Patent ID: 9602400
Date: 2017-03-21
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. A method comprising: receiving a first packet having a first virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier (ID) directly from a first virtual switch operating in a first hypervisor domain using a first physical overlay switch located at an edge of an internet protocol (IP) network; encapsulating the first packet with an overlay header; tunneling the first encapsulated packet via Layer-3 operations across the IP network to a second physical overlay switch in response to a determination that a source of the packet is physically separated from a destination of the packet by the IP network, the second physical overlay switch being connected to one or more second virtual switches operating in a second hypervisor domain; receiving a second encapsulated packet having a second overlay header from the second physical overlay switch; de-encapsulating the second encapsulated packet to create a second packet having a second VLAN ID; the first physical overlay switch creating the second VLAN ID based at least partially on the second overlay header; and sending the second packet having the second VLAN ID directly to the first virtual switch operating in the first hypervisor domain.