An apparatus with Ethernet traffic management for protocol conversion, said apparatus comprising: a primary central processing unit 112 having first and second Ethernet interfaces; a protocol translation CPU 214 having third and fourth Ethernet interfaces; first 108 and second 106 Ethernet communications interfaces; a manageable Ethernet switch 210 having first and second ports coupled to the first and second Ethernet interfaces of the primary CPU 112, respectively, third and fourth ports coupled to the third and fourth Ethernet interfaces of the protocol translation CPU 214, respectively, and fifth and sixth ports coupled to the first 108 and second 106 Ethernet communications interfaces, respectively; wherein Ethernet traffic having a protocol recognized by the primary CPU 112 is routed between the first or second Ethernet communications interfaces and the first or second Ethernet interfaces of the primary CPU 112 by the manageable Ethernet switch 210, and Ethernet traffic not having a protocol recognized by the primary CPU 112 is routed between the first or second Ethernet communications interfaces and the protocol translation CPU 214 by the manageable Ethernet switch 210, whereby the protocol translation CPU 214 converts the Ethernet traffic having the unrecognized protocol to Ethernet traffic having the recognized protocol and then sending the recognized protocol converted Ethernet traffic to the primary CPU 112. a primary central processing unit 112 having first and second Ethernet interfaces; a protocol translation CPU 214 having third and fourth Ethernet interfaces; first 108 and second 106 Ethernet communications interfaces; a manageable Ethernet switch 210 having first and second ports coupled to the first and second Ethernet interfaces of the primary CPU 112, respectively, third and fourth ports coupled to the third and fourth Ethernet interfaces of the protocol translation CPU 214, respectively, and fifth and sixth ports coupled to the first 108 and second 106 Ethernet communications interfaces, respectively; first and second ports coupled to the first and second Ethernet interfaces of the primary CPU 112, respectively, third and fourth ports coupled to the third and fourth Ethernet interfaces of the protocol translation CPU 214, respectively, and fifth and sixth ports coupled to the first 108 and second 106 Ethernet communications interfaces, respectively; wherein Ethernet traffic having a protocol recognized by the primary CPU 112 is routed between the first or second Ethernet communications interfaces and the first or second Ethernet interfaces of the primary CPU 112 by the manageable Ethernet switch 210, and Ethernet traffic not having a protocol recognized by the primary CPU 112 is routed between the first or second Ethernet communications interfaces and the protocol translation CPU 214 by the manageable Ethernet switch 210, whereby the protocol translation CPU 214 converts the Ethernet traffic having the unrecognized protocol to Ethernet traffic having the recognized protocol and then sending the recognized protocol converted Ethernet traffic to the primary CPU 112. Ethernet traffic having a protocol recognized by the primary CPU 112 is routed between the first or second Ethernet communications interfaces and the first or second Ethernet interfaces of the primary CPU 112 by the manageable Ethernet switch 210, and Ethernet traffic not having a protocol recognized by the primary CPU 112 is routed between the first or second Ethernet communications interfaces and the protocol translation CPU 214 by the manageable Ethernet switch 210, whereby the protocol translation CPU 214 converts the Ethernet traffic having the unrecognized protocol to Ethernet traffic having the recognized protocol and then sending the recognized protocol converted Ethernet traffic to the primary CPU 112.