Patent ID: 8346919

Claim:
A method for communication of a host having a first network interface device and a second network interface device coupled thereto, the method comprising: by the first network interface device, operating a data transfer phase of a transport layer network connection between the host and a peer, including maintaining connection information to operate the data transfer phase of the transport layer connection between the host and the peer; by the host, while the first network device is operating the data transfer phase of the transport layer network connection with the peer, including maintaining the connection information to operate the data transfer phase of the transport layer connection between the host and the peer, determining the connection information that describes the transport layer network connection being operated by the first network interface device independently of the first network interface device maintaining the connection information; and causing the second network interface device to operate the transport layer network connection with the peer based at least in part on the connection information maintained by the host, wherein the causing step does not include providing the connection information maintained by the first network interface device from the first network interface device.