Systems and methods for providing multicast routing in an overlay network

A method for providing multicast addressing in an overlay network, the method comprising:

• sending a packet from a first virtual machine (VM) of a plurality of VMs on a host;
• receiving the packet at a virtual switch on the host in communication with the first VM, the packet including a customer-specific multicast IP address of a multicast group used by a customer of a data center;
• encapsulating the packet with a global multicast IP address of the multicast group, the global multicast IP address being a unique multicast IP address within a physical network;
• and
• transmitting the encapsulated packet with the global multicast IP address as a destination address.

A method for providing multicast addressing in an overlay network, the method comprising:

• receiving a packet from a first virtual machine (VM) on a first host under control of a first hypervisor at a virtual switch on a second host under control of a second hypervisor;
• recognizing a global multicast IP address in a header of the packet;
• recognizing an association between the global multicast IP address and a customer-specific multicast IP address used within the second host;
• determining which VMs of a plurality of VMs on the second host are member VMs of a multicast group identified by the customer-specific multicast IP address;
• and
• sending a copy of the packet to each member VM on the second host.