Patent ID: 8195823

Claim:
A client computer comprising: one or more processors; one or more storage devices; a network interface for communicating across one or more communication links; said client computer configured to generate one or more data packets of a first type for transmission via said network interface; and a downloaded front-end mechanism stored on the one or more storage devices and executable by the one or more processors to provide a managed communication link for data traffic between the network interface and a back-end mechanism remote from the client, the front-end mechanism comprising: one or more routing rules defining which of said one or more data packets are communicated via the managed communication link; an encoder configured to encode data from the one or more data packets into one or more encoded packets of an enhanced type for communication via the managed communication link, the one or more encoded packets of said enhanced type including operational information comprising quality of service information about the managed communication link; and a redirector configured to intercept the one or more data packets and to redirect the one or more data packets to the encoder according to the one or more routing rules; whereby said one or more data packets of said first type which are routed to said encoder and encoded into said enhanced type are transmitted via said managed communication link and whereby said one or more data packets of said first type which are not routed to said encoder are not transmitted via said managed communication link.