Abstract: The failover of network nodes by path rerouting or port remapping is disclosed. A system may include a manager component, a first switch, and/or a second switch. The component specifies destination address alternate routes. Upon first node failure, the component selects one of these routes to route the address to a second node. The first switch has a port for a third and a fourth node. Upon third node failure, the first switch remaps a destination address from the port for the third node to that for the fourth node. The second switch has an input port for a fifth and a sixth node, and a visible output port and hidden output ports to receive an expanded port range. Upon fifth node failure, the second switch uses the range to remap a destination address from the input port for the fifth node to that for the sixth node.

Abstract: The failover of nodes within networks, using a multicast address or a multicast port, is disclosed. A first node of a network joins a multicast group having a multicast address, which is assigned to the first node. Communication to the first node is achieved via communication to the multicast address, and/or through a multicast port on a switch of the network mapping to a port on the first node. When the first node fails, one of two actions occurs. First, a second node of the network may join the multicast group, such that the multicast address is assigned to the second node, and the second node handles communication to the multicast address. Second, the multicast port on the switch may be remapped to a port on the second node, so that communication to the multicast address is directed to the port on the second node.