Patent ID: 7027439

Claim:
A network interface card for a data storage system having a backplane and processing circuitry for performing block-based data access operations, the processing circuitry of the data storage system being physically connected to the backplane of the data storage system, the network interface card comprising: a first port that is capable of coupling to an external network; a second port that is capable of physically connecting to the backplane of the data storage system; and control circuitry interconnected between the first port and the second port, the control circuitry being configured to, when the first port couples to the external network and the second port physically connects to the backplane of the data storage system: (i) receive file-based communications from the external network through the first port and provide block-based communications to the processing circuitry of the data storage system through the second port and the backplane in response to the file-based communications, (ii) receive block-based communications from the processing circuitry through the second port and the backplane and provide file-based communications to the external network through the first port in response to the block-based communications, and (iii) provide application server resources to operate as an application server that runs application-level programs; wherein the second port includes: (i) a set of data pathway conductors that forms, between the control circuitry and the processing circuitry, a portion of a data pathway to carry data for storage within the data storage system, and (ii) a set of message pathway conductors that forms, between the control circuitry and the processing circuitry, a portion of a message pathway to carry messages for controlling storage of the data.