the direct reference in the first message;

determining whether the first message is of a specified message type in response to determining that the message mapping does not have one corresponding message in the second communication protocol;

generating a third message, accessing the direct reference, and adding the accessed direct reference to the third message in response to determining that the first message is of the specified message type; and

transmitting the generated second or third message toward the receiving node.

2. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the direct reference in the first message is not included in the second message.

3. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

indicating an error if the first message is not of the specified type.

4. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the specified type of message comprises a message to invalidate the direct reference.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the receiving node is the intended recipient of the first message, and wherein the direct reference is to a memory location in the transmitting or receiving node.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the receiving node comprises an initiator node, wherein the transmitting node comprises a target node and wherein the first and second messages comprise a request to the initiator node to invalidate the direct reference to the memory location.

7. A system in communication with a transmitting node and a receiving node, comprising:

a gateway having at least one of hardware and a computer readable storage medium including code executed by a processor to implement a protocol convertor to perform:

receive a first message encoded using a first communication protocol from the transmitting node, wherein the first message includes a direct reference to a memory location in the transmitting node or the receiving node;

maintain a message mapping;

determine from the message mapping whether the first message maps to a corresponding message in a second communication protocol;

generate a second message compatible with a second communication protocol by converting the first message to the corresponding message in the second communication protocol in response to determining that the first message maps to the corresponding message, wherein the second message causes the receiving node to perform an operation with respect to the direct reference in the first message;

determine whether the first message is of a specified message type in response to determining that the message mapping does not have one corresponding message in the second communication protocol;

generate a third message, accessing the direct reference, and adding the accessed direct reference to the third message in response to determining that the first message is of the specified message type; and

transmit the generated second or third message toward the receiving node.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the direct reference in the first message is not included in the second message.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the protocol converter further performs:

indicating an error if the first message is not of the specified type.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the specified type of message comprises a message to invalidate the direct reference.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the receiving node is the intended recipient of the first message, and wherein the direct reference is to a memory location in the transmitting or receiving node.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the receiving node comprises an initiator node, wherein the transmitting node comprises a target node and wherein the first and second messages comprise a request to the initiator node to invalidate the direct reference to the memory location.

13. A method for a gateway to forward a message from a transmitting node to a receiving node, comprising:

receiving a first message encoded using a first communication protocol from the transmitting node, wherein the first message includes a direct reference to a memory location in the transmitting node or the receiving node;

determining from a message mapping whether the first message maps to a corresponding message in a second communication protocol;

generating a second message compatible with a second communication protocol by converting the first message to the corresponding message in the second communication protocol in response to determining that the first message maps to the corresponding message, wherein the second message causes the receiving node to perform an operation with respect to the direct reference in the first message;

determining whether the first message is of a specified message type in response to determining that the message mapping does not have one corresponding message in the second communication protocol;

generating a third message, accessing the direct reference, and adding the accessed direct reference to the third message in response to determining that the first message is of the specified message type; and

transmitting the generated second or third message toward the receiving node.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the direct reference in the first message is not included in the second message.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

indicating an error if the first message is not of the specified type.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the specified type of message comprises a message to invalidate the direct reference.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the receiving node is the intended recipient of the first message, and wherein the direct reference is to a memory location in the transmitting or receiving node.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the receiving node comprises an initiator node, wherein the transmitting node comprises a target node and wherein the first and second messages comprise a request to the initiator node to invalidate the direct reference to thememory location.