Computer implemented methods include querying a traffic forwarding table at a device in a computer network, the traffic forwarding table having entries which are accessible using a key. The methods further include identifying a forwarding address for use in querying the traffic forwarding table, where the forwarding address constitutes only part of a key and where a remaining part of the key is an embedded index in the traffic forwarding table. The methods additionally include combining the forwarding address with a plurality of embedded indices of the traffic forwarding table to generate a set of keys for querying the traffic forwarding table; and generating a query message for the forwarding table using at least one of the set of keys.