Patent ID: 7925722

Claim:
A method of configuring a device across a network, wherein the device is a managed appliance for operatively communicating keyboard data, cursor control data, and video data between a plurality of computers connected to the network and a workstation connected to the network, the method comprising: (a) the workstation broadcasting a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) discover request message across the network; (b) in response to said UDP discover request message from the workstation, said device transmitting a UDP discover reply message, the discover reply message including at least a portion of an Internet Protocol (IP) configuration of the device, wherein the portion of the IP configuration includes a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the device, an IP address of the device, a subnet mask, and a gateway address of the device, wherein, if the device has not already been assigned an IP address, then the IP address sent in the UDP discover reply message is a default IP address, and wherein, if the device has not already been assigned a subnet mask, then the subnet mask sent in the UDP discover reply message is a default subnet mask, and wherein, if the device has not already been assigned a gateway address, then the gateway address sent in the UDP discover reply message is a default gateway address; (c) said workstation broadcasting a UDP test IP configuration message said UDP test IP configuration message including: the MAC address of the device, an IP address, a subnet mask, and a gateway address; and (d) upon receipt of said test IP configuration message, (d1) said device sending a UDP test IP configuration reply message to the workstation, said test IP configuration reply message indicating a status, and (d2) if said device does not already have an IP address, said device temporarily setting its IP configuration to configuration values sent in the UDP test IP configuration message from the workstation; (e) upon receipt of the test IP configuration reply message from the device, the workstation sending a set IP configuration request message to the device, said set IP configuration request message including an IP address, a subnet mask, and a gateway address, and the MAC address of the device; and (f) in response to said set IP configuration request message, said device (f1) setting the IP configuration parameters in the device to correspond to the IP address, the subnet mask, and the gateway address sent with the instruction set IP configuration request message; and (f2) sending a UDP set IP configuration reply message to the workstation indicating a status of the set IP configuration message.