Cisco Technology, Inc.

James Balestriere

John Gary Waclawsky

Steven Howard Berl

Saravanan Agasaveeran

Satish Gannu

Aniruddha Khare

Gordon Cox

M Salim Olime

Rajesh Agrawal

An improved assembly (e.g., an integrated power cycler and terminal server) controls power and communications to a set of devices. The assembly includes a network port configured to connect to a network, a set of device ports configured to connect to the set of devices through a set of power cords, and a controller coupled to the network port and to the set of device ports. The controller is configured to (i) control delivery of power from a power source to the set of devices through the set of device ports and the set of power cords, and (ii) direct conveyance of communications from the network to the set of devices through the set of device ports and the set of power cords while power is delivered to the set of devices through the set of device ports and the set of power cords.

Controlling delivery of power and network communications to a set of devices

The invention is directed to techniques for transferring data using a device driver that is arranged to prevent improper operation of a non-primary routine (e.g., an administrative operation) from causing improper operation of a primary routine (e.g., a data transfer operation). Accordingly, the primary routine can continue to operate properly after a failure of the non-primary routine. In one arrangement, a data communications device transfers data. The data communications device includes a port that couples to a network, and a processor coupled to the port. The data communications device further includes memory, coupled to the processor, that stores a device driver. The device driver has a first set of instructions that directs the processor to perform a data transfer routine that moves data between memory and the port, and a second set of instructions that directs the processor to perform an administrative routine. The second set of instructions is arranged to prevent improper operation of the administrative routine from causing improper operation of the data transfer routine. In particular, execution and communication mechanisms enable the primary and administrative routines to operate in such a fault-tolerant manner.

Methods and apparatus for transferring data using a device driver

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Putney, Australia

James Balestriere