Patent ID: 8422359
Filing Date: 2013-04-16
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. A communication network control system, comprising: a plurality of fibre channel over ethernet (FCoE) forwarders configured to manage a plurality of nodes on the communication network; a plurality of bridge devices disposed between the plurality of FCoE forwarders and the plurality of nodes, each of the plurality of bridge devices being configured to route control data between one of the plurality of FCoE forwarders and one of the plurality of nodes and to route I/O data between the plurality of nodes without routing the I/O data through any of the plurality of FCoE forwarders; a fabric management information sharing device configured to share, between the plurality of FCoE forwarders, fabric management information managed by each of the plurality of FCoE forwarders; and a switcher coupled between at least two of the plurality of bridge devices, wherein at least one of the bridge devices is configured to: detect a failure of one of the plurality of FCoE forwarders, and on a condition that the at least one of the bridge devices detects a failure of one of the FCoE forwarders, activate the switcher to re-route control data destined to the one of the FCoE forwarders for which the failure was detected to a normal one of the plurality of FCoE forwarders for which the failure was not detected, wherein the normal one of the plurality of FCoE forwarders is configured to manage the re-routed control data on the basis of the fabric management information acquired from the one of the plurality of FCoE forwarders for which the failure was detected, wherein each of the plurality of bridge devices is configured to continue to route the I/O data between the plurality of nodes without routing the I/O data through any of the plurality of FCoE forwarders on a condition that the at least one of the bridge devices detects a failure of one of the plurality of FCoE forwarders.