In one embodiment, a system, apparatus, and method are described for providing limited data connectivity for devices connected to a switch when the switch enters bootloader mode. The switch has a central processing unit (CPU), the CPU comprising a reload handler and an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), the ASIC comprising ASIC forwarding logic. The ASIC is instructed, by the reload handler, to store an ASIC database, the ASIC database for storing the ASIC forwarding logic. The reload handler maintains a physical layer (PHY) state of the switch. Use of spanning tree protocol (STP) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) keepalive is disabled in the switch. A state of stack hardware is retained in switch memory. New ports of the switch are prevented from becoming active, and the ASIC forwarding logic is, in response to receiving the instruction, stored in the ASIC database. Related systems, apparatuses, and methods are also described.

A method involves transferring a transmittal data block from a transmitting device via an Ethernet connection to a receiving device which has a storage for storing a transferred transmittal data block, and a processor for at least partially processing the transferred transmittal data block stored in the storage. The transmitting device forms from the data of the transmittal data block a sequence of Ethernet packets, comprising respectively management data and a transmittal data sub-block. The receiving device receives the Ethernet packets of the respective sequence and, while employing at least a part of the management data, writes the transmittal data sub-blocks of the received Ethernet packets of the sequence of Ethernet packets for the transmittal data block to the storage, wherein not upon or after the writing each of the transmittal data sub-blocks an interrupt is sent to the processor.

Systems, methods and transitory computer-readable storage media for constructing a loop free multicast tree. The methods include observing a network topology transition affecting a first path from the particular node to a root node, calculating a second path from the particular node to the root node and sending a message to an upstream node requesting that the upstream node be a root port in the calculated second path. If the upstream node agrees to be the root port in the calculated second path, the method further includes creating a new FTAG tree topology view that includes the upstream node as the root port in the second path.

Disclosed is a Hybrid middleware device for facilitating communication between at least two devices operating on a distinct communication protocols. An analyzer and interpreter module receives a first set of data packets, from a first device, to be transmitted to a second device. Upon receiving the first set of data packets, the analyzer and interpreter module determines a second set of communication protocols, supported by the second device, upon referring to a protocol configuration mapping file. In one aspect, the second set of communication protocols may be distinct from the first set of communication protocols. Subsequently, the protocol stack module converts the first set of data packets into a second set of data packets. Post conversion, the analyzer and interpreter module forwards the converted format, of the second set of data packets, to the second device thereby facilitating communication between at least two devices operating on a distinct communication protocols.

Disclosed herein is a networked media station providing a variety of features including a wireless network interface, a wired network interface, a peripheral interface, and a multimedia interface. The wireless network interface(s) allows the device to communicate to serve as a wireless base station or repeater and/or a bridge between a wireless and a wired network. The peripheral interface allows the device to communicate with a variety of peripherals, and, in conjunction with the network interface(s), allows sharing of a peripheral among multiple networked computers. The multimedia interface allows the device to be used with entertainment devices for streaming of multimedia information from a network connected computer to the entertainment device. Control of various aspects of the device is preferably controlled from a network connected computer.

A network media device is described that pulls multimedia data from one or more sources (e.g., a multimedia website or a multimedia server computer) at a first time, stores it to long-term storage within the device and transmits the stored multimedia data to one or more designated multimedia playback devices at a second time.

Systems, methods and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for determining interconnectivity in dense networks. The method includes generating, at a first network device in a data network, a traceroute packet that includes source and destination address information. The packet is encapsulated in an outer packet, and the encapsulated packet is forwarded to a second network device and to one or more intermediate network devices in the data network. A response packet is received from the second network device and each of the intermediate network devices that received the traceroute packet. The first network device determines, based on the responsive packets, an end-to-end path taken by the traceroute packet through the data network.

Various examples may include an apparatus including a memory to store ingressing data or egressing data, a timer to generate a timing signal responsive to a user-configurable time interval, and a circuit to move the ingressing data or the egressing data from the memory at least partially responsive to the timing signal generated by the timer. Various examples may include a method including receiving a data packet at a network-facing interface, writing data of the data packet into a memory, receiving a timing signal, and responsive to the timing signal, providing the data from the memory at a device-facing interface. Various examples may include a method including receiving data at a device-facing interface, writing the data to a memory, receiving a timing signal, and responsive to the timing signal, providing a data packet including the data at a network-facing interface. Related devices, systems and methods are also disclosed.

In one embodiment, a solution is provided wherein redundant routers are treated as a single emulated switch. When a packet is received at a layer 2 edge switch from a host, the layer 2 edge switch may determine a switch identifier for the emulated switch using a destination anycast hardware address contained in the packet. The anycast hardware address may identify an emulated switch comprising a plurality of routers. Then a header may be added to the packet, the header including the switch identifier. Following that, the packet may be forwarded to another layer 2 switch along a shortest path from the layer 2 edge switch to the emulated switch.

Disclosed herein is a networked media station providing a variety of features including a wireless network interface, a wired network interface, a peripheral interface, and a multimedia interface. The wireless network interface(s) allows the device to communicate to serve as a wireless base station or repeater and/or a bridge between a wireless and a wired network. The peripheral interface allows the device to communicate with a variety of peripherals, and, in conjunction with the network interface(s), allows sharing of a peripheral among multiple networked computers. The multimedia interface allows the device to be used with entertainment devices for streaming of multimedia information from a network connected computer to the entertainment device. Control of various aspects of the device is preferably controlled from a network connected computer.