In a hierarchical switching architecture that includes at least one lower level managed switching element that connects to several higher level managed switching elements, some embodiments provide a method of identifying a higher level managed switching element to which the lower level managed switching element forwards a packet for further processing. The method computes a value based on a set of attributes of the packet. The method identifies a record from a hierarchy traversal table based on the computed value. The record specifies (1) a first higher level managed switching element as a primary higher level managed switching element and (2) a second higher level managed switching element as a secondary higher level managed switching element. The primary and secondary higher level managed switching elements are for forwarding the packet for further processing. The method forwards the packet to one of the higher level managed switching elements.