Patent ID: 8817621

Claim:
A distributed network control system comprising: a plurality of network controller instances for managing a plurality of managed switching elements that forward data in a network, each network controller instance comprising: a control application for converting logical control plane data, that specifies a definition of a logical data path set, into logical forwarding plane data that specifies a first set of forwarding rules that effectuate the logical data path set definition specified by the logical control plane data, wherein the logical control plane data and logical forwarding plane data define one or more logical switching elements of the logical data path set; a virtualization application for converting the logical forwarding plane data into physical control plane data that specifies a second set of forwarding rules for the managed switching elements to follow in order to implement the logical data path set; and a publisher for publishing the physical control plane data for subsequent distribution to the managed switching elements and subsequent translation by the managed switching elements into physical forwarding plane data that direct the forwarding of data packets by the managed switching elements.