A method is described and in one embodiment includes receiving at a top-of-rack (“TOR”) switch a notification concerning a virtual machine (“VM”), wherein the received notification identifies a host associated with the VM; determining whether the identified host is directly connected to the TOR switch; and if the identified host is not directly connected to the TOR switch, identifying an intermediate switch to which the identified host is directly connected; and determining whether the identified intermediate switch to which the identified host is directly attached is attached to the TOR switch.