Patent ID: 7320078

Claim:
An electronic system, comprising: a set of devices; a set of power cords; and an assembly configured to control power and communications to the set of devices through the set of power cords, the assembly including: a network port configured to connect to a network, a set of device ports connected to the set of devices through the set of power cords, and a controller coupled to the network port and to the set of device ports, the controller being configured to: control delivery of power from a power source to the set of devices through the set of device ports and the set of power cords, and direct conveyance of communications from the network to the set of devices through the set of device ports and the set of power cords while power is delivered to the set of devices through the set of device ports and the set of power cords; wherein the controller of the assembly includes: memory which stores terminal server code and power cycler code; and a common central processing unit coupled to the memory, the common central processing unit being configured to operate as a terminal server providing terminal access to the set of devices while running the terminal server code, and as a power cycler enabling power cycling of the set of devices on behalf of a set of external network hosts of the network while running the power cycler code.