Patent ID: 8694664
Filing Date: 2014-04-08
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: at a first edge switch that is configured to operate in an active-active multi-homing mode for packets within individual Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) with at least a second edge switch in an edge switch cluster at a first data center site that comprises one or more endpoint devices, receiving Layer-2 packets for a given VLAN from a first endpoint device in a Layer-2 network at the first data center site; communicating between the first edge switch and at least one edge switch at a second data center site using a transport protocol that extends Layer-2 network connectivity to Layer-3 network connectivity over Internet Protocol (IP) between edge switches at a plurality of sites, wherein the transport protocol comprises one of an overlay transport virtualization protocol and a Layer-3 protocol that enables multipath routing from the at least one edge switch to edge switches in the edge switch cluster; encapsulating the Layer-2 packets to obtain Layer-3 packets; and forwarding the Layer-3 packets to the at least one edge switch at the second data center site using the transport protocol, wherein the at least one edge switch at the second data center site is enabled to perform multipath routing for packets within the given VLAN to the first endpoint device such that packets within the given VLAN are routed via each of the first and second edge switches due to the first and second edge switches operating in the active-active multi-homing mode for packets within the given VLAN.