Patent ID: 8019890

Claim:
A network switch comprising: a user network port connectable to a user network, the user network comprising a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server; a plurality of down link ports each connectable to a server unit; a server unit management network port connectable to a server unit management network for managing server units connected to the down link ports, the server unit management network comprising a pre-boot execution environment (PXE) server; a store-and-forward switching unit connected to said user network port, said down link ports and said server unit management network port; a control unit connected to said store-and-forward switching unit, and a group register whereby the control unit is configured to transmit packets between the user network port and the down link ports, between the server management network port and the down link ports and between the down link ports and to prevent the transmission of packets between the user network port and the server management network port, wherein, when a first packet that has arrived at one of said down link ports is a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) packet including a network boot option, said control unit operates said store-and-forward switching unit to transmit said first packet to said server unit management network port; and wherein the DHCP server and the PXE server are separate and distinct and provide logical isolation between the user network and the server unit management network.