System and Method for MAC Scalability and Host Mobility with Layer-3 Optimized Integrated Routing and Bridging (IRB)

A method, comprising:

• receiving, at a first edge device of a plurality of edge devices and from a first host device, an address-resolution-protocol (ARP) request;
• advertising, by the first edge device and based on the ARP request, a first remote route associated with a first flag indicating the first edge device operates in a layer-3 optimized integrated-routing-and-bridging (IRB) mode;
• receiving, at a second edge device of the plurality of edge devices and from the first edge device, the first remote route;
• and
• responsive to detecting the first flag by the second edge device, installing, by the second edge device, the first remote route into a layer-2 routing information base (RIB) associated with the second edge device.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that are configured, when executed by a processor, to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, at a first edge device of a plurality of edge devices and from a first host device, an address-resolution-protocol (ARP) request;
• advertising, by the first edge device based on the ARP request, a first remote route associated with a first flag indicating the first edge device operates in a layer-3 optimized integrated-routing-and-bridging (IRB) mode;
• receiving, at a second edge device of the plurality of edge devices and from the first edge device, the first remote route;
• and
• responsive to detecting the first flag by the second edge device, installing, by the second edge device, the first remote route into a layer-2 routing information base (RIB) associated with the second edge device.