Patent ID: 7990848

Claim:
A system for transmitting data over a storage area network from a first source to a first destination and from a second source to a second destination, comprising: a first path from the first source to the first destination; a second path from the first source to the first destination, the first and second paths comprising a first long-haul circuit; a third path from the second source to the second destination; a fourth path from the second source to the second destination, the third and fourth paths comprising a second long-haul circuit; a first mid-span switch on the first path and on the third path, connected to a second mid-span switch on the second path and the fourth path via a single shared connection, the single shared connection creating a plurality of additional paths between the first source and the first destination and a plurality of additional paths between the second source and the second destination, the first long haul circuit being otherwise independent from the second long haul circuit, and the first and second long-haul circuits being otherwise independent from the single shared connection; a first end switch multicasting over at least one of the first path and the second path, and at least one of the plurality of additional paths between the first source and the first destination; and a second end switch multicasting over at least one of the third path and the fourth path, and at least one of the plurality of additional paths between the second source and the second destination.