Port management in multi-ASIC systems

A method comprising:

• converting system-level configuration information into two or more sets of controller-level configuration information;
• and
• controlling, using the two or more sets of controller-level configuration information, two or more network switch controllers as a single network switch controller using a hardware abstraction layer, wherein the two or more network switch controllers comprise a first network switch controller to control a first set of ports and a second network switch controller to control a second set of ports different from the first set of ports.

A network switch, comprising:

• two or more network switch controllers to provide network communications, wherein the two or more network switch controllers comprise a first network switch controller to control a first set of ports and a second network switch controller to control a second set of ports different from the first set of ports;
• and
• one or more processors to convert system-level configuration information into two or more sets of controller-level configuration information, and to cause a hardware abstraction layer to provide control of the two or more network switch controllers as a single network switch controller using the two or more sets of controller-level configuration information.