Multicast miss notification for a distributed network switch

A system to provide multicast miss notification in a distributed network switch that includes a first switch module, the system comprising:

• one or more computer processors;
• a memory containing a program, which when executed by the one or more computer processors is configured to perform an operation comprising:
• receiving, by a bridge element of the first switch module, a frame destined for a multicast group on a network, wherein the first switch module includes a management controller associated with a global multicast forwarding table that includes a plurality of forwarding entries, wherein the bridge element is associated with a local multicast forwarding table specific to the bridge element and that includes a subset of the plurality of forwarding entries;
• determining that the local multicast forwarding table associated with the bridge element does not include a forwarding entry for the multicast group for which the frame is addressed;
• selecting a first forwarding entry from the local multicast forwarding table as a candidate for replacing with a forwarding entry for the multicast group for which the frame is destined;
• and
• sending, to the management controller, an indication that the first forwarding entry is the candidate for replacing with the forwarding entry for the multicast group for which the frame is destined, wherein the indication conforms to a predefined frame format comprising a central controlling bridge MAC address field, a source MAC address field, a key field, and a multicast hint field,
• thereby providing multicast miss notification in the distributed network switch and reducing an incidence of multicast groups, to which frames are destined, not being found in the local multicast forwarding table, relative to not sending the management controller any indication of candidate forwarding entries for replacement.