Abstract
Ethernet VPN (EVPN) is a standards-based technology that uses the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) control plane to provide scalable Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPN services over IP or Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks, supporting multi-homing for redundancy and load balancing through default aliasing across Provider Edge (PE) devices sharing a common Ethernet Segment Identifier (ESI). While effective for resiliency, current EVPN standards lack the ability to disable aliasing for specific Media Access Control (MAC) addresses, limiting deterministic traffic steering in scenarios such as security or analytics functions that require all traffic for a given MAC to traverse a single PE. This disclosure proposes a per-MAC aliasing control mechanism that repurposes a reserved bit (Bit 7) in the MAC Mobility Extended Community; when set in a MAC/IP Advertisement Route (Route Type 2), it instructs remote PEs to disable aliasing and forward traffic only to the advertising PE(s) that set the bit, thereby enabling fine-grained, selective forwarding while preserving compatibility with existing EVPN signaling and minimizing operational overhead.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Anonymous, "Controlling EVPN Load Balancing and Aliasing per MAC Address", Technical Disclosure Commons, (October 21, 2025)
https://www.tdcommons.org/dpubs_series/8747