Granted Patent B2

US 8,913,489 · App. 13/431,116 · Granted Dec 16, 2014

Abstract

Claims (71)

1. An aggregation switch in a multi-chassis system, comprising:

a first set of member port interfaces of the aggregation switch grouped with one or more member port interfaces of a remote aggregation switch configured to form a multi-chassis link aggregate, wherein the multi-chassis link aggregate couples the aggregation switch and the remote aggregation switch to an edge node;

a second set of port interfaces configured to form a virtual fiber link for coupling the aggregation switch to the remote aggregation switch;

a processing module operable to:

determine a connection failure of the virtual fiber link to the remote aggregation switch;

reconfigure one or more of the first set of port interfaces of the the multi-chassis link aggregate to form a link aggregate for coupling to the edge node; and

initiate a spanning tree protocol in the one or more of the first set of port interfaces.

2. The aggregation switch of claim 1 , wherein the remote aggregation switch is in a separate physical chassis.

3. The aggregation switch of claim 1 , wherein the processing module is operable to reconfigure the first set of port interfaces to the link aggregate by:

re-assigning link parameters designating the first set of ports as a multi-chassis link aggregate to link parameters designating the first set of ports as a link aggregate.

4. The aggregation switch of claim 3 , wherein the first set of ports are each operable to:

detect change of link parameters to a link aggregate;

flush MAC table entries; and

re-populate MAC table entries as part of the link aggregate.

5. The aggregation switch of claim 1 , wherein the processing module is operable to initiate a spanning tree protocol in the first set of port interfaces by:

enabling spanning tree protocol on the first set of port interfaces;

identifying a loop through the aggregation switch of packets belonging to a virtual local area network; and

blocking forwarding of packets belonging to the virtual local area network on one or more port interfaces of the aggregation switch to prevent the identified loop.

6. The aggregation switch of claim 1 , wherein the first set of port interfaces is operable to:

receive an incoming packet, wherein the packet includes a destination address;

determine destination hardware device information corresponding to a hardware device on the remote aggregation switch based on the destination address of the incoming packet;

generate a packet with pre-pended header from the incoming packet, wherein the pre-pended header includes the destination hardware device information; and

transmit the packet with pre-pended header to the second set of port interfaces for transmission to the remote aggregation switch over the virtual fabric link.

7. The aggregation switch of claim 6 , wherein the second set of port interfaces is operable to:

determine a failure of the virtual fiber link; and

block forwarding of packets over the virtual fiber link.

8. A method in a switch, comprising:

communicating with an end node over a first set of port interfaces in the switch, wherein the first set of ports are configured to form a multi-chassis link aggregate with one or more port interfaces of a remote switch to the end node;

communicating with the remote switch over a second set of port interfaces in the switch configured to form a virtual fiber link;

determining a connection failure of the virtual fiber link to the remote switch;

reconfiguring the first set of port interfaces of the multi-chassis link aggregate to form a link aggregate; and

initiating a spanning tree protocol in the first set of port interfaces.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein reconfiguring the first set of port interfaces to a link aggregate comprises:

re-assigning link parameters designating the first set of ports as a multi-chassis link aggregate to link parameters designating the first set of ports as a link aggregate.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

detecting a change of link parameters to a link aggregate by the first set of port interfaces;

flushing MAC table entries by the first set of port interfaces; and

re-populating the MAC table entries as part of the link aggregate.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein initiating a spanning tree protocol in the first set of port interfaces comprises:

enabling the spanning tree protocol on the first set of port interfaces;

identifying a loop through the switch of packets belonging to a virtual local area network; and

blocking forwarding of packets belonging to the virtual local area network on one or more port interfaces of the switch to prevent the identified loop.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving an incoming packet by one of the first set of port interfaces, wherein the packet includes a destination address;

determining destination hardware device information corresponding to a hardware device on the remote switch based on the destination address of the incoming packet;

generate a packet with pre-pended header from the incoming packet, wherein the pre-pended header includes the destination hardware device information; and

transmit the packet with pre-pended header to the second set of port interfaces for transmission to the remote switch over the virtual fabric link.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

determining a failure of the virtual fiber link by the second set of port interfaces; and

blocking forwarding of packets over the virtual fiber link.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the remote switch is in a separate physical chassis.

15. A method in a switch, comprising:

operating in a multi-chassis mode, wherein operating in a multi-chassis mode includes:

communicating with an end node over a first set of port interfaces in the switch, wherein the first set of ports are configured to form a multi-chassis link aggregate with one or more port interfaces of a remote switch to the end node;

communicating with the remote switch over a second set of port interfaces in the switch configured to form a virtual fiber link;

receiving a command to operate in a stand-alone mode;

in response to the command, reconfiguring a plurality of the first set of port interfaces of the multi-chassis link aggregate to form a link aggregate and initiating a spanning tree protocol in the plurality of the first set of port interfaces.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

determining link parameters for operating in the stand-alone mode from a pre-determined table, wherein the link parameters for operating in the stand-alone mode include link parameters for the link aggregate and a system identifier that is different from the system identifier of the remote aggregation switch.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein reconfiguring the plurality of the first set of port interfaces to the link aggregate comprises:

re-configuring the plurality of the first set of ports with the link parameters for the link aggregate.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

detecting the reconfiguration of the plurality of the first set of port interfaces to the link aggregate;

flushing MAC table entries by the first set of port interfaces associated with the multi-chassis link aggregate; and

re-populating the MAC table entries for the link aggregate.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein initiating the spanning tree protocol in the first set of port interfaces comprises:

enabling the spanning tree protocol on the first set of port interfaces;

identifying an active path for a packet flow through the switch; and

blocking forwarding of packets in the packet flow on one or more port interfaces of the switch for one or more other paths.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

blocking forwarding of packets over the virtual fiber link.

Assignments (12)