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A switching system. The switching system includes a first switch having a primary receive port and a secondary receive port. The switching system includes a second switch connected to the first switch. The second switch has n receive ports, where n is greater than or equal to 2 and is an integer. Th

A switching system. The switching system includes a first switch having a primary receive port and a secondary receive port. The switching system includes a second switch connected to the first switch. The second switch has n receive ports, where n is greater than or equal to 2 and is an integer. The second switch has m transmit ports, where m is greater than or equal to 2 and is an integer. The transmit ports are decoupled from the receive ports. The second switch has a connecting mechanism that includes a multicast mechanism which sends data out a primary transmit port of the m transmit ports to the primary receive port of the first switch to define a primary path, and out a secondary transmit port of the m transmit ports to a secondary receive port of the first switch to define a redundant path to the primary path so that if there is a failure of the primary path to provide the data to the first switch, the data is received by the first switch through the redundant path. The first switch has a mechanism for only accepting the data from the primary path unless the primary path has failed, in which case the data is received by the first switch through the redundant path. A switch. A method of switching data.

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1. A switching system for packets comprising:a first switch for switching packets having a primary receive port and a secondary receive port; and a second switch for switching the packets connected to the first switch, said second switch having n receive ports, where n is greater than or equal to 2

1. A switching system for packets comprising:a first switch for switching packets having a primary receive port and a secondary receive port; and a second switch for switching the packets connected to the first switch, said second switch having n receive ports, where n is greater than or equal to 2 and is an integer; m transmit ports, where m is greater than or equal to 2 and is an integer, said transmit ports decoupled from said receive ports; a connecting mechanism that includes a multicast mechanism which sends the packets out a primary transmit port of the m transmit ports to the primary receive port of the first switch to define a primary link, and simultaneously sends the packets out a secondary transmit port of the m transmit ports to a secondary receive port of the first switch to define a redundant link to the primary link so that if there is a failure of the primary link to provide the packets to the first switch, the packets are received by the first switch through the redundant link, said first switch having a mechanism for only accepting the packets from the primary path unless the primary link has failed, in which case the packets are received by the first switch through the redundant link. 2. A system as described in claim 1 wherein the m transmit ports are not aware whether they receive data from a primary or secondary receive port.3. A system as described in claim 2 wherein the connecting mechanism toggles off the secondary receive port so it discards any data it receives if the primary receive port receives the data in a predetermined state, and toggles off the primary receive port if the data received by the primary receive port is not in a predetermined state or the primary path has failed.4. A system as described in claim 3 wherein each receive and transmit port are a netmod and wherein the connecting mechanism includes f fabrics, where f is greater than or equal to 1 and is an integer, each fabric driving the transmission of at least 2 netmods.5. A system as described in claim 4 wherein the connecting mechanism includes a passive backplane connected to each netmod and fabric along which data which is received by a netmod are provided to the fabrics.6. A system as described in claim 5 wherein each fabric drives the transmit direction for two netmods as primary transmit ports and two netmods as secondary transmit ports.7. A system as described in claim 6 wherein the connecting mechanism will toggle on the secondary receive port and toggle off the primary receive port if the fabric or netmod is removed from the system or there is a connection entry lookup failure regarding the data connection.8. A system as described in claim 7 wherein the connecting mechanism detects intermittent fabric failures by creating a loopback connection from each fabric back to itself and sending a test signal across the loopback connection.9. A system as described in claim 8 including a system controller, and the system controller is unaware that the redundant link is redundant to the primary link.10. A switch comprising:n receive ports, where n is greater than or equal to 3 and is an integer; m transmit ports, where m is greater than or equal to 3 and is an integer; and a connecting mechanism connected to the receive ports and the transmit ports, said connecting mechanism comprising a controller which can place the connecting mechanism in either a first mode where the connecting mechanism is fully redundant, a second mode where the connecting mechanism is fully non-redundant, or a third mode where the connecting mechanism is partially redundant and partially non-redundant. 11. A switch for switching packets between links comprising:n receive ports for receiving the packets from respective associated links, where n is greater than or equal to 2; m transmit ports for transmitting the packets to respective associated links, where m is greater than or equal to 2; and a connecting mechanism connected to the transmit ports and the receive ports, said connecting mechanism comprising a multicast mechanism and controller which pre-establishes primary paths along which the packets is sent by the multicast mechanism between the transmit ports and receive ports and also pre-establishes redundant paths along which the packets are sent by the multicast mechanism between the receive ports and the transmit ports but only allows the packets associated with a primary path and its corresponding redundant path to cross the connecting mechanism on only the primary path if the primary path is in a predetermined state, and only cross the connecting mechanism on only the redundant path if the primary path is not in the predetermined state, wherein the primary path connects a primary receive port of the receive ports with a primary transmit port and a secondary transmit port of the transmit ports. 