US Patent 11223498 Network system having a network appliance

Systems, components, and methods for use in a commercial kitchen intelligence system. A network appliance and a plurality of kitchen components are coupled to a data communication network. The network appliance establishes a VPN connection with a portal remote to the commercial kitchen. The network appliance establishes communication with a point-of-sale (POS) system for receipt of POS data. The network appliance facilitates communication among the kitchen components on the data communications network independent of different protocols by which the kitchen components are configured to communicate.