Distributed network traffic load balancing technique implemented without gateway router

• US 7,401,159 B1
• Filed: 05/20/2004
• Issued: 07/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Swanson, David Eric, Gnagy, Matthew Richard, Mueller, Kenneth E. II, Baker, Frederick, Aviani, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Barot; Bharat
• Application Number:
  US10/851,456
• Time in Patent Office: 1,517 Days
• Field of Search: 709200-201, 709217-219, 709225-229, 709/235, 709/238, 370229-235
• US Class Current: 709/238
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/101 based on network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1019 Random or heuristic server selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1029 using data related to the state of servers by a load balancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/163 In-band adaptation of TCP data exchange; In-band control procedures

Abstract

The technique of the present invention provides a solution to the problem of routing or redirecting a given client to a replica or proxy server which has a relatively shortest propagation delay to the client. According to the technique of the present invention, a network device referred to as an intercept server sits in front of a host server, and intercepts packets routed to the host server. When desired, packets which are intercepted by the intercept server are replicated, encapsulated and tunneled to selected client servers in the overlay network. The tunneled packets are received and processed by each of the selected client servers, whereupon each of the selected client servers generates a respective spoofed response to the source device identified in the header of the originally intercepted packet. Further, according to the technique of the present invention, each of the selected client servers transmits its respective spoofed response to the identified source device at substantially the same time. The client server associated with the spoofed response which is first received at the identified source device is considered to have the relatively shortest propagation delay to the identified source device, and is identified as the successful client server. Thereafter, the source device will be directed or redirected to communicate directly with the successful client server when subsequently attempting to access information from the host server.

Claims

1. A method for routing traffic in a data network, the data network including a sub-network of client servers which include information corresponding to information stored on at least one host server, the method comprising:

receiving, at a first device, a first packet, the first packet having an associated source device and an associated destination device;

selecting a first portion of the client servers for forwarding information relating to the first packet, wherein the first portion includes two or more client servers;

forwarding information relating to the first packet from the first device to the first portion of the client servers;

determining a specific trigger time reference value for causing each of the first portion of client servers to transmit a respective spoofed response to the first packet at a time corresponding to the trigger time reference value; and

transmitting said trigger time reference value to each of the first portion of client servers along with the forwarded first packet information to thereby cause each of the first portion of client servers to transmit a respective response to the source device at substantially the same time.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of client servers are selected using information relating to the source device associated with the first packet.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

assigning a unique starting sequence number to each of the first portion of client servers, wherein each starting sequence number corresponds to a SYN, ACK segment of a TCP protocol, wherein the assigning is performed by the intermediary device.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising causing each of the first portion of client servers to include its assigned starting sequence number in its response transmitted to the source device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the source device corresponds to a client system.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said forwarding further includes:

encapsulating the received first packet in accordance with an encapsulation tunneling protocol; and

transmitting the encapsulated packet to each of the first portion of client servers using the encapsulation tunneling protocol.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

receiving, at a first client server, the encapsulated packet;

generating, at said first client server using information from said received encapsulated packet, a first spoofed response to said first packet; and

transmitting said first spoofed response to the source device.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the first packet utilizes a TCP protocol, and wherein the first spoofed response comprises a TCP acknowledgement segment having an associated sequence number, the sequence number including information relating to an identity of the first client server.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a respective propagation delay value associated with communicating with each client server of at least the first portion of client servers;

and

using the propagation delay information to forward the information relating to the first packet to the first portion such that the forwarded first packet information is received at each of the first portion of client servers at substantially the same time.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, at the source device, a plurality of responses to the first packet from at least some of the first portion of client servers;

processing an earliest received response of the plurality of received responses in accordance with a first technique, wherein said first technique includes using information from the earliest received response at the source device to conduct subsequent communication transactions; and

processing at least one duplicate responses to the first packet in accordance with a second technique, wherein said second technique includes not using information from the at least one duplicate received response at the source device to conduct subsequent communication transactions.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said plurality of responses are received using a TCP protocol.

12. The method of claim 1:

wherein said selecting includes identifying at least one preferred client server associated with the identified source device; and

wherein said first plurality of client servers includes said at least one preferred client server and at least one randomly selected client server from the sub-network.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

identifying a successful client server of said first portion of client servers associated with generating a response to the first packet which was first received at the source device; and

if the identified client server is not classified as a preferred client server for communicating with the identified source device, classifying the identified client server as one of the at least one preferred client servers for communicating with the identified source device.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising selecting a least preferred one of the at least one preferred client servers for preferred status degradation in response to the identified client server being classified as a preferred client server.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the first packet utilizes a TCP protocol, the method further comprising:

