Patent ID: 8014406

Claim:
A method of inserting a second node into a pre-existing virtual ring having at least a first node, a third node and a fourth node, with the third and fourth nodes being neighbor nodes in the pre-existing virtual ring and with the first node including a virtual ring manager, the method comprising the steps of: inputting, by a first user, first authentication information for the first user at the second node; sending over the public internet directly from the second node to the first node and insertion request message; receiving over the public internet the insertion request message by the first node directly from the second node, with the insertion request message requesting the insertion of the second node into the virtual ring, and with the insertion request message including the first authentication information; checking, by the first node, the first authentication information against second authentication information also associated with the first user, the second authentication information being stored in a database linked to the first node; and if the first authentication information matches the second authentication information, then revising the virtual ring to insert the second node into the virtual ring so that the third node is the downstream neighbor of the second node in the virtual ring and the fourth node is the upstream neighbor of the second node in the virtual ring.