Dynamic next-hop selection for routes in a network fabric

An apparatus comprising:

• a network interface unit configured to communicate over a network;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• establish a virtual port channel associated with a virtual network address, the virtual port channel comprising a plurality of network devices including the apparatus as a first network device associated with a first network address and a second network device associated with a second network address;
• detect that a subnetwork is connected to the first network device via the network interface unit;
• determine whether to associate the virtual network address or the first network address as a next hop address for the subnetwork based on whether the subnetwork is also connected to the second network device of the virtual port channel;
• and
• generate a route advertisement associating the next hop address with a range of addresses in the subnetwork.

One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with software comprising computer executable instructions and, when the software is executed by a processor on a first network device, operable to cause the processor to:

• establish a virtual port channel associated with a virtual network address, the virtual port channel comprising a plurality of network devices including the first network device associated with a first network address and a second network device associated with a second network address;
• detect that a subnetwork is connected to the first network device;
• determine whether to associate the virtual network address or the first network address as a next hop address for the subnetwork based on whether the subnetwork is also connected to the second network device of the virtual port channel;
• and
• generate a route advertisement associating the next hop address with a range of addresses in the subnetwork.