Packet forwarding apparatus for handling multicast packet

A communication system, comprising:

• a packet forwarding apparatus(es) comprising:
• a processor;
• a non-transitory computer-readable data storage medium to:
• encapsulate a multicast packet using at least one piece of mapping information among pieces of mapping information for a multicast communication;
• and
• integrate the pieces of mapping information having a same multicast communication range;
• and and
• a server providing a virtual machine that performs a multicast communication via the packet forwarding apparatus,
• wherein the multicast packets are encapsulated using the integrated pieces of mapping information.

A communication method, comprising:

• storing pieces of mapping information for a multicast communication;
• encapsulating a multicast packet using at least one piece of mapping information among the pieces of mapping information;
• and
• integrating pieces of mapping information having a same multicast communication range,
• wherein the multicast packet is encapsulated by using the integrated pieces of mapping information.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program, causing a computer included in a packet forwarding apparatus to perform processing for:

• storing pieces of mapping information for a multicast communication;
• encapsulating a multicast packet using at least one piece of mapping information among the pieces of mapping information;
• and
• integrating pieces of mapping information having a same multicast communication range,
• wherein the multicast packet is encapsulated by using the integrated pieces of mapping information.