N-node virtual link trunking (VLT) systems and methods

A n-node Virtual Link Trunking (VLT) system comprising:

• a plurality of node devices communicatively coupled via inter-node port links (INLs) to facilitate communications between one or more node devices from the plurality of node devices in the n-node VLT system;
• at least one of the plurality of node devices communicatively coupled via one or more input/output (I/O) ports to a client device configured with a virtual link trunking (VLT) link aggregation group (LAG);
• and
• each node device of the plurality of node devices of the n-node VLT system comprising a common set of fabric-level data that associates a VLT identifier for the VLT LAG with each of the at least one of the plurality of node devices that participate in the VLT LAG regardless of whether or not the node device from the plurality of node devices participates in the VLT LAG.

A method of providing communications using an n-node VLT system comprising a plurality of nodes communicatively coupled to each other via inter-node port links (INLs), the method comprising:

• forming a full mesh topology between the nodes of the n-node VLT system;
• at a fabric level:
• for each link aggregation group (LAG) spanning a plurality of nodes in the n-node VLT system, using one or more tables to associate a common virtual link trunking (VLT) identifier with each port in the n-node VLT system that participates in that LAG;
• synchronizing the one or more tables across at least the nodes in the n-node VLT system that are active so that the each of the active nodes includes a copy of the one or more tables;
• and
• operating the link aggregation group or groups across the n-node VLT system using the associated VLT identifier or identifiers.