Patent ID: 8014282

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving an Internet Protocol datagram; performing a first hash operation on a first ordering of a set of bits included in the Internet Protocol datagram, the set of bits including bits included in a header of the Internet Protocol datagram; performing a second hash operation on a second ordering of the set of bits included in the Internet Protocol datagram, the first ordering of the set of bits being different than the second ordering of the set of bits; combining results of the first hash operation and the second hash operation; determining a processor for the Internet Protocol datagram from among a set of multiple processors based on the combining of the results of the first hash operation and the second hash operation; receiving at least one configuration parameter, the at least one configuration parameter to select an operation mode of an network interface controller, the operation modes of the network interface controller including: a first mode that uses an asymmetric hash operation on flow data of a packet to determine a processor from a set of multiple processors for the packet; and a second mode that uses a symmetric hash operation of flow data of a packet to determine a processor from the set of multiple processors for the packet.