Abstract: A mechanism is disclosed for enabling a network address to be shared by multiple containers. By allowing multiple containers to share a network address, a limit on network addresses does not limit the number of containers that can be implemented. Despite the fact that the network address is shared by multiple containers, the uniqueness and isolation of each container is still maintained. In one implementation, this is achieved by associating a unique label with each container. With this unique label, it is possible to forward a packet destined for the shared network address to a specific container despite the fact that multiple containers share the same network address. Thus, with this mechanism, it is possible to achieve container isolation and uniqueness without limiting container scalability.

Abstract: An improved mechanism for efficiently polling file descriptors in a large scale computer system is disclosed. The polling of the file descriptors is performed by first determining, based upon a set of indication information, which file descriptors are eligible for polling. A file descriptor is eligible for polling if the indication information for that file descriptor indicates that the file associated with that file descriptor might (but does not necessarily) have an event pending. Only if a file descriptor is determined to be eligible will the file descriptor and the file associated with the file descriptor be polled. By polling only the eligible file descriptors in a system, the overhead associated with the polling operation is kept to a minimum. As a result, even in a large scale system with a large number of file descriptors, polling is still performed efficiently.