USING A NETWORK SWITCH TO CONTROL A VIRTUAL LOCAL NETWORK IDENTITY ASSOCIATION

1 . A method comprising:

providing a communication path in a network switch for communication of data between a first device coupled to the network switch and a second device coupled to the network switch; and

using the network switch to regulate tagging of the data to control a virtual local area network identity association of the data based at least in part on a network over which the communication occurs.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein using the network switch to regulate the tagging of the data comprises:

determining whether the communication occurs over a public network or a private network; and

selectively tagging the data based at least in part on the determination.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first network device is unaware of the virtual local area network identity association;

the data comprises at least one data packet received from the first network device; and

using the network switch to regulate the tagging of the data comprises inserting a tag in the data packet to indicate membership of the packet to a first virtual local area network of a plurality of virtual local area networks.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first virtual local area network is associated with a private network and a second virtual local area network of the plurality of virtual local area networks is associated with a public network.

5 . The method of claim 4 , the method further comprising:

removing the tag from the data packet; and

communicating the data packet with the removed tag from the network switch to the second network device over the public network.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first network device is unaware of the virtual local area network identity association and the data comprises at least one data packet received from the second network device using communication over a public network, the method further comprising:

using the network switch to associate the packet with a virtual local area network associated with the public network.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first network device is unaware of the virtual local area network identity association;

the second network device is adapted to regulate tagging of data furnished by the second network device to control a local area network identity association of the data furnished by the second network device.

8 . A network switch, comprising:

a first port interface coupled to a public network; and

a second port interface coupled to a first network device adapted to communicate data with a second network device coupled to the switch using one the public network or a private network, the second port interface adapted to regulate tagging of the data to control a virtual local area network identity association of the data based at least in part on whether the communication of the data uses the public network or the private network.

9 . The network switch of claim 8 , wherein:

the first network device is unaware of the virtual local area network identity association;

the data comprises at least one data packet received from the first network device; and

the second port interface is adapted to insert a tag in the data packet to indicate membership of the packet to a first virtual local area network associated with the private network regardless of whether the communication of the data occurs over the private network or the public network.

10 . The network switch of claim 9 , wherein:

the communication occurs over the public network; and

the second port interface is adapted to remove the tag from the data packet and communicate the data packet with the removed tag from the network switch to the second network device.

11 . The network switch of claim 9 , wherein the first network device is unaware of the virtual local area network identity association, the network switch further comprising:

a third port interface adapted to communicate with a third network device adapted to selectively tag data communicated from the third network device to the network switch to regulate a virtual local area network association of the data communicated from the third network device

12 . The network switch of claim 11 , further comprising:

at least one additional port interface to regulate tagging of data communicated using the at least one additional port to control a virtual local network identity association of the data communicated using the at least one additional port.

13 . An apparatus comprising:

a first network device; and

a network switch coupled to the first network device, wherein the network switch is adapted to:

provide a communication path for communication of data between the first network device and a second network device coupled to the network switch; and

regulate tagging of the data to control a virtual local area network identity association of the data based at least in part on a network over which the communication occurs.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the network switch is adapted to selectively tag the data based at least in part on whether the communication occurs over a public network or a private network.

15 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the first network device comprises an embedded server management controller unaware of the virtual local area network identity association, the apparatus further comprising:

a server management processor coupled to the network switch to use the network switch to communicate the embedded server management controller over a private network using a first virtual local area network identity associated with the private network.