A bridge has a shared forwarding database and a plurality of ports. The
bridge handles data associated with multiple virtual local area networks
(VLANs). The shared forwarding database includes static entries for one
or more devices which belong to multiple VLANs. Upon receiving data
addressed to one of the one or more devices the bridge determines that
the data should be source routed by retrieving the static entry from the
shared forwarding database. The bridge then selects a bridge port to
which the data should be forwarded on the basis of information in the
data, such as a VLAN ID field.