Patent ID: 9270577
Filing Date: 2016-02-23
CPC Classification: G06F,H04L

Claim Text:
1. A first network device, comprising: a first link to a second network device, the first and second network devices to at least one of switch and direct traffic; a second link to the second network device, wherein the second link includes a network appliance between the first network device and the second network device, the network appliance to connect to the second network device and to at least one of modify and filter at least some of the traffic passing between the first and second network devices via the second link; and a traffic module to select one of the first and second links to transmit the traffic from the first network device to the second network device at a given time, wherein a network layer topology is not changed if one of the first and second links fails, and wherein the network appliance is at least one of a network accelerator and a firewall device.