Patent ID: 7260636

Claim:
A method for use in a computer system including a plurality of devices each having a first identifier that uniquely identifies the respective device, a shared resource shared by the plurality of devices, and a network that couples the plurality of devices to the shared resource, the network assigning a second identifier to each of the plurality of devices, the second identifier indicating a port of at least one network component through which the respective device accesses the network, the method including acts of: (a) in response to one of the plurality of devices attempting to access the shared resource and representing itself to the shared resource as a first device using the first identifier, determining, using the second identifier, whether the one of the plurality of devices is attempting to access the shared resource through a port of the at least one network component that is different than a first port of the at least one network component used by the first device to access the shared resource; and (b) when it is determined in the act (a) that the one of the plurality of devices is attempting to access the shared resource through a port of the at least one network component that is different than the first port, denying the attempted access by the one of the plurality of devices to the shared resource.