System and method for sending packets using another device's network address
View Patent ↗A network analyzer gets configuration information, usually in the form of a configuration packet sent from a network monitor. The configuration information comprises a second device network address and a third device network address. The second device network address is that of the network monitor and the third device network address is that of a communication device that is to be monitored. When the network analyzer sees packets from the monitored communication device, it can send the results to the network monitor for analysis without having to be configured with a unique network address. The network analyzer sends an original packet using the network address of the communication device as the source address and using the network address of the network monitor as the destination address.
1. A system comprising:
a first device configured to receive a first configuration packet that contains configuration information from a network monitor, get the configuration information comprising a configured network address of a second device and a configured network address of a third device, wherein the first device does not have a network address, generate an original packet comprising a source network address that is the network address of the third device and a destination network address that is the network address of the second device, send the original packet, receive a packet, determine if the received packet is a second configuration packet, the sent original packet, or a packet that has the source network address or the destination network address of the third device, in response to the received packet being the second configuration packet, get a second configuration information from the second configuration packet, in response to the received packet being the sent original packet, ignoring the received packet, and in response to the received packet being the packet that has the source address network address or the destination network address of the third device, send a packet that comprises the source network address and the destination network address.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network address of the second device further comprises a first data-link address, wherein the first device is further configured to receive a packet from the third device and get a second data-link address from the packet received from the third device, and wherein the sent original packet further comprises a source data-link address that is the second data-link address and a destination data-link address that is the first data-link address.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the sent original packet contains additional information from the packet received from the third device.
4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the destination data-link address is the data-link address of a gateway or a network monitor on a same network as the first device.
5. The system of claim 2 , wherein the source data-link address is the data-link address of a gateway or a communication device on a same network as the first device.
6. The system of claim 2 , wherein the source data-link address or the destination data-link address is at least one item selected from the group comprising: a MAC address, an Ethernet address, a token-ring address, a SONET address, and a token-bus address.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first configuration packet or the second configuration packet is detected from at least one field of the configuration packet selected from the group comprising: a TCP port address, a UDP port address, an IPX socket, a field within a payload, and the payload.
8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a firewall configured to allow packets to be sent only to the second device.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first device is a network analyzer, the second device is a first communication device, and the third device is a second communication device.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the source network address or the destination network address is at least one item selected from the group comprising: an IP address and an IPX address.
11. A method comprising:
a. getting, configuration information, comprising a configured network address of a second device and a configured network address of a third device;
b. generating an original packet comprising a source network address that is the configured network address of the third device and a destination network address that is the configured network address of the second device;
c. sending the original packet from a first device, wherein the first device does not have a network address;
d. receiving a first configuration packet that contains the configuration information from a network monitor;
e. receiving a packet;
f. determining if the received packet is a second configuration packet, the original packet sent in step (c), or a packet that has the source network address or the destination network address that is the configured network address of the third device;
g. responsive to the received packet being the second configuration packet, getting second configuration information from the second configuration packet;
h. responsive to the received packet being the packet sent in step (c), ignoring the received packet; and
i. responsive to the received packet being the packet that has the source network address or the destination network address that is the configured network address of the third device, going to step (b).
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the network address of the second device further comprises a first data-link address; wherein the step of getting configuration information further comprises getting a second data-link address from a packet received from the third device; and wherein the sent original packet further comprises a source data-link address that is the second data-link address and a destination data-link address that is the first data-link address.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the sent original packet contains additional information from the packet received from the third device.
14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the destination data-link address is the data-link address of a gateway or the network monitor on a same network as the first device.
15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the source data-link address is the data-link address of a gateway or a communication device on a same network as the first device.
16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the source data-link address or the destination data-link address is at least one item selected from the group comprising: a MAC address, an Ethernet address, a token-ring address, a SONET address, and a token-bus address.
17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first configuration packet or the second configuration packet is detected from at least one field of the configuration packet selected from the group comprising: a TCP port address, a UDP port address, an IPX socket, a field within a payload, and the payload.
18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising the step of:
configuring a firewall to allow packets to be sent only to the second device.
19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first device is a network analyzer, the second device is a first communication device, and the third device is a second communication device.
20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the source network address or the destination network address is at least one item selected from the group comprising: an IP address and an IPX address.
21. A method comprising:
a. receiving a configuration packet that contains configuration information on a first device that is not configured with a network address, wherein the configuration information comprises a configured network address of a second device, a configured network address of a third device, and a first data-link address;
b. receiving a packet from the third device;
c. getting a second data-link address from the packet from the third device;
d. generating an original packet, wherein the original packet comprises a source network address, a destination network address, a source data-link address, and a destination data-link address, wherein the source network address is the configured network address of the third device, the destination network address is the network address of the second device, the source data-link address is the second data-link address, and the destination data-link address the first data-link address; and
e. sending the original packet from the first device.
22. An apparatus comprising:
means for receiving, at the first device, a first configuration packet that contains configuration information from a network monitor;
means for getting the configuration information, the configuration information comprising a configured network address of a second device and a configured network address of a third device;
means for generating an original packet comprising a source network address that is the configured network address of the third device and a destination network address that is the configured network address of the second device;
means for sending the original packet from a first device, wherein the first device does not have a network address;
means for receiving, at the first device, a packet;
means for determining if the received packet is a second configuration packet, the sent original packet, or a packet that has the source network address or the destination network address of the third device;
in response to the received packet being the second configuration packet, means for getting a second configuration information from the second configuration packet;
in response to the received packet being the sent original packet, means for ignoring the received packet; and
in response to the received packet being the packet that has the source address network address or the destination network address of the third device, means for sending a packet that comprises the source network address and the destination network address.