Patent ID: 8018844

Claim:
A method for communicating among a plurality of nodes in a network, comprising: providing, by a network manager to a source node, at least one route data structure comprising a plurality of unique routes defined for transferring a packet from the source node to a destination node in the network, wherein a unique route comprises at least one switching element and at least two links, the at least one switching element being disposed between the at least two links along the unique route, the at least one route data structure comprising a plurality of entries, wherein an entry is associated with a respective route of the plurality of unique routes; monitoring, by the network manager, the network to identify faults therein; and providing, by the network manager, path status indicators to the source node, wherein a path status indicator corresponds to a unique route of the defined plurality of unique routes and comprises a preferred indicator that toggles between preferred and non-preferred status to indicate to the source node whether the unique route as defined in its associated entry is usable or unusable and to facilitate selecting by the source node a usable route for transferring the packet from the source node to the destination node.