A system and method for a hierarchical interconnect network. Some illustrative embodiments comprise a network switch comprising a plurality of ports each adapted to couple to other devices external to the network switch as part of an interconnect network (the interconnect network comprises an inverted tree structure that originates with a root bus), a controller coupled to the plurality of ports (the controller defines an active path through the network switch, the active path follows the inverted tree structure), and a memory coupled to the controller (the memory comprising routing information). The controller uses the routing information to identify an alternate path through the network switch. At least part of the alternate path does not follow the inverted tree structure.