Patent ID: 7808996

Claim:
A packet forwarding apparatus for a virtualization switch, said virtualization switch having a target at a front end establishing front connection with at least a client, and an initiator at a rear end establishing rear connection with at least a storage device, said packet forwarding apparatus comprising: a header extractor for receiving a packet from said front connection and extracting a header from said packet; a dispatcher for determining a flow direction for said packet; and a forwarding unit for forwarding said packet between said front connection and said rear connection; wherein said forwarding unit includes: an address translator for translating a virtual access address of said packet from said dispatcher into a physical address; a dynamic session mapping table having a plurality of entries describing mapping relations between a plurality of source packets and a plurality of forwarded packets, each of said plurality of entries including a client-side interface field, a storage-side interface field and a valid bit field; a protocol data unit duplication handler for transmitting said header of said packet from said dispatcher after a corresponding entry has been entered in said dynamic session mapping table; a header adaptor for modifying fields of said header of said packet and transmitting the modified header; and a data mover taking a payload remaining on said front connection as transmission data and sending said transmission data out.