1. A shared I/O subsystem for providing network protocol management for a plurality of computer systems comprising: a plurality of I/O interfaces, each of the I/O interfaces operatively coupling one of the computer systems to the shared I/O subsystem; an I/O management link operatively interconnecting the I/O interfaces; and a link layer switch communicatively coupled to each of the I/O interfaces, the link layer switch receives a data packet from one of the I/O interfaces and directs the data packet to one or more of the other ones of the I/O interfaces; wherein the I/O interfaces form a local area network within the shared I/O subsystem.