System and method for virtual link trunking

An information handling system (IHS) comprising:

• a plurality of switches, at least a portion of the switches facilitating communications with at least one processing node (PN) via a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports, the switches facilitating communication with each other via a plurality of inter-connecting links (ICLs), the switches configurable to be part of one or more virtual link trunking (VLT) ports wherein, the switches comprise a local switch and at least one switch peer, the local switch including a processor and a memory device communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory device storing VLT software, wherein the VLT software configures the local switch to:
• determine a forwarding table index for the local switch of currently active and inactive switch peers for a VLT port;
• retrieve a pre-determined forwarding table associated with the switch peers from a memory containing a plurality of port blocking and unblocking actions for the switch peers;
• identify current port blocking and unblocking actions in the pre-determined forwarding table corresponding to the forwarding table index;
• and
• configure a plurality of I/O ports for the local switch based on the identified current port blocking and unblocking actions.

A virtual link trunking (VLT) system comprising:

• a plurality of switches, at least a portion of the switches facilitating communications with at least one processing node (PN) via a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports, the switches facilitating communication with each other via a plurality of inter-connecting links (ICLs), the switches configurable to be part of one or more VLT ports, wherein, the switches comprise a local switch and at least one switch peer, the local switch including a processor and a memory device communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory device storing VLT software, wherein the VLT software configures the local switch to:
• determine a forwarding table index for the local switch of currently active and inactive switch peers for a VLT port;
• retrieve a pre-determined forwarding table associated with the switch peers from a memory containing a plurality of port blocking and unblocking actions for the switch peers;
• identify current port blocking and unblocking actions in the pre-determined forwarding table corresponding to the forwarding table index;
• and
• configure a plurality of I/O ports for the local switch based on the identified current port blocking and unblocking actions.