receiving a TCP acknowledgement (ACK) segment from the source device, said ACK segment having an associated sequence number which includes information relating to an identity of a successful client server of the first plurality of client servers which generated a response to the forwarded first packet information that was first received at the source device;

identifying the successful client server using information from the received ACK segment;

encapsulating the received ACK segment in accordance with an encapsulation tunneling protocol; and

transmitting, using the encapsulation tunneling protocol, the encapsulated packet to the successful client server.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising issuing a TCP reset packet to each of the other client servers of the first portion of client servers which are not identified as the successful client server.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying a successful client server of said first portion of client servers associated with generating a response to the first packet which was first received at the source device;

receiving a second packet from said source device, said second packet relating to a request to access data from said destination device;

encapsulating the second packet;

tunneling the encapsulated second packet to the successful client server;

generating, at the successful client server, a spoofed response to the source device, wherein the spoofed response includes a redirect response.

18. A method for routing traffic in a data network, the data network including a sub-network of client servers which include information corresponding to information stored on at least one host server, the method comprising:

receiving, at a first client server, a tunneled packet and timing information from an intercept server, said tunneled packet including encapsulated information relating to a first request received at the intercept server, said first packet having an associated source address and an associated destination address, said source address corresponding to a source device;

generating, at said first client server, a first spoofed response to said first request; and

transmitting said first spoofed response to the source device so that the first spoofed response is transmitted at a time specified by the timing information received from the intercept server.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the first spoofed response includes information for identifying the first client server.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the first spoofed response is generated using information from said received tunneled packet.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the first request corresponds to a SYN segment of a communication utilizing a TCP protocol, and wherein the first spoofed response comprises a SYN, ACK segment which includes a first sequence number, the first sequence number including information relating to an identity of the first client server.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the tunneled packet includes information relating to the first sequence number included in the SYN, ACK segment, said method further comprising utilizing the first sequence number information in generating the first spoofed response.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the sequence number corresponds to an IP address of the first client server.

24. The method of claim 18 wherein the tunneled packet includes transmission timing information relating to a specific trigger time at which the first client server is to transmit the first spoofed response to the source device, said method further comprising transmitting the first spoofed response to the source device at the specific trigger time.

25. The method of claim 18 wherein the tunneled packet includes transmission timing information relating to a specific transmission delay time value in which the first client server is to delay transmission of the first spoofed response to the source device, said method further comprising delaying transmission of the first spoofed response to the source device until a time period corresponding to the transmission delay time value has elapsed.

26. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

receiving, at a second client server, a second tunneled packet and timing information from an intercept server, said tunneled packet including encapsulated information relating to a first request received at the intercept server;

generating, at said second client server, a second spoofed response to said first request, wherein the second spoofed response includes information for identifying the second client server; and

transmitting said second spoofed response to the source device at substantially a same time that said first spoofed response is transmitted to the source device.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the first request corresponds to a SYN segment of a communication utilizing a TCP protocol, and wherein the second spoofed response comprises a SYN, ACK segment which includes a second sequence number, the second sequence number including information relating to an identity of the second client server.

28. The method of claim 18 wherein the second tunneled packet includes information relating to a specific trigger time for transmitting a response to the source device;

and

wherein said transmitting includes transmitting the first and second spoofed responses from each respective client server to the source device at a time value corresponding to the specific trigger time.

29. The method of claim 28 further comprising synchronizing said intercept server, said first client servers and said second client server.

30. A computer program product for routing traffic in a data network, the data network including a sub-network of client servers which include information corresponding to information stored on at least one host server, the computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising;

computer code for receiving, at a first device, a first packet, the first packet having an associated source device and an associated destination device;

computer code for selecting a first portion of the client servers for forwarding information relating to the first packet, wherein the first portion includes two or more client servers;

computer code for forwarding information relating to the first packet from the first device to the first portion of the client servers;

computer code for determining a specific trigger time reference value for causing each of the first portion of client servers to transmit a respective spoofed response to the first packet at a time corresponding to the trigger time reference value; and

computer code for transmitting said trigger time reference value to each of the first portion of client servers along with the forwarded first packet information to thereby cause each of the first portion of client servers to transmit a respective response to the source device at substantially the same time.

31. The computer program product of claim 30 further comprising computer code for determining a respective propagation delay value associated with communicating with each client server of at least the first portion of client servers;

and

computer code for using the propagation delay information to forward the information relating to the first packet to the first portion such that the forwarded first packet information is received at each of the first portion of client servers at substantially the same time.

32. A computer program product for routing traffic in a data network, the data network including a sub-network of client servers which include information corresponding to information stored on at least one host server, the computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising;

computer code for receiving, at a first client server, a tunneled packet and timing information from an intercept server, said tunneled packet including encapsulated information relating to a first request received at the intercept server;

said first packet having an associated source address and an associated destination address, said source address corresponding to a source device;

computer code for generating, at said first client server, a first spoofed response to said first request; and

computer code for transmitting said first spoofed response to the source device so that the first spoofed response is transmitted at a time specified by the timing information received from the intercept server.

