Abstract: A method and system for rapid transfer of data between a system bus and an external device coupled together by a cable. A data processing system having at least one computer system, which includes an internal bus and an external device is provided wherein the internal bus is coupled to the external device via a cable. The external device includes an external processor capable of accessing data within the computer system. The data processing system also includes an interface module having a number of buffers for storing data, wherein the interface module is interposed along the cable between the computer and the external device. Control circuitry is included in the interface module for reading from and placing data into the buffers.