Patent ID: 9350666
Filing Date: 2016-05-24
CPC Classification: H04L,Y02D

Claim Text:
1. A method of transmitting packets between physical hosts, the method comprising: negotiating with a switch coupled to a first set of one or more physical ports of a first physical host to configure the first set of physical ports to be included within a first link aggregation group (LAG), and to configure a second set of one or more physical ports of a second physical host to also be included within the first LAG, wherein each of the first and second physical hosts runs one or more virtual machines; configuring a first physical synchronization port on the first physical host so that the first physical synchronization port does not share a common LAG with the second physical host, and configuring a second physical synchronization port on the second physical host so that the second physical synchronization port does not share a common LAG with the first physical host; receiving, by the first physical host from a source physical host, a first packet destined for a virtual machine running on the second physical host, the first packet including source and destination information; determining from at least one of the source or destination information that the first packet is destined for a virtual machine running on a physical host other than the first physical host and that the source information indicates that the source physical host of the first packet did not use a physical synchronization port to transmit the first packet to the first physical host; and forwarding, from the first physical host, in response to the determination and based upon the second physical host having the second set of physical ports included in the first LAG, the first packet via the first physical synchronization port to the second physical host.