A memory alias adapter, coupled to a processors memory bus, monitors processor memory accesses. Whenever a memory access corresponds to shared memory, rather than memory local to the processor, the adapter constructs a memory request message, and transmits the message over a network link to a shared memory unit. The shared memory unit performs the shared memory access and issues a response message over the network link. The memory alias adapter accepts the response message, and completes processor's memory access on the memory bus. As a result, it is transparent to the processor whether its memory access is to the local memory or to the shared memory,