Distributing network path information in a network environment

摘要

Methods for distributing multicast network path information to various network nodes in a network environment are disclosed. An exemplary method includes a downstream node transmitting a first message including a network path indicating a specific desired route that is to be used when delivering multicast traffic from a given multicast source to a given host, as well as an identifier assigned to the network path in order to uniquely identify that network path in the network. The method also includes the downstream node transmitting a second message for announcing that the multicast source is to be reached via the network path announced in the first message. The second message identifies the network path to be used by including the identifier of the path announced in the first message, but not the network path itself.