Patent ID: 8312129

Claim:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising stored instructions that, upon execution, cause a computing system to: provide a first virtual computer network to a first client by overlaying the first virtual computer network on a distinct substrate network, the first virtual computer network being configured in accordance with received information that specifies inter-connections between first computing nodes of the first virtual computer network; establish, by the computing system, a first connection between the first virtual computer network and a virtual peering router that enables interactions with one or more other second virtual computer networks that have second computing nodes; after the one or more second virtual computer networks have established one or more second connections to the virtual peering router, receive, by the computing system, one or more routing communications via the established one or more second connections that are directed to the virtual peering router and include network routing information for the second virtual computer networks, the one or more routing communications being specified in accordance with one or more defined network routing protocols; and forward, by the computing system, one or more communications between the first virtual computer network and the one or more second virtual computer networks by using the network routing information included in the received one or more routing communications to direct one of the forwarded communications from one of the first computing nodes of the first virtual computer network to one or more of the second computing nodes of the second virtual computer networks.