Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.

Amod Dani

Siamak Nazari

Shankar Pasupathy

Sushil Thomas

Asang Dani

A load balancing technique for use in a switch fabric balances network traffic from a plurality of end node devices based on the volume of traffic on the peripheral links, not simply the rated bandwidth of the peripheral links. In one embodiment, weight values, based on the volume of peripheral link traffic, are used to modify default cost values associated with the peripheral links. The modified default cost values are then used in the load balancing process. In another embodiment, the costs of the peripheral links are adjusted commensurate with the volume of peripheral link traffic.

Configurable assignment of weights for efficient network routing

One embodiment of the present invention provides a distributed file system that is able to use direct connections between clients and disks to perform file system operations. Upon receiving a request at a client to access a file, the client performs a lookup in a local cache to determine what physical disk blocks are associated with the request. If the lookup cannot be satisfied from the local cache, the client forwards the request to a server. In response to the forwarded request, the client receives a block map for the file from the server. This block map includes location information specifying physical disk blocks containing the file. The client uses this block map to determine which physical disk blocks are involved in the request and then accesses the file directly from the disk without going through the server.

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Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Amod Dani