33. The computer program product of claim 32 wherein the tunneled packet includes transmission timing information relating to a specific trigger time at which the first client server is to transmit the first spoofed response to the source device, said computer program product further comprising computer code for transmitting the first spoofed response to the source device at the specific trigger time.

34. The computer program product of claim 32 wherein the tunneled packet includes transmission timing information relating to a specific transmission delay time value in which the first client server is to delay transmission of the first spoofed response to the source device, said computer program product further comprising computer code for delaying transmission of the first spoofed response to the source device until a time period corresponding to the transmission delay time value has elapsed.

35. A system for facilitating a client device to access a specific server in a data network, the system comprising:

a sub-network of client servers which include information corresponding to information stored on at least one host server; and

at least one intercept server configured or designed to intercept at least one packet routed to the at least one host server, said intercept server being further configured or designed to identify a source device associated with the intercepted packet;

said intercept server being further configured or designed to forward information relating to the first packet to a selected portion of the client servers, wherein the first portion includes two or more client servers;

wherein said intercept server is further configured or designed to determine a trigger time value for cause each of the selected portion of client servers to transmit a respective response to the first packet at the specified trigger time; and

wherein said intercept server is further configured or designed to transmit said trigger time value to each of the selected portion of client servers along with the forwarded first packet information to thereby cause each of the selected portion of client servers to transmit a respective response to the source device at substantially the same time.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein said intercept server is further configured or designed to encapsulate the received first packet in accordance with an encapsulation tunneling protocol, and is further configured or designed to transmit the encapsulated packet to each of the selected portion of client servers using the encapsulation tunneling protocol.

37. The system of claim 35 wherein said intercept server is further configured or designed to determine a respective propagation delay value associated with communicating with each client server of at least the selected portion of client servers, and is further configured or designed to transmit said first packet information to each of the selected portion of client servers at specific times such that the forwarded first packet information is received at each of the selected portion of client servers at substantially the same time.

38. A method for routing traffic in a data network, the data network including a sub-network of client servers which include information corresponding to information stored on at least one host server, the method comprising:

receiving, at a first device, a first packet from a source device destined to a host server;

selecting a first portion of the client servers for forwarding information relating to the first packet, wherein the first portion includes two or more client servers;

forwarding information relating to the first packet from the first device to the first portion of the client servers;

determining a respective propagation delay value associated with communicating with each client server of at least the first portion of client servers;

using the propagation delay information to generate a respective transmission delay time value for each of the first portion of client servers; and

transmitting said transmission delay time values to each respective client server of the first portion of client servers along with the forwarded first request information to thereby cause each of the first portion of client servers to delay transmission of its respective spoofed response to the source device until a time period corresponding to the transmission delay time value has elapsed.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein the respective spoofed response from each of the first portion of client servers is transmitted to the source device at substantially the same time.

40. The method of claim 38 further comprising determining a respective propagation delay value associated with communicating with each client server of at least the first portion of client servers;

and

using the propagation delay information to forward the information relating to the first packet to the first portion such that the forwarded first packet information is received at each of the first portion of client servers at substantially the same time.

41. A system for routing traffic in a data network, the data network including a sub-network of client servers which include information corresponding to information stored on at least one host server, the system comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one interface configured or designed to provide a communication link to at least one other network device in the data network; and

memory;

the system being configured or designed to receive, at a first device, a first packet from a source device destined to a host server;

the system being configured or designed to select a first portion of the client servers for forwarding information relating to the first packet, wherein the first portion includes two or more client servers;

the system being configured or designed to forward information relating to the first packet from the first device to the first portion of the client servers;

the system being configured or designed to determine a respective propagation delay value associated with communicating with each client server of at least the first portion of client servers;

the system being configured or designed to use the propagation delay information to generate a respective transmission delay time value for each of the first portion of client servers; and

the system being configured or designed to transmit said transmission delay time values to each respective client server of the first portion of client servers along with the forwarded first request information to thereby cause each of the first portion of client servers to delay transmission of its respective spoofed response to the source device until a time period corresponding to the transmission delay time value has elapsed.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein the respective spoofed response from each of the first portion of client servers is transmitted to the source device at substantially the same time.

43. The system of claim 41 wherein the first portion of client servers are selected using information relating to the source device associated with the first packet.

44. The system of claim 41 being further configured or designed to assign a unique starting sequence number to each of the first portion of client servers, wherein each starting sequence number corresponds to a SYN, ACK segment of a TCP protocol, wherein the assigning is performed by the intermediary device.

