Patent ID: 8634417

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: in a system having at least one Multi Link Trunk/ Link Aggregation Group (MLT/LAG), providing a table for each MLT/LAG, each table having at least one entry, each entry including at least two fields, a first field comprising a port member identification (ID) field and a second field comprising a port member status field, wherein said table is indexed by an n-bit hash ID, and wherein said hash ID is computed using a hash function over selected fields within the packet; checking a port member status for a port when a packet flow hashes into said table, and determining the status for the port member; wherein when said port member status is in a first state, then using the associated port member ID as a destination port to transmit to; and when the port member state is in a second state, then accessing a next entry in said port table to find a next available entry having a port member status that is in said first state and using the corresponding port member ID of said port member state that is in said first state as a destination port to transmit to, and wherein said first state is UP and said second state is DOWN.