Network clustering

1. A method performed by a computing system for message routing in a data communications network, the communications network having a plurality of clusters each having one representative network node and at least one other network node, wherein the representative network node of the cluster is interconnected using links with all other network nodes of its cluster, comprising:

receiving a message with a location identification for the message, the location identification comprising at least a first component that identifies a destination network node for the message and a second component that identifies a representative network node that represents a cluster, and wherein the destination network node is a member of the cluster represented by the representative network node;

selecting the representative network node identified by the second component of the location identification; and

identifying a best link to the selected representative network node, wherein the best link is identified from routing information in a routing table, wherein the routing table comprises components identifying a subset of a set of network nodes associated with the data communications network; and

communicating the message to the representative network node via the identified best link.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the routing table comprises information identifying a plurality of other representative network nodes, wherein each one of the other representative network nodes is associated with a cluster, and wherein each cluster includes a plurality of other network nodes that are members of only that respective cluster.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the routing table comprises information identifying the destination network node and a link between the destination network node and the selected representative network node.

4. A system for creating a clustering data communications network, the clustering data communications network having a plurality of clusters each with a plurality of network nodes, wherein each one of the plurality of clusters has one representative network node, wherein the representative network node is interconnected using links with all other network nodes of its respective cluster, and wherein the system is configured to add a network node into the clustering data communications network, the system comprising:

a clustering subsystem that, for the added network node, is configured to identify a cluster with which the added network node is to be associated, that is configured to assign a location identification that identifies at least a representative network node for the cluster associated with the added network node, wherein the representative network node represents the cluster, and wherein the representative network node is configured to link to other representative network nodes of adjacent clusters;

an advertising subsystem that, when the added network node initially being added to the clustering data communications network, is configured to send an advertising message from the added network node to indicate that the added network node exists in the clustering data communications network, and wherein the advertising message is received by one of the representative network nodes of the clustering data communications network, wherein the added network node is then associated with the cluster that the receiving representative network node represents; and

a routing layer that is configured to maintain a routing table at the added network node, wherein the routing table includes information that associates the added network node and the representative network node, and identifies a link between the added network node and the representative network node.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the routing table at the added network node, includes information that identifies other network nodes of its respective cluster.

6. The system of claim 4 , wherein the advertising subsystem is further configured to receive other advertising messages from the other network nodes of its respective cluster, and wherein the routing layer is further configured to add to the routing table identification information of the other network nodes of its respective cluster.

7. The system of claim 4 , wherein the representative network node is configured to identify other representative network nodes of adjacent clusters based upon received advertising messages sent by the other representative network nodes of the adjacent clusters, is configured to link to the other representative network nodes of the adjacent clusters, and wherein the advertising subsystem of the representative network node is configured to communicate advertising messages to the other representative network nodes of the adjacent clusters which identify the added network node as a member of the cluster represented by the advertising representative network node.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the routing layers of the other representative network nodes of the adjacent clusters which receive the advertising message from the advertising representative network node are configured to update their respective routing tables to associate the added network node with the advertising representative network node.

9. The system of claim 4 , where in response to the added network node being removed from the clustering data communications network, the advertising subsystem of the representative network node is further configured to communicate advertising messages to the other representative network nodes of the adjacent clusters, and wherein the routing layers of the other representative network nodes of the adjacent clusters which receive the advertising message from the advertising representative network node are configured to update their respective routing tables to remove information pertaining to the removed network node.

10. The system of claim 4 , where in response to the added network node being removed from the clustering data communications network, the advertising subsystem of the representative network node is further configured to communicate advertising messages to the network nodes of its respective cluster which identifies the removed network node, and wherein the routing layers of the network nodes which receive the advertising message from the advertising representative network node are configured to update their respective routing tables to remove information pertaining to the removed network node.