Patent ID: 7990969

Claim:
A method comprising: intercepting, from a first node, a first packet at a network application server via a first local area network (LAN), wherein the first packet is destined for a second node other than the network application server; intercepting, from a third node, a second packet at the network application server via a second LAN, wherein the second packet is destined for a fourth node other than the network application server; associating the first packet with a first virtual private network (VPN) based on receiving the first packet via the first LAN, wherein the first node is coupled to the second node through the first VPN; associating the second packet with a second VPN based on reception of the second packet via the second LAN, wherein the third node is coupled to the fourth node through the second VPN and wherein the first VPN and the second VPN include overlapping network address spaces; and providing an application-layer service, at the network application server, requested by the first node of the second node and associated with the first packet that is associated with the first VPN or requested by the third node of the fourth node and associated with the second packet that is associated with the second VPN.