Reduced outage time with improved download to hardware tables based on valid entries

A method in a network device, the method comprising:

• updating one or more data tables in a control plane concurrently with processing of network traffic in a data plane of the network device;
• identifying blocks of entries in the updated data tables that contain one or more used entries, wherein one or more of the identified blocks include used and unused entries;
• and
• updating one or more corresponding data tables in the data plane, including:
• disabling the processing of network traffic in the data plane;
• and
• downloading only the identified blocks of entries in the updated data tables to corresponding entries in the one or more corresponding data tables in the data plane;
• and
• re-enabling the processing of network traffic in the data plane.

A network device comprising:

• one or more computer processors;
• and
• a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for controlling the one or more computer processors to:
• update one or more data tables in a control plane concurrently with processing of network traffic in a data plane of the network device;
• identify blocks of entries in the updated data tables that contain one or more used entries, wherein one or more of the identified blocks include used and unused entries;
• and
• update one or more corresponding data tables in the data plane, including:
• disabling the processing of network traffic in the data plane;
• and
• downloading only the identified blocks of entries in the updated data tables to corresponding entries in the one or more corresponding data tables in the data plane;
• and
• re-enable the processing of network traffic in the data plane.