Systems and methods for load balancing of management traffic over a link aggregation group

A method comprising:

• configuring a plurality ports as member ports of a link aggregation group;
• configuring the link aggregation group to:
• communicate management traffic originating from a plurality of maintenance entities communicatively coupled to the link aggregation group;
• and
• communicate carrier traffic originating from other network elements communicatively coupled to the link aggregation group;
• and
• assigning individual maintenance entities of the plurality of maintenance entities to individual physical ports of the link aggregation group in order to balance maintenance traffic among the plurality of physical ports.

A network comprising:

• a plurality of maintenance entities;
• a network element communicatively coupled to the maintenance entities, the network element comprising:
• one or more network interfaces including, in the aggregate, a plurality of physical ports configured as member ports of a link aggregation group, wherein the link aggregation group is:
• configured to communicate management traffic originating from the plurality of maintenance entities;
• and
• configured to communicate carrier traffic originating from other network elements communicatively coupled to the network element;
• wherein the network element is configured to assign individual maintenance entities of the plurality of maintenance entities to individual physical ports of the link aggregation group in order to balance maintenance traffic among the plurality of physical ports.