Patent ID: 6981078

Claim:
A fibre channel switch comprising: a first set of input/output modules, each input/output module having a plurality of fibre channel ports; a first set of fabric switch modules to provide connections between the fibre channel ports; a first backplane receiving the first set of input/output modules and the first set of fabric switch modules, the backplane having connectors to provide connectivity between the first set of input/output modules and the first set of fabric switch modules; a second backplane receiving a second set of input/output modules and a second set of fabric switch modules and connectors providing connectivity between the second set of input/output modules and the second set of fabric switch modules, each input/output module of the second set having a plurality of fibre channel ports: and a first connection between the second set of input/output modules and one of the first set of fabric switch modules bypassing the second set of fabric switch modules, thereby allowing the one of the first set of fabric switch modules to provide direct connections to the fibre channel ports on the second set of input/output modules without the direct connections passing through any of the second set of fabric switch modules.