Device proxy agent for hiding computing devices on a computer bus

A method for configuring a computer system comprising the steps of:

• assigning a first address space on a primary I/O bus to at least a first computing device the first computing device comprising a non-hidden computing device directly connected to the primary I/O bus;
• assigning a second address space on the primary I/O bus to a second computing device, the second computing device comprising a device proxy agent directly connected to the primarv I/O bus;
• and
• assigning a first portion of the second address space to a third computing device the third computing device comprising a hidden computing device directly connected to the primarv I/O bus and controllable by an I/O processor, the hidden device being hidden from a host processor and addressable through the device proxy agent.

A computer system comprising:

• a processing subsystem comprising:
• a host processor;
• a memory;
• and
• a computer bus connected to the host processor and the memory;
• an input/output (I/O) subsystem coupled to the processing subsystem, the I/O subsystem comprising:
• a primary I/O bus;
• a first device directly connected to the primary I/O bus, the first device being accessible by the host processor;
• a proxy agent device directly connected to the primary I/O bus, the proxy agent device being accessible by the host processor;
• a second device directly connected to the primary I/O bus, the second device being hidden from the host processor;
• and
• an I/O processor connected to the primary I/O bus,
• wherein the memory comprises a first portion allocated to the first device and a second portion allocated to the proxy agent device, the second portion of the memory including a hidden portion allocated on behalf of the second device;
• wherein the hidden portion of the second portion of the memory is not directly available to the host processor, and wherein the proxy agent device and the I/O processor control access to the second device.