1. A method executing on hardware for reducing the time to determine data packet routes on a computer network, the method comprising: performing a single lookup in a memory tree to find a particular first protocol forwarding entry in the memory tree to determine a first protocol route for a packet of data to be routed on the computer network, wherein the first protocol forwarding entry includes first protocol information for a first protocol and a cache of associated second protocol information for a second protocol different from the first protocol; determining whether the cached second protocol information associated with one or more first protocol entries in the memory tree has been invalidated due to an update to at least one second protocol entry in the memory tree; and retrieving and using the cached second protocol information in the determination of the first protocol route for the packet of data on the computer network.