Patent ID: 8054840

Claim:
A data center computer network system comprising: a core network, the core network including switches and switching data using a first protocol layer; a first access switch in communication with the core network, the first access switch communicating the data to the core network using the first protocol layer; a second access switch forming a first access switch pair with the first access switch, the second access switch in communication with the core network and communicating with the core network using the first protocol layer; a first link that couples the first access switch and the second access switch and enables communication between the first access switch and the second access switch using a second protocol layer, the second protocol layer being at a lower Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) level than the first protocol layer; a first Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) including the first access switch and the second access switch; a table stored in each of the first access switch and the second access switch, the first access switch and the second access switch using the corresponding table to forward data between the first VLAN and the core network; the core network being pre-configured based on the first protocol layer to support configuration changes in the second protocol layer of a plurality of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) such that the core network does not have to be reconfigured in response to the configuration changes in the second protocol layer; and the first VLAN being part of a first VPN of the plurality of VPNs.