Patent ID: 9036636
Filing Date: 2015-05-19
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of using a controller to control switches in a network having end hosts that are coupled to the switches, wherein the controller maintains information identifying a subset of the end hosts that is associated with a broadcast domain, the method comprising: with the controller, configuring switches in the network with an identifier that identifies the broadcast domain associated with the subset of the end hosts; with the controller, using the information identifying the subset of the end hosts to determine which of the switches are coupled in a forwarding tree formed from network paths between the end hosts in the subset; with the controller, identifying which of the switches from the switches of the forwarding tree are coupled to the end hosts of the subset of the end hosts; with the controller, configuring the identified switches so that broadcast network packets that are received by the identified switches from the end hosts of the subset of the end hosts are modified to include the identifier, wherein the network comprises at least one non-client switch that is not controlled by the controller, the at least one non-client switch is interposed between a first switch of the forwarding tree and a second switch of the forwarding tree, and the first switch has a loopback interface operable to return network packets that are forwarded from the loopback interface to the first switch; with the controller, configuring the first switch so that broadcast network packets that are to be forwarded to the second switch through the at least one non-client switch are redirected to the loopback interface; and with the controller, configuring the first switch to encapsulate network packets that are received from the loopback interface and to forward the encapsulated network packets to the at least one non-client switch, wherein the encapsulated network packets include information that directs the non-client switches to forward the encapsulated network packets from the first switch to the second switch.