US Patent 10255151 Security testing using a computer add-in card

A smart add-in card can be leveraged to perform testing on a host server computer. The add-in card can include an embedded processor and memory. Tests can be downloaded to the add-in card to test a protocol under which the add-in card operates. In a particular example, a PCIe communication bus couples the motherboard to the add-in card and the tests can purposely violate the PCIe specification. The tests can be developed to test conditions that are typically difficult to test without the use of special hardware. However, the smart add-in card can be a simple Network Interface Card (NIC) that resides on the host server computer during normal operation and is used for communication other than security testing. By using the NIC as a testing device, repeatable and reliable testing can be obtained.