Enhanced traffic flow in software-defined networking controller-based architecture

A first network device comprising:

• processing circuitry configured to execute a messaging protocol;
• a plurality of virtual machines;
• and
• a forwarding plane comprising a plurality of forwarding information bases for the virtual machines, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to receive one or more virtual routes to virtual interfaces from a second network device via a messaging protocol session between the second network device and the first network device,
• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to store the one or more virtual routes to one or more of the plurality of forwarding information bases,
• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to mark, in response to determining the messaging protocol session has closed, the one or more virtual routes in the forwarding information bases as stale without deleting the one or more virtual routes from the data structure,
• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to, subsequent to marking the indication of the one or more virtual routes to virtual interfaces as stale, advertise the one or more virtual routes to virtual interfaces to messaging protocol clients of the first network device relative to which the first network device operates as a messaging protocol server.

A method comprising:

• by a first network device, receiving one or more virtual routes to virtual interfaces from a second network device managed by the first network device, the one or more virtual routes received via a first messaging protocol session between the first network device and the second network device;
• storing, by the second network device, the one or more virtual routes to a data structure;
• in response to determining the first messaging protocol session has closed, marking, by the second network device, the one or more virtual routes in the data structure as stale without deleting the one or more virtual routes from the data structure and without withdrawing the virtual routes from routing protocol peers of the second network device;
• and
• subsequent to marking the one or more virtual routes as stale, sending, by the second network device, the one or more virtual routes to a third network device over a second messaging protocol session between the second network device and the third network device, for which the second network device operates as a messaging protocol server and the third network device operates as a messaging protocol client of the second network device.