Method of forming a virtual network

A method of operating a virtual forwarding device, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a processor, a second encapsulated frame;
• unpacking, by the processor, the second encapsulated frame to extract a first encapsulated frame;
• extracting, by the processor, an identifier of a virtual exit device from the first encapsulated frame;
• determining, by the processor, a next hop device and an alternate hop device from the identifier;
• determining, by the processor, whether a transmit physical port coupled to the next hop device can accept frames for forwarding;
• when the transmit physical port coupled to the next hop device can accept frames for forwarding,
• encapsulating, by the processor, the first encapsulated frame to form a third encapsulated frame, the third encapsulated frame having a header that identifies the next hop device;
• and
• forwarding, by the processor, the third encapsulated frame to the transmit physical port coupled to the next hop device;
• and
• when the transmit physical port coupled to the next hop device cannot accept frames for forwarding, determining, by the processor, whether a transmit physical port coupled to the alternate hop device can accept frames for forwarding.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embedded therein program instructions, which when executed by a processor cause the processor to execute a method of operating a virtual forwarding device, the method comprising:

• receiving a second encapsulated frame;
• unpacking the second encapsulated frame to extract a first encapsulated frame;
• extracting an identifier of a virtual exit device from the first encapsulated frame;
• determining a next hop device and an alternate hop device from the identifier;
• determining whether a transmit physical port coupled to the next hop device can accept frames for forwarding;
• when the transmit physical port coupled to the next hop device can accept frames for forwarding,
• encapsulating the first encapsulated frame to form a third encapsulated frame, the third encapsulated frame having a header that identifies the next hop device;
• and
• forwarding the third encapsulated frame to the transmit physical port coupled to the next hop device;
• and
• when the transmit physical port coupled to the next hop device cannot accept frames for forwarding, determining whether a transmit physical port coupled to the alternate hop device can accept frames for forwarding.

A method of forming a virtual network, the method comprising:

• generating and passing frames of data at a frame rate across one or more fiber optic cables that each has two or more physical fibers,
• wherein generating the frames of data to be passed across the one or more fiber optic cables comprises:
• receiving the frames of data from a source device at a frame rate greater than a maximum frame rate;
• and
• splitting the received frames of data at a frame rate greater than the maximum frame rate into a first number of received frames of data with a first data rate that is equal to or less than a maximum data rate of a first physical fiber in the fiber optic cable, and a second number of received frames of data with a second data rate that is equal to or less than a maximum data rate of a second physical fiber in the fiber optic cable.