Patent ID: 8792501

Claim:
A method comprising: forming, with a first provider edge (PE) router within a virtual private local area network service (VPLS) domain, a customer-facing multi-chassis link aggregation group (LAG) to include a plurality of active access links coupled to a multi-homed customer site associated with the VPLS domain, the multi-homed customer site being coupled to the first PE router via a first one of the active links and to a second PE router within the VPLS domain via a second one of the active links; receiving a routing protocol message from at least one of the first PE router or the second PE router that indicates that the first PE router and the second PE router are coupled to the multi-homed customer site by the plurality of active access links; in response to the routing protocol message, forming a core-facing multi-chassis LAG within the VPLS domain to include a plurality of pseudowires from the first and second PE routers to a remote PE router of the VPLS domain, wherein the first and second PE routers communicate layer 2 (L2) packets associated with the multi-homed VPLS customer site through the VPLS domain with the remote PE router using the plurality of pseudowires, wherein each of the pseudowires comprises a point-to-point tunnel that encapsulates the L2 packets and transports the L2 packets through the VPLS domain; and forwarding the L2 packets from the first PE router and the second PE router to the remote PE router over the pseudowires of the core-facing multi-chassis LAG of the VPLS domain as a single link.