Patent ID: 8792474

Claim:
A method comprising, responsive to a network fabric login request initiated by a given initiator node: by a network fabric forwarder device, creating a network fabric port and a network fabric address for the given initiator node; acquiring a list of one or more network fabric ports of one or more given target nodes associated with the given initiator node; determining a network fabric address for the given target node of each network fabric port within the list; by a network fabric controller device, performing, using the network fabric addresses of the given initiator node and of the given target nodes, one of: determining one or more paths between the given initiator node and the given target nodes through a singly contiguous network fabric and loading the paths into a forwarding table of each switching device of a plurality of switching devices of the singly contiguous network fabric; determining a path between the given initiator node and the network fabric forwarder device through the singly contiguous network fabric and loading the path into a forwarding table of each switching device within the path, such that multipaths for transmission of data through the singly contiguous network fabric from the given initiator node and the given target nodes are effected, wherein the network fabric forwarder device and the network fabric controller device are each control-path or programming-path connected to each switching device, the network fabric controller device does not directly route the data, and the switching devices route the data between the given initiator node and the given target nodes.