FORWARDING MULTICAST DATA PACKETS

1 . A method for forwarding multicast data packets, the method comprising,

receiving a first multicast data packet having a first multicast address, wherein the first multicast address belongs to a first multicast group having a multicast source inside of a data center; and

sending the first multicast data packet through a designated router (DR) router port and a gateway router port, wherein the DR router port and the gateway router port correspond to a virtual local area network identifier (VLAN ID) identified in the first multicast data packet.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending the first multicast packet through a membership port matching with the first multicast address and the VLAN ID identified in the first multicast data packet.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) report packet;

encapsulating the IGMP report packet into a transparent interconnection of lots of links (TRILL)-encapsulated IGMP report packet, wherein an ingress nickname and an egress nickname of the TRILL-encapsulated IGMP report packet are a local device identifier and a device identifier corresponding to a DR of a VLAN identified by the VLAN ID in the first IGMP packet;

storing a receiving port of the IGMP report packet as a membership port matching with the multicast address and the VLAN ID in the first IGMP report packet; and

sending the TRILL-encapsulated IGMP report packet through a DR router port corresponding to the VLAN ID in the IGMP report packet.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a second multicast data packet having a second multicast address, wherein the second multicast address belongs to a second multicast group having a multicast source outside of a data center; and

sending the second multicast data packet through a membership port matching with the second multicast address and a VLAN ID in the second multicast data packet.

5 . A network apparatus for forwarding multicast packets, the network apparatus comprising:

a data receiving module and a multicast data module, wherein,

the data receiving module is to receive a first multicast data packet having a first multicast address, wherein the first multicast address belongs to a first multicast group having a multicast source inside of a data center; and

the multicast data module is to send the first multicast packet through a designated router (DR) router port and a gateway router port, wherein the DR router port and the gateway router port correspond to a virtual local area network identifier (VLAN ID) in the first multicast data packet.

6 . The network apparatus of claim 5 , wherein,

the multicast data module is further to send the first multicast packet through a membership port matching with the first multicast address and the VLAN ID in the first multicast data packet.

7 . The network apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising:

a protocol receiving module and a multicast protocol module, wherein, the protocol receiving module is to receive an Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) report packet;

the multicast protocol module is to encapsulate the IGMP report packet into a transparent interconnection of lots of links (TRILL)-encapsulated IGMP report packet, store a receiving port of the IGMP report packet as a membership port matching with the multicast address and the VLAN ID in the first IGMP report packet; and send the TRILL-encapsulated IGMP report packet through a DR router port corresponding to the VLAN ID in the IGMP report packet; and

wherein an ingress nickname and an egress nickname of the TRILL-encapsulated IGMP report packet are a local device identifier and a device identifier corresponding to a DR of a VLAN identified by the VLAN ID in the first IGMP packet.

8 . The network apparatus of claim 5 , wherein,

the data receiving module is further to receive a second multicast data packet having a second multicast address, wherein the second multicast address belongs to a second multicast group having a multicast source outside a data center; and

the multicast data module is further to send the second multicast packet through a membership port matching with the second multicast address and a VLAN ID in the second multicast data packet.

9 . A method for forwarding multicast data packets, the method comprising,

receiving a first transparent interconnection of lots of links (TRILL)-encapsulated Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) report packet in which a first IGMP report packet has a first multicast address, wherein the first multicast address belongs to a first multicast group having a multicast source outside a data center;

storing first membership information matching with the first multicast address, wherein the first membership information includes a receiving port of the first TRILL-encapsulated IGMP report packet and a virtual local area network identifier (VLAN ID) in the first IGMP report packet;

receiving a first multicast data packet having the first multicast address; and

implementing layer-3 routing based on the first membership information.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving a protocol independent multicast (PIM) join packet having a second multicast address, wherein the second multicast address belongs to a second multicast group having a multicast source inside a data center;

storing second membership information matching with the second multicast address, wherein the second membership information includes a receiving port and a VLAN ID of the PIM join packet;

receiving a second multicast data packet having the second multicast address; and

implementing layer-3 routing based on the second membership information.

11 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving a second TRILL-encapsulated IGMP report packet in which a second IGMP report packet has a second multicast address;

storing third membership information matching with the second multicast address, wherein the third membership information includes a receiving port of the second TRILL-encapsulated IGMP report packet and a VLAN ID in the second IGMP report packet;

receiving the second multicast data packet; and

implementing layer-3 routing based on the third membership information.

12 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

encapsulating the second multicast data packet into a PIM register packet based on a rendezvous point (RP) router of the second multicast group; and

sending the PIM register packet to the RP router of the second multicast group.

13 . A network apparatus for forwarding multicast packets, the network apparatus comprising:

a first protocol receiving module, a first protocol module, a data receiving module and a multicast data module, wherein,

the first protocol receiving module is to receive a first transparent interconnection of lots of links (TRILL)-encapsulated Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) report packet in which a first IGMP report packet has a first multicast address, wherein the first multicast address belongs to a first multicast group having a multicast source outside of a data center;

the first protocol module is to store first membership information matching with the first multicast address, wherein the first membership information includes a receiving port of the first TRILL-encapsulated IGMP report packet and a virtual local area network identifier (VLAN ID) in the first IGMP report packet;

the data receiving module is to receive a first multicast data packet having the first multicast address; and

the multicast data module is to implement layer-3 routing based on the first membership information.

14 . The network apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising:

a second protocol receiving module and a second multicast protocol module, wherein,

the second protocol receiving module is to receive a protocol independent multicast (PIM) join packet having a second multicast address, wherein the second multicast address belongs to a second multicast group having a multicast source inside the data center;

the second multicast protocol is to store second membership information matching with the second multicast address, wherein the second membership information includes a receiving port and a VLAN ID of the PIM join packet;

the data receiving module is to receiving a second multicast data packet having the second multicast address; and

the multicast data module is to implement layer-3 routing based on the second membership information.

15 . The network apparatus of claim 13 , wherein,

the first protocol receiving module is to receive a second TRILL-encapsulated IGMP report packet in which a second IGMP report packet has a second multicast address;

the first protocol module is to store third membership information matching with the second multicast address, wherein the third membership information includes a receiving port of the second TRILL-encapsulated IGMP report packet and a VLAN ID in the second IGMP report packet;

the data receiving module is to receive the second multicast data packet; and

the multicast data module is to implement layer-3 routing based on the third membership information.

16 . The network apparatus of claim 13 , wherein,

the second multicast protocol module is to encapsulate the second multicast data packet into a PIM register packet, and send the PIM register packet.