Patent ID: 7653074

Claim:
A computer implemented method comprising: in response to a request for establishing a generic routing encapsulation (GRE) tunnel received at a first network element, the first network element determining a set of endpoints for the requested GRE tunnel based on the request, the set of endpoints including a first set of endpoints and a second set of endpoints, the first network element determining the first set of endpoints based on an ID of the requested GRE tunnel, the first set of endpoints identifying a second network element, the first network element determining the second set of endpoints based on the first set of endpoints and a key, the first and second sets of endpoints identifying a first virtual router and a second virtual router of the first network element, the first virtual router interfacing with a first site of an entity from which the request is originated and the second virtual router interfacing with the second network element; dynamically establishing the GRE tunnel between the first network element and the second network element derived from the set of endpoints, using the key corresponding to a virtual private network (VPN), the dynamically establishing including the first network element transmitting the first set of endpoints and the key to the second network element to enable the second network element to respond in establishing the GRE tunnel with the first network element; processing a set of GRE traffic for the VPN within the established GRE tunnel between the first and second network elements over a network; and directing network traffic between the first and second virtual routers, where the second virtual router exchanges the network traffic with the second network element via the GRE tunnel.