Flow synchronization

A system for use in synchronizing flows in a packet-switched network, the system comprising:

• at least one memory including computer program code;
• and at least one processor in data communication with the memory, the processor configured to:
• receive at a controller node, a list of a first plurality of flows programmed on a network switch;
• at the controller node, extract a flow cookie value from a flow cookie data field of each flow in the first plurality of flows on the received list;
• at the controller node, calculate a session identifier based on the extracted cookie values;
• transmit at least one add flow command from the controller node to the network switch to program a second plurality of flows on the network switch, wherein the at least one add flow command comprises flow cookie values in the flow cookie data fields of each of the flows in the second plurality of flows which are set equal to the calculated session identifier;
• and
• transmit at least one delete flow command from the controller node to the network switch to delete programming of the first plurality of flows on the network switch.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, cause a computerized device to perform a method for synchronizing flows in a packet-switched network, the method comprising:

• receiving at a controller node, a list of a first plurality of flows programmed on a network switch;
• at the controller node, extracting a flow cookie value from a flow cookie data field of each flow in the first plurality of flows on the received list;
• at the controller node, calculating a session identifier based on the extracted cookie values;
• transmitting at least one add flow command from the controller node to the network switch to program a second plurality of flows on the network switch, wherein the at least one add flow command comprises flow cookie values in the flow cookie data fields of each of the flows in the second plurality of flows which are set equal to the calculated session identifier;
• and
• transmitting at least one delete flow command from the controller node to the network switch to delete programming of the first plurality of flows on the network switch.