Patent ID: 8270308

Claim:
A method comprising: generating, by a control component of a network device, one or more test data units; freezing, by the control component, an operation of a switch fabric of the network device; inserting, by the control component and after freezing the operation of the switch fabric, the one or more test data units into one or more elements of the switch fabric; unfreezing, by the control component and after inserting the one or more test data units into the one or more elements of the switch fabric, the operation of the switch fabric to allow the switch fabric to operate with the one or more test data units; freezing, by the control component and after unfreezing the operation of the switch fabric, the operation of the switch fabric; receiving, by the control component, data units from the switch fabric after the switch fabric operates with the one or more test data units; analyzing, by the control component, the received data units to determine whether the received data units correspond to the one or more test data units; and outputting, by the control component, results based on the analyzing of the received data units.