Patent ID: 8401008

Claim:
A network node for transferring a frame on a network by destination address, including: a virtual transfer destination information table for correlating destination address of a frame and virtual transfer destination information of said frame which information is virtually defined, said destination address is classified into a number of virtual transfer destination information not more than a total number of destination addresses in said virtual transfer destination information table; and a transfer destination information table for correlating said virtual transfer destination information with transfer destination information; and wherein an entry in said transfer destination information table has a field indicative of validity of an entry, by obtaining virtual transfer destination information correlated with destination address of a frame in said virtual transfer destination information table and, after a failure, registering information indicating that an entry is invalid at said field indicative of validity of an entry in said transfer destination information table which entry is related to said virtual transfer destination information, abandons the correspondence between said destination address and said transfer destination information.