Patent ID: 9019812
Filing Date: 2015-04-28
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for instructing nodes on an Ethernet ring network to flush addresses, wherein the Ethernet ring network comprises multiple nodes, each node comprises ring ports used to connect adjacent nodes, and at least one node comprises a non-ring port used to access a virtual local area network, the method comprising: receiving a failure message from a node connected to at least one of two ends of a failed link on the Ethernet ring network; determining a failure location according to node identifiers carried in the failure message, and determining, according to the determined failure location and a pre-configured virtual local area network distribution topology, a specific virtual local area network affected by the failure on the Ethernet ring network, wherein the virtual local area network distribution topology is used to indicate virtual local area networks accessing the Ethernet ring network and a topological path of nodes that each virtual local area network passes through; and sending an instruction message for flushing a media access control address forwarding table to a specific node accessed by the specific virtual local area network on the Ethernet ring network, wherein the instruction message carries an identifier of the specific virtual local area network, so that the specific node deletes addresses related to the specific virtual local area network.