Patent ID: 7957364

Claim:
A method of tracing a path through a layer 2 switch mesh from a first layer 3 device connected to the switch mesh to a second layer 3 device connected to the switch mesh, comprising: obtaining, by a processor, hardware addresses of the first and second layer 3 devices; identifying, by the processor, a first layer 2 switch that is a neighbor to the first layer 3 device by querying a network management system (NMS) storing an image of the layer 2 switch mesh; querying, by the processor, said first layer 2 switch to identify a first port that is forwarding packets having said hardware addresses of the first and second layer 3 devices; and tracing the path through the layer 2 switch mesh by iteratively requesting that the NMS identify a subsequent neighboring layer 2 switch and then querying the subsequent neighboring layer 2 switch to identify whether a switch port is actively forwarding communications between the hardware addresses of the first and second layer 3 devices, said iteration being repeated until the NMS fails to identify another subsequent neighboring layer 2 switch.