A network switching device comprises hardware address table storage space, a priority comparison mechanism, and an address table management mechanism. The hardware address table storage space having a number of entries therein. Each one of the entries within the hardware address table storage space includes respective information designating a priority of a respective source network address. The priority comparison mechanism is configured for comparing the priority designating information of the received packet with the priority designating information of at least a portion of the entries within the hardware address table storage space in response to determining that a number of entries within the hardware address table storage space is equal to a capacity of the hardware address table storage space. The address table management mechanism is configured for replacing an entry within the hardware address table storage space with an entry having contents corresponding to the received packet in response to determining that a priority level corresponding to the priority designating information of the received packet is higher than a priority level corresponding to the priority designating information of the replaced entry.