Patent ID: 9240944
Filing Date: 2016-01-19
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method comprising: receiving a packet from a first host at a first edge device, the packet comprising a layer 3 address of a second host in communication with a second edge device, said first edge device in communication with said second edge device in an overlay network defined by said edge devices interconnected by a core network; using said layer 3 address of said second host at said first edge device to receive a layer 2 address and a location identifier for said second host from a remote distributed database accessible from the core network, the database comprising a mapping of layer 3 host addresses to layer 2 host addresses and location identifiers; storing a mapping of said layer 2 address to said location identifier at said first edge device for use in forwarding packets to said second host; and transmitting from said first edge device, said layer 2 address of said second host to said first host for use by said first host in transmitting traffic to said second host.