Methods and systems for managing distributed media access control address tables

摘要

Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for switching a network packet. One method includes operations for receiving a packet having a media access control (MAC) address, and for switching the packet by a first packet switching device (PSD) when the MAC address is present in a first memory. Further, the method includes operations for transferring the packet to a second PSD when the MAC address is absent from the first memory and present in a second memory associated with the second PSD, and for transferring the packet to a third PSD when the MAC address is absent from the first memory and the second memory.

主权项

1. A method for processing network traffic by a network device, the method comprising:
configuring first classification rules and second classification rules in the network device, the network device including a switch fabric and a switch controller, wherein the switch fabric switches packets in hardware based on the first classification rules and the switch controller switches packets utilizing a processor based on the second classification rules; receiving a packet at the network device; determining by the switch fabric if the packet matches any of the first classification rules; when the packet matches any one of the first classification rules, switching the packet by the switch fabric based on the matched one of the first classification rules; and when the packet does not match any of the first classification rules, sending the packet from the switch fabric to the switch controller for processing of the packet by the switch controller; wherein each first classification rule includes a classification criteria and an action, wherein the classification criteria for a rule is configurable to be based on one or more parameters selected from a group consisting of a media access control (MAC) address, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) parameter, a user datagram protocol (UDP) parameter, a TCP port, an IPSec security association, a virtual local area network (VLAN) tag, a 802.1Q VLAN tag, and a 802.1Q-in-Q VLAN tag.