Patent ID: 6874036

Claim:
A data processing network comprising: a first server including a first network interface card (NIC) that connects the first server to a central switch; the first NIC comprising a buffer; the first server being a management server and managing a second server using management information; the second server including a second network interface card (NIC) that connects the second server to the central switch; wherein, the first NIC is configured to store, a first protocol data unit (PDU) received from the second NIC, in the buffer, after the first NIC determining that the first PDU is of a first type consisting of just a single header; wherein, the single header being a media access control (MAC) header; wherein, the first PDU is generated at the data link layer of the network's protocol stack, containing the management information; and wherein, the first NIC is further configured to, detect available unused space, in a second PDU of a second type received from the second NIC and generated at the highest level of the network's protocol stack; and after determining that the first PDU and the second PDU are destined to a common target, the first NIC stores a payload of the first PDU in the available unused space of a payload of the second PDU to form a combined PDU.