Patent ID: 6334154
Filing Date: 2001-12-25
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
An article of manufacture comprising:at least one computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing network communications in a mainframe class data processing system having multiple partitions and a port to a network, the computer readable program code means in the article of manufacture comprising:(i) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect receiving at a host-network interface an internet protocol (IP) datagram, said IP datagram to be routed to a client coupled to said network;(ii) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect constructing a first address resolution protocol (ARP) request in a first frame format from said IP datagram and a second ARP request in a second frame format from said IP datagram;(iii) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect sending both said first ARP request and said second ARP request across said network to said client;(iv) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect receiving a response from said client in reply to one of said first ARP request and said second ARP request, said response indicating that said client communicates in either said first frame format or said second frame format;(v) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect storing at the host-network interface an indication that said client communicates in said first frame format or said second frame format; and(vi) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to effect using the indication stored at the host-network interface that the client communicates in the first frame format or the second frame format to subsequently format and send additional IP datagrams from the at least one partition to that client.