Ex parte KURIO - Page 4




              Appeal No. 95-5040                                                                                                                       
              Application 07/781,422                                                                                                                   

                       Appellant argues that Bhide does not anticipate independent claims 1-3 and 11 because it fails                                  
              to teach, at least, "first and second means for connecting a single computer to a network, where when                                    
              the first means for connecting fails, the same computer communicates with the network through the                                        
              second means for communicating" (Brief, pages 6-7).  We agree that this basic architectural limitation                                   
              is not taught by Bhide.                                                                                                                  
                       Bhide was cited by appellant in the specification, page 3, as an example of a system which                                      
              provides control of the redundancy of a file system.  Appellant accurately describes the teachings and                                   
              deficiencies of Bhide at page 7 of the brief.  Bhide is directed to a fault-tolerant file server, not a fault                            
              tolerant network interface.  As shown in the Highly Available Network File Server (HA-NFS) of                                            
              figure 1, Client computers are connected to a network LAN via a single primary adapter P.  A Client                                      
              computer cannot be the computer of the claims because it has only a single connection P to the                                           
              network LAN.                                                                                                                             
                       Two Server computers are network file servers providing access to files located on disks in                                     
              volume groups VG.  "NFS clients perceive an HA-NFS node as two independent NFS servers, each                                             
              serving a distinct set of file systems" (page 200, right col.).  Each server has two network interfaces,                                 
              primary adapter P and secondary adapter S.  "The server uses its primary interface for normal                                            
              operation, and its secondary interface when impersonating the other server after its failure" (page 200,                                 
              right col.).  "If a server fails, its disks will be taken over by the other server" (page 201, left col.).                               
              The live server impersonates the failed server by changing the IP address of its secondary network                                       
              interface to the primary address of the failed server and changing the hardware address of its                                           

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