System and method for providing network route redundancy across layer 2 devices

A network switch comprising:

• a plurality of ports for transmitting and receiving data packets,
• wherein the network switch is configured to transmit, via a port in the plurality of ports, a control packet including:
• an identifier identifying a virtual switch that the network switch is configured to be a member of;
• and
• a time-to-live data value that is decremented solely when the control packet is transferred through a network switch that is a member of the virtual switch.

A network device comprising:

• a memory component configured to store a priority value,
• wherein a hardware component of the network device is configured to:
• transition from a first mode to a second mode upon receiving a redundancy control packet including a priority value less than the stored priority value;
• transition from the second mode to a third mode if no redundancy control packet including a priority data value greater than the stored priority data value is received within a predetermined amount of time;
• and
• transition from the second mode or the third mode to the first mode upon receiving a redundancy control packet including a priority value greater than the stored priority value.