Patent ID: 8886783
Filing Date: 2014-11-11
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A system using a secure subnet management agent (SMA) in an InfiniBand (IB) fabric, comprising: a host channel adapter (HCA) having an embedded firmware and a plurality of ports, including at least a first port having a first port state and a second port having a second port state, wherein each of the plurality of ports is connected to a different leaf switch; a secure subnet management agent (SMA) implemented in the embedded firmware of the HCA; wherein the SMA is configured to operate as a proxy such that if the first port of the HCA is unable to receive a subnet management packet (SMP) from a subnet manager (SM) via a leaf switch connected directly to the first port, the SMA is configured to receive the SMP from the SM via the second port of the HCA and update the first port state of the first port in response to the SMP; and wherein the SMA is further configured to operate as a proxy such that, if the leaf switch connected directly to the first port of the HCA enters an inactive state in which it is not possible to change one or more states associated with said leaf switch via an in-band management interface, the SMA is configured to receive an SMP from the SM via the second port of the HCA and update said one or more states of said leaf switch in response to the SMP.