Patent ID: 7461142

Claim:
A method of managing network addresses, comprising: learning information relating to a network address; updating a first address database, wherein the first database is managed by a first device; in response to the updating, providing a notification of the update to a second device managing a second address database; queuing at least a portion of the update information in a queue; determining whether the queue is in an overflow condition; based on the determination, providing an indication to the second device that the queue is in the overflow condition; in response to the indication that the queue is in the overflow condition, polling the first device to determine whether the first address database includes information that is not included in the second address database; in response to the indication that the queue is in the overflow condition, determining whether the queue comprises information that is not included in the second address database; and providing only the information that is not included in the second address database and the queue to the second device.