Patent ID: 8594090

Claim:
A method of forwarding a multicast data frame, the method comprising: receiving a multicast data frame at a distributed virtual bridge, the distributed virtual bridge comprising: a plurality of bridge elements coupled to a plurality of computing nodes, wherein the plurality of bridge elements are configured to forward a copy of a multicast data frame to the plurality of computing nodes using group member information associated with addresses of the plurality of computing nodes; one or more transport layer modules coupled to each bridge element of the plurality of bridge elements to provide a frame-based interface to one or more integrated switch routers, wherein the one or more integrated switch routers are configured to route copies of the multicast data frame to and from a local rack interconnect network, wherein the local rack interconnect network includes links to bridge elements of the plurality of bridge elements that are located within a same chassis and rack, and wherein the local rack interconnect network includes links to bridge elements of the plurality of bridge elements that are located in different chassis and racks; and a controlling bridge coupled to the plurality of bridge elements, the controlling bridge configured to communicate the group member information to the plurality of bridge elements; and forwarding a plurality of copies of the multicast data frame according to the group member information.