Patent ID: 9680771
Date: 2017-06-13
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. An inline-bypass switch system, comprising: a first inline-bypass switch appliance having a first bypass component, a first switch coupled to the first bypass component, and a first controller; and a second inline-bypass switch appliance having a second bypass component, a second switch coupled to the second bypass component, and a second controller; wherein the first controller in the first inline-bypass switch appliance is configured to provide a state signal that is associated with a state of the first inline-bypass switch appliance; wherein the second controller in the second inline-bypass switch appliance is configured to control the second bypass component based at least in part on the state signal; and wherein the first bypass component and the second bypass component are operable to place the inline-bypass switch system in one of at least three states, the three states comprising: a primary forwarding state in which the first inline-bypass switch appliance is configured to perform packet forwarding to a first set of one or more inline tools; a secondary forwarding state in which the second inline-bypass switch appliance is configured to perform packet forwarding to a second set of one or more inline tools; and a physical bypass state in which the first inline-bypass switch appliance does not perform packet forwarding to the first set of one or more inline tools, and the second inline-bypass switch appliance does not perform packet forwarding to the second set of one or more inline tools.