Patent ID: 8705526

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, with a first provider edge (PE) router within a virtual private local area network service (VPLS) domain, a packet from a multi-homed VPLS customer site that is associated with the VPLS domain, the multi-homed VPLS customer site being coupled to the first PE router via a first active link and to a second PE router within the VPLS domain via a second active link, the packet being destined for a second VPLS customer site that is associated with the VPLS domain; processing the packet to determine a portion of a media access control (MAC) domain to which the packet corresponds based on a source MAC address of the packet, wherein the MAC domain is associated with the multi-homed VPLS customer site and includes MAC addresses of network devices within the multi-homed VPLS customer site, and wherein the MAC domain is divided into mutually exclusive portions amongst the first PE router and the second PE router such that the first PE router is configured to forward network traffic sent from a first portion of the MAC domain and the second PE router is configured to forward network traffic sent from a second portion of the MAC domain; when the packet is determined to correspond to the first portion of the MAC domain, forwarding the packet from the first PE router to the second VPLS customer site in accordance with forwarding protocols executing on the first PE router; and when the packet is determined to correspond to the second portion of the MAC domain, forwarding the packet from the first PE router to the second PE router via a pseudowire that is external to the VPLS domain such that the second PE router forwards the packet to the second VPLS customer site in accordance with forwarding protocols executing on the second PE router.