Clearing forwarding entries dynamically and ensuring consistency of tables across ethernet fabric switch

1. A switch, comprising:

an ownership management module operable to:

maintain a local ownership association between the switch and a media access control (MAC) address learned at the switch;

terminate the local ownership association for the MAC address; and

terminate an ownership association for a MAC address learned at a remote switch, in response to identifying a corresponding notification from the remote switch; and

a notification module operable to:

generate a first notification indicating the local ownership association; and

generate a second notification indicating the termination of the local ownership association.

2. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the second notification includes a first tier message indicating initiation of the termination and a second tier message indicating the termination of specific ownership association with the switch.

3. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the switch is a Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) routing bridge (RBridge).

4. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the ownership association is indicated by a bit in a bitmap, and wherein the bit is associated with the switch.

5. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the switch is part of a link aggregation;

wherein the switch further comprises an age-out control module operable to create an age-out indication for the switch and a MAC address learned at the switch, in response to inactivity from the MAC address over a period of time; and

wherein the notification module is further operable to generate a third notification associated with the age-out indication.

6. The switch of claim 1 , wherein the ownership module is further operable to terminate an ownership association for a MAC address learned at a remote switch in response to detecting a failure to the remote switch.

7. A switch, comprising:

an ownership management module operable to:

maintain a local ownership association between the switch and a medium access control (MAC) address learned at the switch; and

terminate the local ownership association for the MAC address;

a notification mechanism module operable to:

generate a first notification indicating the local ownership association; and

generate a second notification indicating the termination of the local ownership association; and

an age-out control module operable to:

create an age-out indication for the switch and a MAC address learned at the switch, in response to inactivity from the MAC address over a period of time; and

suppress local age-out notifications for the MAC address in response to creating the age-out indication.

8. The switch of claim 7 , wherein the second notification includes a first tier message indicating initiation of the termination and a second tier message indicating the termination of specific ownership association with the switch.

9. A method, comprising:

maintaining a local ownership association between a switch and a media access control (MAC) address learned at the switch;

generating a first notification indicating the local ownership association;

terminating the local ownership association for the MAC address;

generating a second notification indicating the termination of the local ownership association; and

terminating an ownership association for a MAC address learned at a remote switch, in response to receiving a notification from the remote switch.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the second notification includes a first tier message indicating initiation of the termination and a second tier message indicating the termination of specific ownership association with the switch.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the switch is a Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) routing bridge (RBridge).

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the ownership association is indicated by a bit in a bitmap, and wherein the bit is associated with the switch.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the switch is part of a link aggregation; and

further comprising:

creating an age-out indication for the switch and a MAC address learned at the switch, in response to inactivity from the MAC address over a period of time; and

generating a third notification associated with the age-out indication.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising terminating an ownership association for a MAC address learned at a remote switch in response to detecting a failure to the remote switch.

15. A method comprising:

maintaining a local ownership association between a switch and a media access control (MAC) address learned at the switch;

generating a first notification indicating the local ownership association;

terminating the local ownership association for the MAC address;

generating a second notification indicating the termination of the local ownership association;

creating an age-out indication for the switch and a MAC address learned at the switch, in response to inactivity from the MAC address over a period of time; and

suppressing local age-out notifications for the MAC address in response to creating the age-out indication.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second notification includes a first tier message indicating initiation of the termination and a second tier message indicating the termination of specific ownership association with the switch.

17. A computing system, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by the processor causes the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

maintaining a local ownership association between the computing system and a media access control (MAC) address learned at the computing system;

generating a first notification indicating the local ownership association;

terminating the local ownership association for the MAC address;

generating a second notification indicating the termination of the local ownership association; and

terminating an ownership association for a MAC address learned at a remote computing system, in response to identifying a corresponding notification from the remote computing system.

18. The computing system of claim 17 , wherein the second notification includes a first tier message indicating initiation of the termination and a second tier message indicating the termination of specific ownership association with the computing system.

19. The computing system of claim 17 , wherein the computing system and the second computing system are Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) routing bridges (RBridges).

20. The computing system of claim 17 , wherein the ownership association is indicated by a bit in a bitmap, and wherein the bit is associated with the computing system.

21. The system of claim 17 , wherein the computing system is part of a in aggregation;

wherein the method further comprises:

creating age-out indication for the computing system and a MAC address learned at the computing system, in response to inactivity from the MAC address over a period of time; and generating a third notification associated with the age-out indication.

22. The computing system of claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises terminating an ownership association for a MAC address learned at a remote computing device in response to detecting a failure to the remote computing device.

23. A computing system, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by the processor causes the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

maintaining a local ownership association between the computing system and a media access control (MAC) address learned at the computing system;

generating a first notification indicating the local ownership association;

terminating the local ownership association for the MAC address;

generating a second notification indicating the termination of the local ownership association;

creating an age-out indication for the computing system and a MAC address learned at the computing system, in response to inactivity from the MAC address over a period of time; and

suppressing local age-out notifications for the MAC address in response to creating the age-out indication.

24. The computing system of claim 23 , wherein the second notification includes a first tier message indicating initiation of the termination and a second tier message indicating the termination of specific ownership association with the computing system.