Patent ID: 8638791

Claim:
A device comprising: a control module configured to: pseudo-randomly select, from a master table, sets of routing entries, or select, for each of a plurality of line cards, from the master table, a set of routing entries based on locality of the line card and the routing entries; and distribute each of the selected sets of routing entries to a corresponding one of the line cards, each of the sets including a portion of a master table for looking up routes based on network addresses; a first one of the plurality of line cards, configured to: receive one of the sets of routing entries, store the received set of routing entries in a local table, receive a packet from a network, obtain a routing entry using the local table based on an address associated with the packet, when the local table does not include the routing entry: requesting the routing entry from other line cards, and receiving the routing entry from the other line cards in response to the request for the routing entry; and send the packet to a second one of the plurality of line cards, the second line card associated with the obtained routing entry; and the second line card configured to forward the packet toward the address in the network.