Per-Address Spanning Tree Networks

A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to:

• compute the per-address spanning tree for each identified address in a set of addresses thereby forming a set of per-address spanning trees;
• generate a set of forwarding rules associated with each per-address spanning tree in the set of per-address spanning trees;
• and
• install the set of forwarding rules associated with each per-address spanning tree in the set of per-address spanning trees in all appropriate switches in the set of switches for which the per-address spanning tree is generated so that each switch in the set of switches will forward packets based on the set of forwarding rules installed in that switch.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
• compute the per-address spanning tree for each identified address in a set of addresses thereby forming a set of per-address spanning trees;
• generate a set of forwarding rules associated with each per-address spanning tree in the set of per-address spanning trees;
• and
• install the set of forwarding rules associated with each per-address spanning tree in the set of per-address spanning trees in all appropriate switches in the set of switches for which the per-address spanning tree is generated so that each switch in the set of switches will forward packets based on the set of forwarding rules installed in that switch.