A method of emulating a hardware device, the method comprising: executing a control program in a first logical partition in a memory of a computer system, wherein the first logical partition comprises an operating system and the control program communicates with a communication device over a first channel; and emulating communication, by the control program and the communication device, between an operating system in a second logical partition and a hardware device over a second channel, the emulating comprising: managing at least one channel connection on the communication device, the at least one channel connection defining a communication path between the first channel for the first logical partition and the second channel for the second logical partition, wherein the communication device comprises hardware configured to provide connectivity to an external network of the computer system; receiving, using the at least one channel connection, a message in a first channel protocol or a second channel protocol from a corresponding first logical partition or the second logical partition, wherein the message comprises at least one of: a message generated by the hardware device for processing by the operating system or a message generated by the operating system addressed to the hardware device; and the communication device mapping the received message to the other of the first channel protocol or the second channel protocol, and forwarding, using the channel connection, the mapped message to the other of the first logical partition or the second logical partition. executing a control program in a first logical partition in a memory of a computer system, wherein the first logical partition comprises an operating system and the control program communicates with a communication device over a first channel; and emulating communication, by the control program and the communication device, between an operating system in a second logical partition and a hardware device over a second channel, the emulating comprising: managing at least one channel connection on the communication device, the at least one channel connection defining a communication path between the first channel for the first logical partition and the second channel for the second logical partition, wherein the communication device comprises hardware configured to provide connectivity to an external network of the computer system; receiving, using the at least one channel connection, a message in a first channel protocol or a second channel protocol from a corresponding first logical partition or the second logical partition, wherein the message comprises at least one of: a message generated by the hardware device for processing by the operating system or a message generated by the operating system addressed to the hardware device; and the communication device mapping the received message to the other of the first channel protocol or the second channel protocol, and forwarding, using the channel connection, the mapped message to the other of the first logical partition or the second logical partition. managing at least one channel connection on the communication device, the at least one channel connection defining a communication path between the first channel for the first logical partition and the second channel for the second logical partition, wherein the communication device comprises hardware configured to provide connectivity to an external network of the computer system; receiving, using the at least one channel connection, a message in a first channel protocol or a second channel protocol from a corresponding first logical partition or the second logical partition, wherein the message comprises at least one of: a message generated by the hardware device for processing by the operating system or a message generated by the operating system addressed to the hardware device; and the communication device mapping the received message to the other of the first channel protocol or the second channel protocol, and forwarding, using the channel connection, the mapped message to the other of the first logical partition or the second logical partition.