Patent ID: 8155150

Claim:
A device, comprising a plurality of security process units (SPUs), each SPU comprising: a media access control (MAC) table to store a plurality of MAC entries; and a processor to: designate the SPU as a MAC owner when the SPU receives a new MAC entry; send a MAC learning packet, for the MAC entry, to each of the other SPUs; initiate, when the MAC entry ages out at the SPU, a MAC age query through a logical ring of the other SPUs; receive back the MAC age query if the MAC entry has aged out at each of the other SPUs; initiate deletion of the MAC entry from the MAC table based on the receiving back the MAC age query; receive a change owner message if the MAC entry has not aged out at another SPU of the logical ring of the other SPUs; and assign the other SPU as the new MAC owner if the MAC entry has not aged out.