A method for transmission of control data between a network switch and a switch controller is provided. The method includes: configuring a plurality of control data packets by the switch controller, wherein configuring includes disposing a sequence number in each of the plurality of control data packets indicating an order of data packet transmission; storing the plurality of control data packets in a replay buffer in communication with the switch controller; transmitting the plurality of control data packets to the network switch over a secure link between the switch controller and the network switch; and responsive to determining that one or more control data packets were not received by the network switch, retrieving the one or more control data packets from the replay buffer and re-transmitting the one or more control data packets to the network switch.