Patent ID: 8332523
Filing Date: 2012-12-11
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. An architecture to enable keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) access to a target from a remote client, comprising: a master and a plurality of target interfaces that share a common Internet Protocol (IP) address on a network, the IP address being assigned to the master, the master including a processor and being arranged to provide a configuration; an Ethernet switch having switch ports, individual ones of the target interfaces being connected to individual ones of the switch ports, the master being configured to determine into which ones of the switch ports the individual ones of the target interfaces are connected by reading addresses of at least one media access control (MAC) address table of a switch chipset so as to obtain an association between each of the target interfaces and corresponding port numbers of the Ethernet switch; wherein the master is configured to allocate a session and assign a session identification in response to a request from the client to initiate a connection to a particular one of the target interfaces, wherein the master is configured to take steps after completing allocation of the session and assignment of the session identification, the steps including notifying the particular one of the target interfaces of the session and the session ID over a direct Transmission Control Protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) connection between the master and the particular one of the target interfaces, informing the client of the session identification and configuring internal tables to associate the session identification with the particular one of the target interfaces, wherein the master receives a message from the client in which is given the session identification after the client establishes connection with the master, the master being configured to determine via the internal tables the particular one of the target interfaces that is associated with that session identification and then hands off a TCP/IP socket to the particular one of the target interfaces, wherein the particular one of the target interfaces sends all data to the remote client without the data passing through the processor of the master after the hand off, wherein the master is configured to answer initial configuration requests broadcast from the target interfaces, the Ethernet switch having a port-based virtual local area network (VLAN) configured to limit configuration request responses received by the target interfaces to responses generated by the master, and wherein the port-based VLAN is configured to include only the master and one or more external ports providing sole communications access for external devices, so that no external device may communicate directly with the target interfaces.