Cisco Technology, Inc.

Cisco Systems O.i.a. (1988) Ltd.

Cisco Systems Israel, Inc.

Moti Haimovsky

Doron Oz

Eldad Bar-Eli

Yehezkel Levi

A novel and useful mechanism for detecting the nodes connected to a network device and for creating a ring network from the nodes detected thereby. The invention simplifies insertion, removal and modification of nodes in the ring by detecting and reconfiguring the S ring without requiring intervention by a user. Identification information messages generated by network devices and sent out on all links and received over a plurality of ports are used in identifying and determining the connectivity and topology of the network devices. The resulting topology information is stored in a node database. The contents of the node database are then used to generate one or more ring networks, wherein each ring generated corresponds to a unique line speed. The connectivity of the one or more rings generated is stored in a ring database and the rings configured therefrom.

Node detection and ring configuration for physical star connected networks

The boot operations of one or more systems may be redirected. For example, a master boot processor may configure a slave boot processor to boot over a communication bus existing between the processors, which typically eliminates the need for boot software in slave systems. This can be accomplished such as by the master system updating a programmable interface of the slave system to identify an image from which to boot, such as from a remote boot image stored external to the slave system.

Method and apparatus for redirecting the boot operations of one or more systems

A novel and useful mechanism for detecting the nodes connected to a network device and for creating a ring network from the nodes detected thereby. The invention simplifies insertion, removal and modification of nodes in the ring by detecting and reconfiguring the ring without requiring intervention by a user. Identification information messages generated by network devices and sent out on all links and received over a plurality of ports are used in identifying and determining the connectivity and topology of the network devices. The resulting topology information is stored in a node database. The contents of the node database are then used to generate one or more ring networks, wherein each ring generated corresponds to a unique line speed. The connectivity of the one or more rings generated is stored in a ring database and the rings configured therefrom.

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Modiin, Israel

Moti Haimovsky