Patent ID: 8320386

Claim:
In a networking environment comprising a first communications device and a second communications device, with a first communications link and a second communications link each connected to both the first and second communications devices, with the first communications link connected via a first port to the first communications device, and with the second communications link connected via a second port to the first communications device, a method for setting up routing on the first communications device, the method comprising: creating, on the first communications device, a logical aggregated port connecting to the first and second ports; exposing for routing purposes, on the first communications device, the logical aggregated port; and simultaneously with exposing the logical aggregated port, exposing for routing purposes, on the first communications device, the first communications port as a singleton port for access to an end station connected to the first communications link, the end station distinct from the first and second communications devices; wherein exposing a port for routing purposes comprises adding an entry for the port to a routing table data structure stored in physical memory on the first communications device.