A network system , comprising: a plurality of processing nodes , wherein each of the processing nodes comprises a processing node manager configured to perform operations which are characterized to comprise: receiving a packet from an authority node or a control node via a secured connection, wherein the packet comprises a variable length passcode and/or a short time key, and an instruction to forward advertised discovery packets to each of the plurality of processing nodes ; sending advertised discovery packets advertising network port information to each of the other plurality of processing nodes ; and receiving and examining advertised discovery packets from each of the other plurality of processing nodes , the advertised discovery packets from each of the other plurality of processing nodes comprising an authentication code, wherein the operation of examining the advertised discovery packets comprises determining whether the authentication code is compliant with the received packet, wherein the determining whether the authentication code is compliant involves running the received advertised packets through a message authentication code, MAC, algorithm to produce a MAC data tag, the MAC data tag being compared against the received authentication code, and the determining whether the authentication code is compliant being deemed successful when the MAC data tag matches the received authentication code. a plurality of processing nodes , wherein each of the processing nodes comprises a processing node manager configured to perform operations which are characterized to comprise: receiving a packet from an authority node or a control node via a secured connection, wherein the packet comprises a variable length passcode and/or a short time key, and an instruction to forward advertised discovery packets to each of the plurality of processing nodes ; sending advertised discovery packets advertising network port information to each of the other plurality of processing nodes ; and receiving and examining advertised discovery packets from each of the other plurality of processing nodes , the advertised discovery packets from each of the other plurality of processing nodes comprising an authentication code, wherein the operation of examining the advertised discovery packets comprises determining whether the authentication code is compliant with the received packet, receiving a packet from an authority node or a control node via a secured connection, wherein the packet comprises a variable length passcode and/or a short time key, and an instruction to forward advertised discovery packets to each of the plurality of processing nodes ; sending advertised discovery packets advertising network port information to each of the other plurality of processing nodes ; and receiving and examining advertised discovery packets from each of the other plurality of processing nodes , the advertised discovery packets from each of the other plurality of processing nodes comprising an authentication code, wherein the operation of examining the advertised discovery packets comprises determining whether the authentication code is compliant with the received packet, wherein the determining whether the authentication code is compliant involves running the received advertised packets through a message authentication code, MAC, algorithm to produce a MAC data tag, the MAC data tag being compared against the received authentication code, and the determining whether the authentication code is compliant being deemed successful when the MAC data tag matches the received authentication code. <EOS>