Enhancing interior gateway protocol functionalities for local and remote peering with virtual private network based fabric

An apparatus comprising:

• a memory;
• a network interface configured to enable network communications;
• and
• a processor, wherein the processor is configured to perform a method comprising:
• obtaining connection information about a service node, the connection information indicating whether the service node is locally connected or connected via a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel;
• generating a reverse metric signaling based on the connection information, the reverse metric signaling including a different metric value for the service node when the service node is locally connected than when the service node is connected via the VPN tunnel;
• and
• providing the reverse metric signaling to the service node to cause the service node to select the apparatus from among a plurality of intermediate network devices to forward data traffic to a destination.

One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with software comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method including:

• obtaining connection information about a service node, the connection information indicating whether the service node is locally connected or connected via a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel;
• generating a reverse metric signaling based on the connection information, the reverse metric signaling including a different metric value for the service node when the service node is locally connected than when the service node is connected via the VPN tunnel;
• and
• providing the reverse metric signaling to the service node to cause the service node to select an intermediate network device from among a plurality of intermediate network devices to forward data traffic to a destination.