Patent ID: 8655978

Claim:
A diskless PC network communication agent system, comprising: a host; at least one network communication agent; a physical network connecting each said network communication agent to said host; and at least one diskless personal computer (PC) connected to said at least one network communication agent; wherein each said network communication agent has network packet filtering and transferring functions so that a virtual private network (VPN) is established between said at least one network communication agent and said at least one diskless PC for enabling each said diskless PC to use a preboot execution environment (PXE) communication protocol to catch dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) information, to start up network booting, and to request the host for services comprising remote installation, boot, and access to virtual disks; wherein each network communication agent comprises: a multi-interface switch adapted for connecting said at least one diskless PC to said physical network for data exchange with said host and for allowing establishment of a virtual private network between the respective network communication agent and said at least one diskless PC, each multi-interface switch comprising: a primary interface adapted for connecting to said at least one diskless PC and handling exchanging data between said primary interface and said at least one diskless PC and exchanging data between said at least one diskless PC and another diskless PC; a secondary interface adapted for connecting to said physical network and handling exchanging data between said physical network and said host; and a packet filter adapted for analyzing and filtering network packets to discriminate virtual private network packets from physical network packets; a DHCP server adapted for handling and responding to DHCP requests provided by said at least one diskless PC; and a protocol translator adapted for translating communication protocol packets between said at least one diskless PC and said host.