Patent ID: 7571209

Claim:
In a system having a plurality of host devices, including a first host device and a second host device, a computer-implemented method for performance profiling on a target device, the method comprising: configuring the target device in at least two of a plurality of different operation modes, wherein the plurality of different operation modes includes a first mode and a second mode, wherein configuring includes setting the target device to operate in the first mode for the first host device and in the second mode for the second host device, wherein, when set in the first mode, the target device allocates a number of memory buffers for solicited write data and wherein, when set in the second mode, the target device additionally reserves a number of memory buffers for unsolicited write data; receiving a write command from the plurality of host devices; if the write command is received from the first host device, operating the target device in the first mode to send an authorization to the first host device authorizing the first host device to send write data, and accepting at the target device write data from the first host only when the write data has been authorized by the target device; and if the write command is received from the second host device, operating the target device in the second mode to accept unsolicited write data from the second host device and store the unsolicited write data in one or more of the memory buffers reserved for unsolicited write data.