Patent ID: 7729350

Claim:
A system, comprising: a first network device configured to operate as a cluster master within a cluster, the first network device being configured to direct sending of initial protocol state information to a cluster member when the cluster member is joining the cluster, direct sending of a multicast control protocol packet to at least one network device external to the cluster, receive a multicast data packet, and direct forwarding of the multicast data packet towards a destination when the first network device is associated with the multicast data packet; and a second network device configured to operate as the cluster member within the cluster, the second network device being configured to receive the initial protocol state information from the first network device during a joining of the second network device to the cluster, monitor the network for additional protocol state information, employ the additional protocol state information to update a state of the second network device when additional protocol state information is received, receive a multicast data packet, direct forwarding of the multicast data packet towards a destination when the second network device is associated with the multicast data packet, receive a multicast control protocol packet from the at least one network device external to the cluster, and drop the multicast control protocol packet rather than responding to the multicast control protocol packet.