ycle comprises 2M timeslots for reading and writing packets, where M is an integer greater than 1; wherein the network switch is programmable to implement a port configuration including one or more 2-Gigabit Fibre Channel ports, wherein each of the one or more 2-Gigabit Fibre Channel ports is formed by combining two of the M network switch ports; wherein each 2-Gigabit Fibre Channel port is assign