Patent ID: 8725926

Claim:
A server system comprising: a plurality of servers; an input/output (I/O) device; a switch for coupling the plurality of servers and the I/O device; and a manager for initializing the switch, wherein the I/O device includes virtual functions (VFs) provided by a virtualization function; wherein the switch includes identifier association information which indicates associations between first identifiers recognizable to the plurality of servers and second identifiers managed by the manager; wherein, upon receipt of a packet from one of the plurality of servers, the switch transfers the packet including a server identifier for identifying the sender server within the switch; wherein, in sending the packet to the I/O device, the switch converts a first identifier included in the packet into a second identifier associated with the first identifier based on the identifier association information, removes the server identifier from the packet, and sends the packet to the I/O device; wherein the switch further includes memory-mapped input/output (MMIO) address association information which indicates associations between MMIO address area information on the VFs recognizable to the plurality of servers and MMIO add a information on the VFs managed by the manager; wherein, upon receipt of a packet from one of the plurality of servers, the switch further converts a destination address of the packet in accordance with the MMIO address association information; wherein the MMIO address area information on the VFs recognizable to the plurality of servers is offsets of the MMIO space addresses of the VFs accessed by the plurality of servers, wherein the MMIO address area information on the VFs recognizable to the manager is offsets of the MMIO space addresses of the VFs accessed by the manager, and wherein the server identifier is a virtual hierarchy number for identifying the sender server.