Multi-VRF Universal Device Internet Protocol Address for Fabric Edge Devices

An apparatus comprising:

• a memory storage;
• and
• a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, wherein the processing unit is disposed in a first network device and the processing unit is operative to:
• create, in response to receiving a connectivity message, a request packet, the request packet having a source address corresponding to an address of the first network device and a destination address corresponding to an address of a first client device, wherein the source address comprises a universal address for the first network device that is reachable by all Virtual Routing and Forwarding groups (VRFs) on the first network device;
• encapsulate the request packet;
• and
• forward the encapsulated request packet to a second network device associated with the first client device.