Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a switch. The switch includes a virtual local area network (VLAN) configuration module. During operation, the VLAN configuration module maps local resources of the switch and/or locally coupled end device information to a global VLAN identifier, wherein the global VLAN is persistent across a fabric switch. The fabric switch is operable to accommodate a plurality of switches and operates as a single logical switch.

Abstract: A system and method for sending frames between a public device and a private device comprise a phantom device mapping, an address translation, a frame payload translation, and a CRC regeneration. The system and method assign a phantom AL_PA for the public device and establishes a phantom device mapping between the phantom AL_PA and the public device's Port_ID. With the phantom device mapping, the present invention directs all communication between the public device and the private loop device as if the communication were between a phantom device and the private device. Specifically, the system and method comprise a public-to-private address translation in one direction and a private-to-public address translation in the other direction. During the public-to-private address translation process, the source address of the frame is converted to a phantom AL_PA.