Patent ID: 8316109

Claim:
A method, in a data processing system, for transferring data between a host system and a remote system, comprising: establishing, using a first logic within a network adapter, a connection for transferring data between the host system and the remote system, wherein the network adapter reads a connection request descriptor from an input descriptor table in the host system; maintaining a state of the connection in the network adapter; generating, periodically, by the network adapter, a connection attribute response descriptor; writing, by the network adapter, the connection attribute response descriptor to an output descriptor table of the host system; receiving data in a first buffer for transfer between the host system and the remote system; identifying a second buffer to which the data is to be moved; adding a descriptor associated with the data to a bulk transfer list, if the delay criteria has not been met; reordering the descriptors in the bulk transfer list according to a priority associated with connections associated with the descriptors; transferring data corresponding to descriptors in the bulk transfer list from buffers in the network adapter to buffers in the host system using a direct memory access operation once the delay criteria has been met, wherein transferring data corresponding to the descriptors includes transferring the data in the order specified by the reordered descriptors in the bulk transfer list; sending the data directly from the first buffer to the second buffer using a direct memory access operation, wherein copying to an intermediary buffer is not performed, wherein sending the data directly from the first buffer to the second buffer using a direct memory access operation includes: determining, using a second logic within the network adapter, if a delay criteria has been met; sending the data from the first buffer to the second buffer only if the delay criteria has been met; and terminating, using a third logic within the network adapter, the connection.