Patent ID: 8625456

Claim:
A method implemented at least in part by a computing device comprising: receiving a port description identifying a set of ports of a data-packet switch associated with a domain comprising the set of ports, wherein the domain is a local area network, virtual local area network, or a multicast group; and configuring the set of ports, based on the port description, to withhold from uninterested entities in the domain, via ports classified as untrusted through a server identification process, broadcast Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) data packets exchanged through the data-packet switch by interested entities within the domain that would otherwise be forwarded to the uninterested entities through the data-packet switch due to broadcast destination addresses associated with the broadcast DHCP data packets, wherein the uninterested entities are configured to communicate through the set of ports to one another and to the interested entities, and wherein the configuring only withholds the broadcast DHCP data packets from the uninterested entities; wherein the uninterested entities are uninterested due to being coupled to the untrusted ports; wherein, when the domain is the multicast group, the broadcast DHCP data packets are withheld from the uninterested entities despite a destination address in the broadcast DHCP data packets indicating delivery to the uninterested entities thereby preventing the uninterested entities from obtaining network address information through the broadcast DHCP data packets and thereby altering functionality of the broadcast DHCP data packets.