Patent ID: 6901443

Claim:
A method of managing communication in a fault-tolerant computer network comprising at least one non-fault tolerant node and at least one fault tolerant node, the method comprising the steps of: detecting network addresses of each of the at least one non-fault tolerant node coupled to either a primary network or a redundant network of a plurality of networks that form the fault-tolerant computer network; determining to which of the network of the plurality of networks the at least one non-fault tolerant node is coupled; storing the detected network addresses data of each of the at least one non-fault tolerant node; storing associated network data comprising the network to which each of the at least one non-fault tolerant node is coupled therewith; prior to sending data from one of the fault tolerant nodes to a selected one of the at least one non-fault tolerant node, searching the stored detected network addresses and the stored associated data to determine if the network address and the associated network data of the selected one of the at least one non-fault tolerant node is stored; if the network address and the associated data is stored for the selected at least one non-fault tolerant node, sending data intended for the selected at least one non-fault tolerant node over only the network to which the at least one non-fault tolerant node is coupled; and if the network address and the associated data is not stored for the selected non-fault tolerant node, sending data intended for the selected at least one non-fault tolerant node over the plurality of networks.