Patent ID: 8683023

Claim:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored contents that configure a computing system to: obtain information regarding a first virtual computer network overlaid on a distinct substrate network that interconnects multiple computing nodes of the first virtual computer network, and wherein the first virtual computer network further includes a first external node separated from the substrate network via a first external connection; configure a first edge module that interconnects the substrate network and the first external connection to associate a first group of multiple virtual network addresses with a second computing node of the multiple computing nodes that is configured to act as an intermediate destination for at least some communications directed to the virtual network addresses of the first group, the virtual network addresses of the first group including a first virtual network address associated with a third computing node of the multiple computing nodes; and under control of the first edge module, receive a first communication from the first external node via the first external connection that the first external node indicates to be sent to the third computing node by specifying the first virtual network address for the third computing node; encode the first communication in a manner specific to the substrate network; and forward the encoded first communication over the substrate network from the first edge module to the second computing node, to enable the second computing node to manage further forwarding of the encoded first communication to the third computing node.