FIG. 3A is a block diagram 300 illustrating the establishment of data tunnels at a multi-uplink network device. In FIG. 3A, example multi-uplink network device A 151 has two uplinks, Uplink 0 170 and Uplink 1 171, configured to establish private network data tunnels (e.g., VPN tunnels) with another network device. In the example shown in FIG. 3A, a multi-uplink network device has two active uplinks for establishing data tunnels, however those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate from the present disclosure that in some embodiments, a multi-uplink network device has more than two active uplinks for establishing data tunnels. In some embodiments, a respective uplink is associated with a respective port of a network device. For example, port 0 302 of Device A 151 is associated with Uplink 0 170, and port 1 304 is associated with Uplink 1 171. In some embodiments, a respective uplink of a network device can be swapped to a new or different port, or replaced with a new uplink. For example, if the IT budget of a branch office increases, it is able to upgrade an Internet uplink by replacing it with an MPLS uplink.
