Rule based routing in a switch

A method for routing data in a switch comprising:

• a) receiving the data over an input port;
• b) submitting to a routing module a destination identifier for the data and a type value indicating a protocol used by the data;
• c) creating a protocol index based upon the type value;
• d) using at least a portion of the destination identifier to look up a routing information entry in a routing table, the routing information entry having:
• i) a single destination port identifier for all type values;
• ii) a plurality of zoning indicators, at least one zoning indicator for each type value;
• e) using the single destination port identifier for the routing of the data;
• f) using the protocol index to select the zoning indicator within the routing information entry;
• and
• g) using the zoning indicator to perform zoning in the switch.

A method for routing data in a switch comprising:

• a) receiving the data over an input port, the input port sharing a routing module with a plurality other ports;
• b) submitting to the routing module a destination identifier for the data, type value indicating a protocol used by the data, and a source port identifier indicating the input port;
• c) creating a protocol index based upon the type value;
• d) using at least a portion of the destination identifier to look up a routing information entry in a routing table, the routing information entry having:
• i) a single destination port identifier for all ports that share the routing module,
• ii) a plurality of zoning indicators, at least one zoning indicator for each type value, and
• iii) a plurality of priority fields, at least one priority field for each port sharing the routing module;
• e) using the single destination port identifier for the routing of the data;
• f) using the protocol index to select the zoning indicator within the routing information entry;
• g) using the zoning indicator to perform zoning in the switch;
• and
• h) using the source port identifier to select the priority field for the input port, and using the selected priority field contents as the priority for the data.