Methods and apparatus related to lossless operation within a data center

An apparatus, comprising;

• a switch core defining a single logical entity and having a switch fabric with a plurality of stages physically distributed across a plurality of chassis, the multi-stage switch fabric having a plurality of ingress ports and a plurality of egress ports, the switch core configured to be coupled to a plurality of peripheral processing devices via the plurality of ingress ports and the plurality of egress ports,
• the switch core configured to receive a packet from an ingress port from the plurality of ingress ports, the switch core configured to send a plurality of cells associated with the packet from the ingress port to an egress port from the plurality of egress ports via the plurality of stages without performing packet-loss processing at at least one stage from the plurality of stages of the switch fabric.

An apparatus, comprising;

• a switch core defining a single logical entity and having a multi-stage switch fabric configured as a deterministic network, the multi-stage switch fabric having a plurality of ingress ports and a plurality of egress ports, the switch core configured to be coupled to a plurality of peripheral processing devices via the plurality of ingress ports and the plurality of egress ports,
• the switch core configured to receive a packet from an ingress port from the plurality of ingress ports, the switch core configured to send a plurality of cells associated with the packet from the ingress port to an egress port from the plurality of egress ports.