Patent ID: 8743894

Claim:
A method of operating a computer system comprising a bridge port between a hardware local area network (LAN) and a virtual switch, the method comprising: providing a first hash table by the hardware LAN to the virtual switch via the bridge port, wherein the first hash table comprises addresses of a first plurality of VMs that comprise the hardware LAN, wherein the first plurality of VMs communicate with the hardware LAN via respective hardware network interface cards (NICs); updating a second hash table in the virtual switch to include the addresses of the first hash table, wherein the second hash table further comprises addresses of a second plurality of VMs of the virtual switch, wherein the second plurality of VMs communicate with the virtual switch via respective virtual NICs; and sending traffic originating from one of the first plurality of VMs having a destination address that is not in the first hash table from the hardware LAN to the virtual switch via the bridge port.