High speed trunking in a network device

A method for selecting a port from a trunk group on which to transmit a multicast packet, the method comprising:

• connecting, by a network device, to at least one other network device by a number of a plurality of physical ports in at least one trunk group;
• storing a plurality of entries in a table, wherein each entry is associated with the number of the plurality of physical ports;
• determining whether or not an override field is set;
• hashing, based on a result from the determining, a predefined number of bits from predefined fields in a packet to select one entry in the table, wherein the selected one entry is used to identify a destination port, the predefined fields including:
• a source address, a VLAN, an Ethertype, a source module identifier, a destination address, and a source port;
• or
• a source IP address, a TCP source port, a destination IP address, and a TCP destination port;
• or
• a source address, a destination address, a source port trunk identifier, a source port, and a source module identifier;
• or
• a source IP address, a destination IP address, a source port trunk group identifier, a source port, and a source module identifier;
• and
• transmitting the packet to the destination port based on one of the determining or the hashing.

An apparatus for selecting a port from a trunk group on which to transmit a multicast packet, the apparatus comprising:

• connecting means for connecting the network device to at least one other network device by a number of a plurality of physical ports in at least one trunk group;
• storing means for storing a plurality of entries in a table, wherein each entry is associated with the number of the plurality of physical ports;
• determining means for determining whether or not an override field is set;
• hashing means for hashing, based on a result from the determining means, a predefined number of bits from predefined fields in a packet to select one entry in the table, wherein the selected one entry is used to identify a destination port, the predefined fields including:
• a source address, a VLAN, an Ethertype, a source module identifier, a destination address, and a source port;
• or
• a source IP address, a TCP source port, a destination IP address, and a TCP destination port;
• or
• a source address, a destination address, a source port trunk identifier, a source port, and a source module identifier;
• or
• a source IP address, a destination IP address, a source port trunk ˜group identifier, a source port, and a source module identifier;
• and
• transmitting means for transmitting the packet to the destination port based on results from one of the determining means or the hashing means.