Efficient rendezvous point tree to shortest path tree switch-over process

A network node, comprising:

• one or more input ports configured to receive a stream data packets via an intermediate network node and one or more output ports configured to send the data packets to a plurality of host computers;
• reverse rate limiting logic coupled to the input port, wherein the reverse rate limiting logic is configured to duplicate the stream of data packets, and wherein the reverse rate limiting logic is configured to output the duplicated stream if a packet flow rate of the duplicated stream is above a predetermined threshold;
• and
• a processing unit coupled to the reverse rate limiting logic and configured to initiate a switch over process after the processing unit receives the duplicated stream from the reverse rate limiting logic, wherein the switch over process causes packet streams from the source to be sent to the network node without routing through the intermediate network node.

A network node, comprising:

• means for receiving a stream of data packets from a source via an intermediate network node and forwarding the data packets to their respective destinations;
• means for performing a reverse rate limiting process to determine whether a packet flow rate of the stream exceeds a predetermined threshold;
• and
• means for initiating a switch over process to cause data packets from the source to be routed along a network path that does not include the intermediate network node, wherein the means for initiating does not initiate the switch over process if the packet flow rate does not exceed the predetermined threshold.