Patent ID: 8873563

Claim:
A network device comprising: a memory configurable to: store a routing table comprising a plurality of routes; and store next-hop information associated with the routing table, the next-hop information comprising a set of two or more next-hops, each next-hop associated with an attribute, each next-hop associated with a set of one or more pairs, each pair identifying a link and an address, the set of two or more next-hops comprising a first next-hop associated with a first route in the plurality of routes, the first next-hop stored in a first portion of the memory, the attribute associated with the first next-hop set to a first value; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the processor configurable to: associate a second route in the plurality of routes with the first next-hop stored in the first portion of the memory; and associate a third route in the plurality of routes with a second next-hop stored in a second portion of the memory, wherein the set of one or more pairs associated with the second next-hop is identical to the set of one or more pairs associated with the first next-hop, and the attribute associated with the second next-hop is set to a second value that is different from the first value, and wherein when the set of one or more pairs associated with the second next-hop changes, the set of one or more pairs associated with the first next-hop does not change due to the second value being different from the first value.