Importance

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Abstract

A method of routing data to a load-balanced server through a network having one or more load-balancing nodes is disclosed, comprising receiving a label value; storing the label value in a load balancing mapping at a load-balancing node in a network, wherein the load balancing mapping associates the label with a packet flow and with interface identifying information; and forwarding subsequent packets of the flow to a selected load-balancing server. The forwarding route is defined by the load-balancing mapping and without hop-by-hop routing decisions. The first server response packet is switched hop-by-hop and the label is stored at each node traversed by the response packets, with a flow identifier and interface identifiers. For other request and response packets, nodes fast-switch the packets based on the label mappings; thus, packet flows are rapidly routed from the client to the same server without time-consuming hop-by-hop routing or repeated load-balancing decisions.

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First Claim