Patent ID: 8560742

Claim:
A method of providing one or more computing devices with access to a plurality of resources, the plurality of resources being provided by at least one physical device, the method comprising, at a first control element: receiving a data packet transmitted by one of said one or more computing devices; determining whether said data packet comprises a command including a first logical identifier, the first logical identifier identifying one of said resources, wherein a second control element does not process said first logical identifier to identify said one of said resources; if, but only if, it is determined that said data packet comprises a command including a first logical identifier: using said first logical identifier to obtain a second logical identifier not included within said data packet, the second logical identifier being associated with said first logical identifier, and identifying said one of said resources; transmitting a request including said second logical identifier to the second control element, the second control element being arranged to identify a physical device associated with said second logical identifier and to forward said request to the identified physical device; and if it is determined that said data packet comprises a command including the first logical identifier, validating said first logical identifier with reference to the computing device that transmitted the data packet; and obtaining said second logical identifier only if said first logical identifier is valid.