Message forwarding toward a source end node in a converged network environment

Abstract

A network node that forwards traffic of a converged network received from a source end node receives a second message addressed to the network node, but intended for the source end node. The second message includes at least a portion of a first message originated by the source end node and previously forwarded by the network node. The network node extracts from the first message a source identifier of the source end node in a first communication protocol and determines by reference to a data structure a destination address of the second message in a second communication protocol. The network node modifies the second message to include the destination address and forwards the second message toward the source end node in accordance with the destination address.

1 . A method of data processing in a converged network, the method comprising:
 at a network node that forwards traffic of the converged network received from a source end node, receiving a second message addressed to the network node, but intended for the source end node, the second message including at least a portion of a first message originated by the source end node and previously forwarded by the network node;   the network node extracting from the first message a source identifier of the source end node in a first communication protocol;   the network node determining by reference to a data structure a destination address of the second message in a second communication protocol; and   the network node modifying the second message to include the destination address and forwarding the second message toward the source end node in accordance with the destination address.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first communication protocol is Fibre Channel;   the second communication protocol is Ethernet.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the network node is one of a set including a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) forwarder (FCF) and a FCoE Data Forwarder (FDF). 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the first message is a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) frame; and   the second message is a congestion notification message (CNM).   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the receiving comprises receiving the second message from a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Initiation Protocol (FIP) snooping bridge. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , and further comprising:
 the network node dropping the second message in response to failing to find the source identifier of the source end node in the data structure.