Patent ID: 7808992
Filing Date: 2010-10-05
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: designating a first port of a device as a promiscuous port and a second port of the device as either an isolated or community port, the promiscuous port to receive packets and transfer the packets to the isolated or community port using a primary VLAN that functionally connects the promiscuous port with the isolated or community port, the isolated or community port to receive packets and to transfer packets to the promiscuous port using an isolated VLAN that functionally connects the isolated port to the promiscuous port or a community VLAN that functionally connects the community port to the promiscuous port; learning a media access control (MAC) address at the promiscuous port and storing the learned MAC address in a first table of a primary VLAN module of the device, the primary VLAN module associated with the primary VLAN; and replicating the MAC address from the first table to a second table of a secondary VLAN module of the device, the secondary VLAN module associated with the isolated VLAN or the community VLAN, to effectively replicate the MAC address from the primary VLAN into an isolated VLAN or community VLAN in which learning of the MAC address did not previously occur.