Patent ID: 8923155

Claim:
A method of employing a virtual switch as a default gateway for a virtual machine (VM) within a layer 3 (L3) virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN), the method comprising: sending an address request reply comprising a virtual media access control (MAC) address associated with a virtual interact protocol (IP) address, from a virtual switch to a VM; setting the virtual switch as the VM's default gateway; receiving a virtual local area network (VLAN) data packet with the virtual MAC address from the VM; swapping the virtual MAC address of the data packet with the MAC address of a first routing component; encapsulating, by the virtual switch, the data packet in a VXLAN packet; and forwarding the data packet from the virtual switch to the first routing component via a VXLAN tunnel, wherein the data packet comprises a VLAN tag that identifies a VLAN to which the VM belongs, and wherein the data packet is forwarded from the virtual switch to the first routing component as a layer 2 (L2) packet routed over the L3 VXLAN.