Patent ID: 8687503

Claim:
A method for identifying a failed network interface card (NIC) in a system having a first NIC and a second NIC configured as a team and sharing a first Internet Protocol (IP) address, the method comprising: transmitting, by a management processing unit, a first data packet from the first NIC to a third NIC at a second IP address that is different from the first IP address, wherein the third NIC is not a member of the team; determining that the first NIC is not faulty based on a first response from the third NIC that is associated with the transmission of the first data packet to the third NIC; transmitting a second data packet from the second NIC to the third NIC when the first NIC receives the first response from the third NIC; transmitting, by the management processing unit, a third data packet from the first NIC to the third NIC; determining that the first NIC is faulty based on determining that the first NIC did not receive a second response from the third NIC that is associated with the transmission of the third data packet to the third NIC; and transmitting a fourth data packet from the first NIC to the second NIC when the first NIC does not receive the second response from the third NIC.