Patent ID: 7266715

Claim:
In a master concentrator, a method for maintaining a virtual private network connection between a client device and a network, comprising the steps of: establishing the virtual private network connection between the client device and the network for a communication session between the client device and the network, the virtual private network connection having associated connection state information; transmitting the connection state information to a backup concentrator; transmitting network identification information, associated with the master concentrator, to the backup concentrator; experiencing a failure event during the communication session; and in response to experiencing the failure event, causing the backup concentrator to: maintain the communication session with the network over the virtual private network connection through the backup concentrator using the connection state information received by the backup concentrator; and transmit a redirect message to the client device, the redirect message appearing, to the client device, to have the network identification information associated with the master concentrator and directing the client to maintain the virtual private network connection with the backup concentrator.