Patent ID: 8908691

Claim:
A system, comprising: a host server providing a virtual switch, the virtual switch comprising: logic configured to receive a packet from a first virtual machine (VM) on the host server; logic configured to determine that a destination of the packet is a second VM common to the host server; logic configured to encapsulate the packet with a Layer-3 tunnel header to form an overlay packet, the overlay packet being configured as a Layer-3 packet; logic configured to send the overlay packet via a Layer-3 tunnel to a physical networking element to have inspection services performed thereon; logic configured to receive the overlay packet via the Layer-3 tunnel from the physical networking element after services have been performed thereon; logic configured to de-encapsulate the overlay packet to retrieve a serviced packet; and logic configured to forward the serviced packet to the second VM, wherein the tunnel header comprises tenant specific information, the tenant specific information including a virtual network identifier (VNID), and wherein the host server is configured to natively transport Layer-3 packets across the Layer-3 tunnel.