An apparatus comprising: an aggregation/core switch (110, 210) configured to couple to an edge switch (120, 220) and receive information about a plurality of end system facing ports of the edge switch (120, 220), wherein the information about the end system facing ports is used to associate each of the end system facing ports with one of a plurality of queues at the aggregation/core switch (110, 210), wherein associating each of the end system facing ports with one of the plurality of queues comprises establishing a plurality of queues for a same high traffic priority level, each of which being associated with one different of the end system facing ports of the edge switch (120, 220), wherein the aggregation/core switch (110, 210) is configured to receive a backpressure request with information indicating at least one of the end system facing ports and an associated traffic priority level from the edge switch (120, 220), block one of the queues that is associated with the indicated end system facing port and the traffic priority level, and allow other queues of the plurality of queues to service the other end system facing ports, and wherein the aggregation/core switch (110, 210) comprises a first scheduler, S, coupled to a plurality of first level queues associated with the same traffic priority level that is associated with the end system facing ports and assigned to the high priority traffic level, a second scheduler, S, coupled to the first scheduler, S, and to an additional queue associated with the end system facing ports and assigned to a low priority traffic level, and an output port coupled to the second scheduler, S, and the edge switch (120, 220). an aggregation/core switch (110, 210) configured to couple to an edge switch (120, 220) and receive information about a plurality of end system facing ports of the edge switch (120, 220), wherein the information about the end system facing ports is used to associate each of the end system facing ports with one of a plurality of queues at the aggregation/core switch (110, 210), wherein associating each of the end system facing ports with one of the plurality of queues comprises establishing a plurality of queues for a same high traffic priority level, each of which being associated with one different of the end system facing ports of the edge switch (120, 220), wherein the aggregation/core switch (110, 210) is configured to receive a backpressure request with information indicating at least one of the end system facing ports and an associated traffic priority level from the edge switch (120, 220), block one of the queues that is associated with the indicated end system facing port and the traffic priority level, and allow other queues of the plurality of queues to service the other end system facing ports, and wherein the aggregation/core switch (110, 210) comprises a first scheduler, S, coupled to a plurality of first level queues associated with the same traffic priority level that is associated with the end system facing ports and assigned to the high priority traffic level, a second scheduler, S, coupled to the first scheduler, S, and to an additional queue associated with the end system facing ports and assigned to a low priority traffic level, and an output port coupled to the second scheduler, S, and the edge switch (120, 220).