A heterogeneous and scalable bridge capable of translating a plurality of
network protocols is adapted for coupling to a network switch fabric. The
bridge uses at least one egress buffer interface and can perform port
aggregation and bandwidth matching for various different port standards.
The bridge is adapted for both networking and storage area networking
protocols. A control unit is implemented with the bridge is able to
identify control and flow information from different protocols and adapt
them to the respective interface to which they are to be transmitted.
Accounting logic is provided to one or more of the elements of the
apparatus to aid in the tracking, storing, and reporting of network
traffic.