Patent ID: 11881935
Assignee: ARISTA NETWORKS, INC.
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC G  H

Claim 13:
14. A method for managing a network device, the method comprising:
accessing, by one or more processors of the network device, an allocation data structure, wherein the allocation data structure specifies a first portion of memory and a second portion of memory;
identifying, using the allocation data structure, the first portion of memory to be used during an upgrade, wherein the second portion of memory is used for storing a forwarding table, wherein the forwarding table is used by a packet transmission component while the upgrade is being performed;
performing, by the one or more processors of the network device, an upgrade of the network device that populates the first portion of memory with a second forwarding table, wherein the second forwarding table is a new iteration of the forwarding table; and
upon completion of the upgrade, updating, by the one or more processors of the network device, the allocation data structure to specify that the packet transmission component use the second forwarding table in the first portion of memory for transmitting packets and stop using the forwarding table in the second portion of memory, wherein, prior to the completion of the upgrade, the allocation data structure specifies the first portion of memory for completing the upgrade and the second portion of memory for use by the packet transmission component and wherein, after the completion of the upgrade, the allocation data structure specifies the second portion of memory for completing a future upgrade and the first portion of memory for use by the packet transmission component.