Patent ID: 8619771

Claim:
A method for implementing private allocated networks in a virtual infrastructure, the method comprising: creating a plurality of virtual switches in one or more hosts in the virtual infrastructure, wherein each port in the plurality of virtual switches is associated with a private allocated network (PAN) from a plurality of PANs, and wherein intranet traffic within each PAN is not visible to nodes that are not connected to said each PAN; and defining, at a host in the one or more hosts, an addressing mode table for a virtual switch in the plurality of virtual switches, the addressing mode table being specific to a particular PAN in the plurality of PANs, wherein each entry in the addressing mode table defines an addressing function for forwarding intranet traffic between the virtual switch and other virtual switches in the particular PAN, wherein different types of addressing functions are supported by the virtual switch and include a first type of addressing function for traffic destinations within the particular PAN located at a same host as the virtual switch, a second type of addressing function for traffic destinations within the particular PAN located at a different host on a same physical network as the virtual switch, and a third type of addressing function for traffic destinations within the particular PAN located at a different host on a different physical network from the virtual switch.