Transparent bridge that terminates TCP connections

A method, comprising:

• receiving a plurality of first incoming frames, each of the first incoming frames carrying a frame payload, the frame payloads of the first incoming frames together comprising a first application file, the first application file being communicated across a first TCP connection, each of the first incoming frames having an incoming source IP address and an incoming source MAC address;
• terminating the first TCP connection;
• executing an application layer program on the first application file;
• generating a plurality of first outgoing frames, each of the first outgoing frames carrying a frame payload, the frame payloads of the first outgoing fames together comprising the first application file, each of the first outgoing frames having an outgoing source IP address that is identical to the incoming source IP address, each of the first outgoing frames having an outgoing source MAC address that is identical to the incoming source MAC address;
• and
• outputting the first outgoing frames.

A platform, comprising:

• a first interface that receives a plurality of incoming frames, each of the incoming frames carrying a frame payload, the frame payloads of the incoming frames together comprising a data payload, the data payload being communicated across a first TCP connection, each of the incoming frames having an incoming source IP address and an incoming source MAC address;
• a program that analyzes the data payload, the program being of a network layer higher than the transport layer;
• a mechanism that terminates the first TCP connection on the platform such that the data payload is supplied to the program, the mechanism generating a plurality of outgoing frames, each of the outgoing frames carrying a frame payload, the frame payloads of the outgoing frames together comprising the data payload, each of the outgoing frames having an outgoing source IP address that is identical to the incoming source IP address, each of the outgoing frames having an outgoing source MAC address that is identical to the incoming source MAC address;
• and
• a second interface that outputs the outgoing frames.