Patent ID: 8214522

Claim:
A method for sharing a network connection between a host system and a virtual machine, the network connection connecting the host system to a computer network, the method comprising: sending an outgoing data frame from the virtual machine to the computer network, including: enabling the host system to use the network connection using data frames comprising a first layer 2 address and a first layer 3 address, wherein the first layer 2 address and the first layer 3 address is associated with the host system, and the first layer 3 address is compliant with Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6); enabling the virtual machine to attempt to use the network connection using data frames comprising a second layer 2 address and a second layer 3 address, wherein the second layer 2 address and the second layer 3 address is associated with the virtual machine, and the second layer 2 address being different from the first layer 2 address, and the second layer 3 address being different from the first layer 3 address, and the second layer 3 address being compliant with IPv6; replacing an occurrence of the second layer 2 address within the outgoing data frame with the first layer 2 address of the host system, so that the outgoing data frame appears to have originated from the host system rather than from the virtual machine based on the use of the first layer 2 address and the second layer 3 address; and if the outgoing data frame includes a neighbor discover protocol message of a selected type, replacing the second layer 2 address in the neighbor discover protocol message by the first layer 2 address.