12. A system as described in claim 11 wherein the secondary path connects a secondary receive port of the receive ports with the primary transmit port and the secondary transmit port of the transmit ports.13. A system as described in claim 12 wherein the m transmit ports are not aware whether they receive data from a primary or secondary receive port.14. A method of switching packets comprising the steps of:forming a primary path between a primary receive port and a primary and a secondary transmit port of a switch; forming simultaneously with the primary path, a secondary path between a secondary receive port and a primary and a secondary transmit port; receiving the packets at the primary receive port and the secondary receive port; and transmitting the packets through the primary and secondary transmit ports from a multicast mechanism of the switch. 15. A method as described in claim 14 including after the receiving step, there is the step of discarding the packets received at the secondary receive port.16. A switching system comprising:a first ATM switch for switching packets having a primary receive port and a secondary receive port; and a second ATM switch for switching packets connected to the first switch, said second switch having n receive ports, where n is greater than or equal to 2 and is an integer; m transmit ports, where m is greater than or equal to 2 and is an integer, said transmit ports decoupled from said receive ports; a connecting mechanism that includes a multicast mechanism which sends the packets out a primary transmit port of the m transmit ports to the primary receive port of the first switch to define a primary link, and simultaneously sends the packets out a secondary transmit port of the m transmit ports to a secondary receive port of the first switch to define a redundant link to the primary link so that if there is a failure of the primary link to provide the packets to the first switch, the packets are received by the first switch through the redundant link, said first switch having a mechanism for only accepting the packets from the primary path unless the primary link has failed, in which case the packets are received by the first switch through the redundant link. 17. A method of switching packets comprising the steps of:forming a primary path between a primary receive port and a primary and a secondary transmit port of an ATM switch; forming simultaneously with the primary path, a secondary path between a secondary receive port and a primary and a secondary transmit port; receiving packets at the primary receive port and the secondary receive port; and transmitting the packets through the primary and secondary transmit ports from a multicast mechanism of the switch. 18. A method as described in claim 17 including after the receiving step, there is the step of discarding the packets received at the secondary receive port.19. A switching system comprising:a first switch having a primary receive port and a secondary receive port; and a second switch connected to the first switch, said second switch having n receive ports, where n is greater than or equal to 2 and is an integer; m transmit ports, where m is greater than or equal to 2 and is an integer, said transmit ports decoupled from said receive ports; a connecting mechanism that includes a multicast mechanism which sends data out a primary transmit port of the m transmit ports to the primary receive port of the first switch to define a primary link, and simultaneously sends the data out a secondary transmit port of the m transmit ports to a secondary receive port of the first switch to define a redundant link to the primary link so that if there is a failure of the primary link to provide the data to the first switch, the data is received by the first switch through the redundant link, said first switch having a mechanism for only accepting the data from the primary path unless the primary link has failed, in which case the data is received by the first switch through the redundant link, the m transmit ports are not aware whether they receive data from a primary or secondary receive port, the connecting mechanism toggles off the secondary receive port so it discards any data it receives if the primary receive port receives the data in a predetermined state, and toggles off the primary receive port if the data received by the primary receive port is not in a predetermined state or the primary path has failed, each receive and transmit port are a method and wherein the connecting mechanism includes f fabrics, where f is greater than or equal to 1 and is an integer, each fabric driving the transmission of at least 2 methods, the connecting mechanism includes a passive backplane connected to each method and fabric along which data which is received by a method are provided to the fabrics. 20. A switch for switching data between links comprising:n receive ports for receiving data from respective associated links, where n is greater than or equal to 2; m transmit ports for transmitting data to respective associated links, where m is greater than or equal to 2; and a connecting mechanism connected to the transmit ports and the receive ports, said connecting mechanism comprising a multicast mechanism and controller which pre-establishes primary paths along which data is sent by the multicast mechanism between the transmit ports and receive ports and also pre-establishes redundant paths along which the data is sent by the multicast mechanism between the receive ports and the transmit ports but only allows the data associated with a primary path and its corresponding redundant path to cross the connecting mechanism on only the primary path if the primary path is in a predetermined state, and only cross the connecting mechanism on only the redundant path if the primary path is not in the predetermined state, wherein the primary path connects a primary receive port of the receive ports with a primary transmit port and a secondary transmit port of the transmit ports, the secondary path connects a secondary receive port of the receive ports with the primary transmit port and the secondary transmit port of the transmit ports. 21. A method of switching data comprising the steps of:forming a primary path between a primary receive port and a primary and a secondary transmit port of an ATM switch; forming simultaneously with the primary path, a secondary path between a secondary receive port and a primary and a secondary transmit port; receiving data at the primary receive port and the secondary receive port; transmitting the data through the primary and secondary transmit ports from a multicast mechanism of the switch; and discarding the data received at the secondary receive port.