Virtual and Logical Inter-Switch Links

A network, comprising:

• a plurality of chassis, each comprising:
• a processor;
• a storage medium, connected to the processor;
• and
• a switch, partitionable into a plurality of logical switches, comprising:
• a base logical switch;
• a non-base logical switch;
• and
• a physical port, assigned to the base logical switch;
• a logical inter-switch link, associated with the non-base logical switch of a first chassis of the plurality of chassis and the non-base logical switch of a second chassis of the plurality of chassis, configured to carry data between the non-base logical switch of the first chassis and the non-base logical switch of the second chassis, and
• an extended inter-switch link, connected to the physical port of the switch of the first chassis and the physical port of the switch of the second chassis, configured to carry data between the base logical switch of the first chassis and the base logical switch of the second chassis and further configured to provide transport between the first chassis and the second chassis for the logical inter-switch link.

A switch chassis, comprising:

• a processor;
• a storage medium, connected to the processor;
• a switch, partitionable into a plurality of logical switches, comprising:
• a base logical switch;
• a non-base logical switch;
• and
• a physical port, assigned to the base logical switch;
• a logical inter-switch link, associated with the non-base logical switch, configured to carry data between the non-base logical switch and a second switch;
• and
• an extended inter-switch link, connected to the physical port, configured to carry data between the base logical switch and the second switch, and configured to provide transport between the physical port and the second switch for the logical inter-switch link.

A computer readable medium on which is stored software for managing a network switch, the software for instructing a processor of the network switch to perform actions comprising:

• partitioning the network switch into a plurality of logical switches;
• designating a first logical switch of the plurality of logical switches as a base logical switch;
• establishing a first logical inter-switch link associated with a second logical switch of the plurality of logical switches and a peer logical switch of a second network switch;
• establishing an extended inter-switch link between the base logical switch and a base logical switch of the second network switch, the extended inter-switch link configured to provide transport for the first logical inter-switch link;
• and
• generating routing data to allow routing between the second logical switch and the peer logical switch across the extended inter-switch link.