3Com Corporation

3Com Technologies

Ciaran Murphy

Anne G O'Connell

Eugene O'Neill

Richard A Gahan

John Healy

An edge switch of a packet-based communication network, the edge switch having a port to which a specified user is connected is identified. A unicast request packet is sent from a policy server to the specified user, the unicast request packet including destination address data and a selected identification code. The selected identification code is detected at the port. The packet is diverted to a management agent for the switch and an identification of the switch and the user is returned to the server.

Identifying an edge switch and port to which a network user is attached

A storage assembly includes a plurality of multi-unit storage device is provided with a failover procedure that does not require hot-swap capability. Individual units are aggregated into a storage array by an aggregation procedure such as RAID. When a failure occurs data from the failed unit is transferred to a hot spare unit. Also, data from other units is transferred by simulating failure of those units and then the complete device can be removed. In small storage networks all the units may be aggregated as a single array and a spare auxiliary device is summoned and integrated into the array prior to the simulated failure. In larger systems there may be two layers of aggregation and failover is run by the second level of aggregation.

Storage disk failover and replacement system

A method of transmitting over virtual channels in an asynchronous transfer mode data received in the form of data packets which are assembled in addressable buffers. A single distribution and recovery queue is maintained in conjunction with a start distribution pointer, a finish distribution pointer and a recovery pointer which is initially set to the same place as the finish distribution pointer, free buffers being entered in the queue between the start and finish distribution pointers.

Growing community of inventors

Dublin, Ireland

Ciaran Murphy