Methods and apparatus for redundancy associated with a fibre channel over ethernet network

An apparatus, comprising:

• a gateway device configured to be operatively coupled to a Fibre Channel switch by a plurality of primary data ports and a secondary data port, the gateway device configured to receive, from the Fibre Channel switch, an identifier for each primary data port from the plurality of primary data ports, the gateway device configured to associate a virtual port from a plurality of virtual ports with each primary data port from the plurality of primary data ports but not the secondary data port when the gateway device is in a first configuration, the gateway device configured to communicate with the Fibre Channel switch via the plurality of primary data ports and not via the secondary data port when the gateway device is in the first configuration,
• the gateway device configured to associate the virtual port associated with a primary data port from the plurality of primary data ports when the gateway device is in the first configuration with the secondary data port when the gateway device is in a second configuration, the gateway device configured to associate the identifier for the primary data port from the plurality of primary data ports with the secondary data port when the gateway device is in the second configuration,
• the gateway device moving, without sending a fabric login signal prior to a second time period after a first time period, from the first configuration to the second configuration when an error associated with the primary data port from the plurality of primary data ports is detected.

A non-transitory processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to cause a processor to:

• receive, at a gateway device and from a Fibre Channel switch, an identifier for a primary data port operatively coupling the gateway device with the Fibre Channel switch;
• associate, in response to receiving the identifier for the primary data port, a plurality of virtual ports with the primary data port such that the gateway device sends data to the Fibre Channel switch prior to a time via the primary data port and not via a secondary data port operatively coupling the gateway device with the Fibre Channel switch;
• detect, at the time, an error in the primary data port;
• associate the plurality of virtual ports with the secondary data port in response to the indication of the error;
• and
• associate, without sending a fabric login signal before a second time period after a first time period, the identifier for the primary data port with the secondary data port after the time.