Receive queue with stride-based data scattering

A method for communication includes posting in a queue a sequence of work items pointing to buffer consisting of multiple strides of a common, fixed size in a memory. A NIC receives data packets from a network containing data to be pushed to the memory. The NIC reads from the queue a first work item pointing to a first buffer and writes data from a first packet to a first number of the strides in the first buffer without consuming all of the strides in the first buffer. The NIC then writes at least a part of the data from a second packet to the remaining strides in the first buffer. When all the strides in the first buffer have been consumed, the NIC reads from the queue a second work item pointing to a second buffer, and writes further data to the strides in the second buffer.