| 摘要 |
A method for establishing and maintaining virtual network domains in a segmented computer network (400), having a first domain and a second domain. A first table entry for a first end station (SA1, SA3) in a first forwarding table of a first switching fabric circuit (A) is created. The first table entry includes domain information specifying that the first end station (SA1, SA3) is in the first domain and port information specifying that the first end station is coupled to a first port (1). A packet having the first end station as a source is received by the first port (1) of the first switching fabric circuit (A), and a destination for the packet is determined. If the packet specifies a second end station (SA5, SA7) of the first domain as the destination, the packet is forwarded to the second end station. If the destination for the packet specifies more than one end station, the domain of the source of the packet is determined, and the packet is forwarded to the specified end stations of the first domain. For a second embodiment, source and destination information are compared to determine forwarding information for a packet, and the packet is forwarded as specified by the forwarding information. For a third embodiment, intelligent selection between multiple paths to the same end station is provided by the comparison of source and destination.
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