Patent ID: 7020796

Claim:
A communication mechanism, comprising: a first network interface, said first network interface having a first static address which is initially mapped to a mechanism-based virtual address associated with said communication mechanism; a second network interface, said second network interface having a second static address; and a management mechanism coupled to said first and second network interfaces for effecting network communication therewith, said management mechanism monitoring said first network interface for an indication of malfunction, said management mechanism, upon detecting the malfunction, dynamically mapping the mechanism-based virtual address to create an updated mapping by associating said mechanism-based virtual address with said second static address rather than said first static address, said management mechanism sending said updated mapping via said second network interface to a plurality of other mechanisms in a network, said other mechanisms using said updated mapping to communicate with said communication mechanism such that said other mechanisms send communications having said mechanism-based virtual address associated therewith to said communication mechanism via said second network interface rather than said first network interface.