A means for reliable inter-processor communication in a multi-processor system is described. In accordance with one aspect, a specially-configured serial bus is used as a general-purpose data link between a first processor and a second processor. The serial bus may be an Inter-IC Sound (I.sup.2S) bus. In accordance with another aspect, a network interface residing on a second processor is made available to a first processor via a data link established over an I.sup.2S bus. This allows the second processor to be used as a proxy and to support remote configuration and network address traversal.