Patent ID: 7643487

Claim:
A method for delivering a magic packet to wake up a node in a remote subnet, comprising: receiving both a first message and a second message generated by a source node located on a first subnet at a switching device located on a second subnet remote from the first subnet; the first message including a wake up command for a target node on the remote second subnet and a first address associated with the remote second subnet; the second message including the wake up command for the target node on the remote second subnet and a second address associated with the target node on the remote second subnet; automatically analyzing the switching device to determine whether the switching device is configured for subnet-directed broadcasting; automatically selecting one of the first message and the second message to process based on the analysis of the switching device; if the switching device is configured for subnet-directed broadcasting, the switching device broadcasting the first message to the remote second subnet such that multiple nodes including the target node receive the wake up command; and if the switching device is not configured for subnet-directed broadcasting, the switching device: comparing the second address of the second message to a plurality of network addresses included in a memory of the switching device; and communicating the second message to the target node if the second address of the second message matches one of the network addresses in the memory of the switching device.