A mechanism is disclosed for enabling load balancing to be achieved in a
loop-free switching path, reverse path learning network, such as an
Ethernet network. The network is divided into a plurality of virtual
networks, with each virtual network providing a different path through
the network from a source node to a destination node. When it comes time
to send a set of information from the source node to the destination
node, one of the plurality of virtual networks, and hence, one of the
plurality of paths, is selected. The set of information is then updated
to indicate the selected virtual network, and sent into the network to be
transported to the destination node along the selected path. With
multiple paths, and with the ability to select between the multiple
paths, it is possible to balance the load imposed on the multiple paths.