A switch apparatus (10) for optimizing the transfer of data packets between a plurality of local area networks (LANs (12, 14, 16)). Apparatus of the present invention are comprised of multiple controllers (23), e.g., a receive controller (24), and a transmit controller (25), which share common resources including a first memory (a packet memory (20)) which stores the data packets, a second memory (a descriptor memory (22)) which stores pointers to the stored data packets, and buffered data paths (preferably using FIFO buffers (178, 108)). The independent controllers (25, 24) operate essentially concurrently for most tasks while interleaving their use of the shared resources (20, 22). Consequently, embodiments of the present invention can simultaneously receive and transmit data across multiple LAN data ports (18a, 18b, 18N) (e.g., 28 Ethernet ports comprised of 10/100 and/or 10 Mbps ports).