One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates transferring data between a data device and a data terminal across a network. The system initializes itself by establishing connections between the controller, multiplexer, and data device. The system operates by receiving a request at a multiplexer from a controller to transfer data from the data device to the data terminal. The multiplexer forwards this request to the data device that has the requested data. The multiplexer then receives a set of parameters from the data device, including the location of the outgoing data within the data device. The multiplexer moves the data from the data device into an outgoing data stream, thereby removing the necessity of first copying the data into the controller.