Ethernet wide area network and method

A method of operation an ethernet wide area network, comprising the steps of:

• transmitting a packet from a first local area network to a wide area network;
• receiving the packet at a first service interface of the wide area network;
• and
• replacing a source host MAC address with an ingress service interface MAC address in the packet.

An ethernet wide area network, comprising:

• a first local area network having a first root node;
• a virtual bridge connected to the first root node;
• and
• a second local area network have a second root node connected to the virtual bridge.

An ethernet wide area network, comprising:

• a first local area network having a first root node at a first ethernet switch, the first ethernet switch having a local control software that includes a maximum diameter discovery algorithm;
• a plurality of interconnected network ethernet switches, one of the plurality of interconnected network ethernet switches connected to the first ethernet switch, at least one of the interconnected network ethernet switches containing a network control software that includes a MAC address re-mapping, a root node non-competition function and has a translation table;
• an optical repeater connected to one of the plurality of interconnected network ethernet switches;
• and
• a second local area network having a second ethernet switch that is connected to a second of the plurality of interconnected network ethernet switches.