Patent ID: 7283465

Claim:
A data communication network, comprising: a plurality of primary virtual bridges, interconnected by primary virtual connections so as to transmit and receive data packets over the network to and from edge devices connected thereto; and a plurality of backup virtual bridges, each such backup virtual bridge being paired with a corresponding one of the primary virtual bridges and connected by secondary virtual connections to the other primary virtual bridges, wherein the primary virtual connections define a respective primary topology image for each of the primary virtual bridges, and wherein each of the backup virtual bridges is connected to the other primary virtual bridges by secondary virtual connections that are identical to the primary virtual connections of the corresponding one of the primary virtual bridges, thus defining a respective secondary topology image that is identical to the respective primary topology image of the corresponding one of the primary virtual bridges, and wherein each of the primary and backup virtual bridges is adapted to maintain a respective forwarding table, and to forward the data packets in accordance with entries in the respective forwarding table, and wherein each of the backup virtual bridges is adapted to periodically synchronize its forwarding table by copying contents of the forwarding table of the corresponding one of the primary virtual bridges with which it is paired, whereby upon a failure of the corresponding one of the primary virtual bridges, each of the backup virtual bridge forwards and receives the data packets over the network via the secondary virtual connections, in accordance with the synchronized forwarding table, in place of the corresponding one of the primary virtual bridges.