Patent ID: 8321559

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for use in a router coupled with a plurality of hosts, the method comprising: placing the router in a normal mode with a first router configuration, wherein, while in the normal mode, the router allows only one of the hosts to access a target device at a given time; receiving a command to transition the router from the normal mode to a transparent mode with a second router configuration, wherein, while in transparent mode, the router allows two or more of the hosts to access the target device simultaneously; transitioning the router from the normal mode to the transparent mode, wherein transitioning includes replacing the first router configuration with the second router configuration; and supporting one or more device requests directed to the target device from the hosts, wherein supporting one or more device request includes creating a target data structure for the target device, wherein the target data structure includes a target name that represents the target device, and wherein the target name is determined based on a target port name of a corresponding target port associated with the target device.