Patent ID: 7804775

Claim:
An apparatus in a communications network fabric, that is used to couple data processing systems together, for collecting data about the transmission of network packets, associated with specified applications, through said fabric, said apparatus comprising: a network fabric having an application to generate a particular existing single bit selected in a standard definition of a frame header, said bit already being defined by a communication protocol standard as an available bit in said frame header definition, said protocol standard being unchanged by said selection; the application being specified to be monitored; said selected bit being set in each network packet that is generated by said specified application; said fabric collecting performance data about a transmission of each packet through said fabric that has said bit set; said fabric collecting performance data about a transmission of each packet that is generated by said application; a performance manager requesting permission to use said single bit; said fabric determining whether a performance manager other than said performance manager currently has permission to use said single bit; in response to determining that no performance manager other than said performance manager currently has permission to use said single bit, said fabric granting permission to said performance manager to use said bit; and in response to determining that another performance manager other than said performance manager currently has permission to use said single bit, said fabric refraining from granting permission to said performance manager to use said bit until said another performance manager other than said performance manager relinquishes said single bit.