MESSAGE FORWARDING BETWEEN GEOGRAPHICALLY DISPERSED NETWORK SITES

摘要

The present disclosure describes message forwarding in a network where Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) are deployed over geographically dispersed sites. The network comprises a first aggregation layer device at a first site and second first aggregation layer device at a second site. The first aggregation layer device learns Media Access Control (MAC) address information received from the second aggregation layer device. The MAC address information includes: a VLAN identifier (ID), an aggregated MAC address and an aggregated MAC address mask configured at the second site. When receiving a message addressed to the VLAN ID and a destination MAC address, the first aggregation layer device searches for the MAC address information based on the VLAN ID and destination MAC address and forwards the message to the second aggregation layer device according to the MAC address information. The destination MAC address belongs to the same MAC address segment as the aggregated MAC address and searching for the MAC address information comprises mask matching based on the aggregated MAC address mask.