Patent ID: 8675669

Claim:
A method of connecting a remote endpoint node that is outside a local local area network (LAN) to a virtual network within a network, the method comprising: establishing a proxy device for the remote endpoint node, wherein the proxy device is local to a group of endpoint devices associated with the virtual network, wherein the local proxy device is connected to the local LAN through a local router and the remote endpoint node is connected to the local LAN through a remote switch, and wherein there is a local policy device on the local LAN which enforces policies for differing types of network traffic on the local LAN; establishing a first connection between the proxy device and a local network device on the local LAN associated with the virtual network, wherein the local network device is local to the group of endpoint devices associated with the virtual network; configuring the local network device such that the first connection belongs to the virtual network on the local network device, whereby the local network device is configured to: forward, to the proxy device via the first connection, a first subset of received packets based on the first subset of received packets being associated with the virtual network, and forward a second subset of received packets to respective destinations of the second subset of packets, wherein the second subset of received packets comprises packets received from the proxy device via the first connection; and configuring the proxy device such that the first connection belongs to the virtual network on the proxy device, whereby the proxy device is configured to: forward packets associated with the virtual network and received from the local network device via the first connection toward the remote endpoint node, and forward packets associated with the virtual network and received from the remote endpoint node to the local network device via the first connection.