Abstract: In various examples, access to VM memory by virtualization software is secured using a trusted firmware of a host controller to validate one or more of a command to read a VM's memory and/or the data read from VM memory in order to protect against improper access to data in VM memory. If validation fails, the firmware may refrain from reading the data and/or from providing the virtualization software with access to the data. The data may include a request command from a VM regarding establishing or modifying a connection using the host controller to another entity, such as another device within or outside of the virtualization environment. The virtualization software may use the request command to facilitate the connection. The host controller may provide an eXtensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI) or a different type of interface for the connection.

Abstract: In various examples, access to VM memory by virtualization software is secured using a trusted firmware of a host controller to validate one or more of a command to read a VM's memory and/or the data read from VM memory in order to protect against improper access to data in VM memory. If validation fails, the firmware may refrain from reading the data and/or from providing the virtualization software with access to the data. The data may include a request command from a VM regarding establishing or modifying a connection using the host controller to another entity, such as another device within or outside of the virtualization environment. The virtualization software may use the request command to facilitate the connection. The host controller may provide an eXtensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI) or a different type of interface for the connection.

Abstract: A user datagram protocol (UDP) is a well-known protocol for transferring data between two nodes of a network. When data is too large to fit within a single UDP packet that can be transmitted between the two nodes, the data needs to be segmented and transmitted with multiple packets and reassembled on the receiving node. Techniques are disclosed herein, for example, for offloading such segmentation, transmission, and reassembly from the central processing units (CPUs) of the nodes. Such offloading is performed efficiently, for example, by repurposing legacy protocol fields used in UDP transmission such as the internet protocol (IP) identification (ID), time to live (TTL), type of service (TOS), and/or EtherType fields to encode information needed for efficient segmentation, out of order reception, and reassembly.

Abstract: A user datagram protocol (UDP) is a well-known protocol for transferring data between two nodes of a network. When data is too large to fit within a single UDP packet that can be transmitted between the two nodes, the data needs to be segmented and transmitted with multiple packets and reassembled on the receiving node. Techniques are disclosed herein, for example, for offloading such segmentation, transmission, and reassembly from the central processing units (CPUs) of the nodes. Such offloading is performed efficiently, for example, by repurposing legacy protocol fields used in UDP transmission such as the internet protocol (IP) identification (ID), time to live (TTL), type of service (TOS), and/or EtherType fields to encode information needed for efficient segmentation, out of order reception, and reassembly.

Abstract: In various examples, access to VM memory by virtualization software is secured using a trusted firmware of a host controller to validate one or more of a command to read a VM's memory and/or the data read from VM memory in order to protect against improper access to data in VM memory. If validation fails, the firmware may refrain from reading the data and/or from providing the virtualization software with access to the data. The data may include a request command from a VM regarding establishing or modifying a connection using the host controller to another entity, such as another device within or outside of the virtualization environment. The virtualization software may use the request command to facilitate the connection. The host controller may provide an eXtensible Host Controller Interface (xHCI) or a different type of interface for the connection.

Abstract: The invention sets forth an approach for aggregating a plurality of NICs in a computing device into a single logical NIC as seen by that computing device's operating system. The combination of the single logical NIC and a network resource manager provides a reliable and persistent interface to the operating system and to the network hardware, thereby improving the reliability and ease-of-configuration of the computing device. The invention also may improve communications security by supporting the 802.1X and the 802.1Q networking standards.