Patent ID: 7779164

Claim:
A network system comprising: a plurality of processing entities; an interconnect device coupled to the plurality of processing entities; a shared memory comprising a plurality of memory units, wherein the shared memory is coupled to the interconnect device and the plurality of processing entities; a network interface unit distinct from the interconnect device and coupled to the plurality of processing entities and the shared memory via the interconnect device, wherein the network interface unit comprises a plurality of hardware resources configured to control processing of network data received from a network external to said network system; a partition management module executable on a processing entity of said plurality of processing entities to, for each given one of a plurality of asymmetrical data processing partitions: assign one or more predetermined subsets of the plurality of processing entities to the given asymmetrical data processing partition, assign one or more predetermined subsets of the plurality of memory units to the given asymmetrical data processing partition, and assign one or more of said hardware resources to the given asymmetrical data processing partition; wherein each of the plurality of asymmetrical data processing partitions is assigned to performing at least one respective processing task that is different than a processing task to which another asymmetrical data processing partition is assigned; wherein the network interface unit is configured to, for a plurality of data packets received from said network: determine that a subset of said plurality of data packets received from said network belongs to a particular flow of packets; and communicate said subset of packets to a same asymmetrical data processing partition of said plurality of asymmetrical data processing partitions.