An improved Ethernet traffic management device is provided comprising. a first port, a second port, and a third port. The device further comprises a first deterministic multi-threaded micro-controller controlling traffic through the first port, a second deterministic multi-threaded micro-controller controlling traffic through the second port, and a third deterministic multi-threaded micro-controller controlling traffic through the third port. The first deterministic multi-threaded micro-controller, second deterministic multi-threaded micro-controller, and third deterministic multi-threaded micro-controller cooperatively operate to selectively communicate data packets between each of the first, second and third ports.