Patent attributes
Apparatus and methods are described for configuring data switches with server data port information. In a first embodiment of the invention, a computing device is provided. The computing device includes a network interface controller (NIC) card coupled to a data network, a central processing unit (CPU), and a basic input/output system (BIOS) with a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) service. In the computing device, the CPU is configured for receiving a signal indicating a change at the NIC card and configuring the CPU to initiate a BIOS session in response to the signal. Further, the BIOS session is configured to allow the BIOS to perform, via the CPU, operations for the LLDP service including transmitting to a data switch of the data network via the NIC card a LLDP packet including information for the NIC card based on the change.