Computer system comprising a communication device

1. An emulation computer system for emulating a client computer on a network, said emulation computer system comprising:

a communication device configured to exchange messages over the network, said messages being exchanged with a server according to a first protocol, wherein said first protocol is a network protocol;

a discovery agent configured to send a first message to said server according to said first protocol with said communication device, wherein said first message includes (i) a selected identification data comprising a selected MAC address that identifies the client computer to be emulated on the network and (ii) a first message content satisfying a second protocol, and wherein said first message indicates a request that a response to said first message be sent from the server to the client computer to be emulated in accordance with said second protocol;

an analysis agent configured to intercept a second message sent for receipt at the client computer to be emulated received in response to the first message, and to extract, from said second message, a second message content, wherein contents of said second message content is in accordance with said second protocol, wherein said second message content indicates a request for a response to said second message to be sent to said server, and wherein said second message includes said selected identification data; and

a controller configured to operate said discovery agent and said analysis agent so as to emulate said client computer being emulated over a selected period of time, wherein said controller refrains the emulation computer system from sending a response to said second message.

2. The emulation computer system according to claim 1 , further comprising a user interface operable to selectively display the message content of each second message.

3. The emulation computer system according to claim 1 , wherein said first protocol is TCP/IP.

4. The emulation computer system according to claim 3 , wherein said second protocol is DHCP, and wherein said server is a DHCP server.

5. The emulation computer system according to claim 1 , wherein the selected period of time is acquired from the user.

6. The emulation computer system according to claim 1 , wherein the first message comprises a header according to the first protocol set at least partly in accordance with the first message content.

7. The emulation computer system according to claim 1 , wherein the first message comprises computer hardware information.

8. The emulation computer system according to claim 1 , wherein the first message content is set according to a set of options.

9. The emulation computer system according to claim 8 , wherein the set of options is at least partly acquired from the user.

10. A method for emulating a client computer on a network, said method comprising the steps of:

generating, by a discovery agent of an emulation computer system, a first message that includes (i) a selected identification data comprising a selected MAC address that identifies the client computer to be emulated on the network and (ii) a first message content that satisfies a second protocol, wherein said first message indicates a request that a response to said first message be sent from the server to the client computer to be emulated in accordance with said second protocol;

sending, by said discovery agent system, said first message over the network to a server according to a first protocol, wherein said first protocol is a network protocol;

intercepting, with an analysis agent of the emulation computer system, a second message sent for receipt at the client computer to be emulated in response to said first message, wherein said second message includes the selected identification data;

extracting, with said analysis agent, from said second message, a second message content, wherein contents of said second message content is in accordance with said second protocol, and wherein said second message content indicates a request for a response to said second message to be sent to said server; and

operating, during said sending and recovering steps, with a controller of the emulation computer system, said discovery agent and said analysis agent so as to emulate said client computer being emulated over a selected period of time, wherein said controller refrains said emulation computer system from sending a response to said second message.

11. The emulation computer system according to claim 1 , wherein said first message is an initial message of a handshaking protocol.

12. The method for emulating a client computer on a network according to claim 10 , wherein said first message is an initial message of a handshaking protocol.

13. The method for emulating a client computer on a network according to claim 10 , wherein the intercepting comprises:

listening for messages directed to the selected identification data of the client computer being emulated; and

grabbing one of the listened-to messages, wherein the one of the listened-to messages comprises the second message.

14. The method for emulating a client computer on a network according to claim 10 , further comprising:

analyzing, with the emulation computer system, the extracted second message content.

15. The emulation computer system according to claim 1 , wherein the analysis agent is configured to:

listen for messages directed to the selected identification data of the client computer being emulated; and

grab one of the listened-to messages, wherein the one of the listened-to messages comprises the second message.

16. The emulation computer system according to claim 1 , wherein the analysis agent is configured to analyze the extracted second message content.