Patent ID: 7751341

Claim:
A method for transmitting messages across logical fibre channel fabrics, the method comprising: determining that a plurality of first logical fibre channel fabric switches support a service; distributing messages associated with the service to the plurality of first logical fibre channel fabric switches including a first interconnecting switch that is included in both a first logical fibre channel fabric and a second logical fibre channel fabric; receiving replies corresponding to the distributed messages from the plurality of first logical fibre channel fabric switches, wherein receiving a reply from the first interconnecting switch indicates that the first interconnecting switch was successful in forwarding the messages to a plurality of second logical fibre channel fabric switches and aggregating responses to the distributed messages from the plurality of second logical fibre channel fabric switches before sending a reply, wherein the first interconnecting switch detects that the distributed messages do not indicate the second logical fibre channel fabric and adds a fabric identifier identifying the second logical fibre channel fabric to the forwarded messages; wherein the first interconnecting switch distributes messages to the plurality of second logical fibre channel fabric switches including a second interconnecting switch that is included in both the second logical fibre channel fabric and a third logical fibre channel fabric; wherein connecting a third interconnecting switch to the third logical fibre channel fabric does not change routing configuration information at the first interconnecting switch.