Patent ID: 8204061

Claim:
A method comprising: operating a first switch in communication with a second switch via a multi-chassis trunk (MCT), each of said first and second switches in communication with a first network device via one or more links and a second network device via another one or more links; creating a first Multi-Chassis EtherChannel (MCEC) comprising the one or more links connecting said first switch to the first network device and the one or more links connecting said second switch to the first network device; creating a second MCEC comprising the one or more link connecting said first switch to the second network device and the one or more links connecting said second switch to the second network device; and transmitting a message from said first switch to said second switch to synchronize state for said first MCEC; wherein said first and second switches each comprise a control plane and a data plane operating independent from the control plane and the data plane at said other switch.