Patent ID: 8285893

Claim:
An information handling system, comprising: a plurality of processors, wherein each of the processors has a direct communications link to each of the other processors; first and second I/O controller hub devices, wherein each of the processors is coupled to at least one of the I/O controller hub devices, and at least one of the processors has a direct communications link to at least one of the I/O controller hub devices; and a switch device coupled to the first I/O controller hub device by a first communications link and coupled to the second I/O controller hub device by a second communications link, wherein the first communications link comprises a defined transmission bandwidth and the second communications links comprises the defined transmission bandwidth, wherein the switch device engages and disengages a set of internal communications pathways depending on the status of the direct communications link between at least one of: (1) the processors and 2) the first or second I/O controller hub devices; wherein the switch device is operable to engage an internal communications pathway within the switch device to provide a communications pathway between the first and second I/O controller hub in a first state and is operable to disengage the internal communications pathway within the switch device such that the first and second I/O controller hub are not coupled through the switch device in a second state; wherein the internal communications pathway within the switch device comprises the defined transmission bandwidth.