45. The system of claim 44 being further configured or designed to cause each of the first portion of client servers to include its assigned starting sequence number in its response transmitted to the source device.

46. The system of claim 41 being further configured or designed to:

encapsulate the received first packet in accordance with an encapsulation tunneling protocol; and

transmit the encapsulated packet to each of the first portion of client servers using the encapsulation tunneling protocol.

47. The system of claim 41 being further configured or designed to:

determine a respective propagation delay value associated with communicating with each client server of at least the first portion of client servers; and

use the propagation delay information to forward the information relating to the first packet to the first portion such that the forwarded first packet information is received at each of the first portion of client servers at substantially the same time.

48. The system of claim 41 being further configured or designed to:

identify at least one preferred client server associated with the source device; and

wherein said first plurality of client servers includes said at least one preferred client server and at least one randomly selected client server from the sub-network.

49. The system of claim 48 being further configured or designed to:

identify a successful client server of said first portion of client servers associated with generating a response to the first packet which was first received at the source device; and

if the identified client server is not classified as a preferred client server for communicating with the identified source device, classifying the identified client server as one of the at least one preferred client servers for communicating with the identified source device.

50. The system of claim 49 being further configured or designed to select a least preferred one of the at least one preferred client servers for preferred status degradation in response to the identified client server being classified as a preferred client server.

51. The system of claim 41 wherein the first packet utilizes a TCP protocol, the system being further configured or designed to:

receive a TCP acknowledgement (ACK) segment from the source device, said ACK segment having an associated sequence number which includes information relating to an identity of a successful client server of the first plurality of client servers which generated a response to the forwarded first packet information that was first received at the source device;

identify the successful client server using information from the received ACK segment;

encapsulating the received ACK segment in accordance with an encapsulation tunneling protocol; and

transmit, using the encapsulation tunneling protocol, the encapsulated packet to the successful client server.

52. The system of claim 51 being further configured or designed to issue a TCP reset packet to each of the other client servers of the first portion of client servers which are not identified as the successful client server.

53. The system of claim 41 being further configured or designed to:

identify a successful client server of said first portion of client servers associated with generating a response to the first packet which was first received at the source device;

receive a second packet from said source device, said second packet relating to a request to access data from said destination device;

encapsulating the second packet;

tunnel the encapsulated second packet to the successful client server; and

generate, at the successful client server, a spoofed response to the source device, wherein the spoofed response includes a redirect response.

54. A system for routing traffic in a data network, the data network including a sub-network of client servers which include information corresponding to information stored on at least one host server, the system comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one interface configured or designed to provide a communication link to at least one other network device in the data network; and

memory;

the system being configured or designed to receive, at a first device, a first packet, the first packet having an associated source device and an associated destination device;

the system being configured or designed to select a first portion of the client servers for forwarding information relating to the first packet, wherein the first portion includes two or more client servers;

the system being configured or designed to forward information relating to the first packet from the first device to the first portion of the client servers;

the system being configured or designed to determine a specific trigger time reference value for causing each of the first portion of client servers to transmit a respective spoofed response to the first packet at a time corresponding to the trigger time reference value; and

the system being configured or designed to transmit said trigger time reference value to each of the first portion of client servers along with the forwarded first packet information to thereby cause each of the first portion of client servers to transmit a respective response to the source device at substantially the same time.

55. The system of claim 54 wherein the first portion of client servers are selected using information relating to the source device associated with the first packet.

56. The system of claim 54 being further configured or designed to assign a unique starting sequence number to each of the first portion of client servers, wherein each starting sequence number corresponds to a SYN, ACK segment of a TCP protocol, wherein the assigning is performed by the intermediary device.

57. The system of claim 56 being further configured or designed to cause each of the first portion of client servers to include its assigned starting sequence number in its response transmitted to the source device.

58. The system of claim 54 being further configured or designed to:

encapsulate the received first packet in accordance with an encapsulation tunneling protocol; and

transmit the encapsulated packet to each of the first portion of client servers using the encapsulation tunneling protocol.

59. The system of claim 54 being further configured or designed to:

determine a respective propagation delay value associated with communicating with each client server of at least the first portion of client servers; and

use the propagation delay information to forward the information relating to the first packet to the first portion such that the forwarded first packet information is received at each of the first portion of client servers at substantially the same time.

60. The system of claim 54 being further configured or designed to:

identify at least one preferred client server associated with the source device; and

wherein said first plurality of client servers includes said at least one preferred client server and at least one randomly selected client server from the sub-network.

61. The system of claim 60 being further configured or designed to:

identify a successful client server of said first portion of client servers associated with generating a response to the first packet which was first received at the source device; and

if the identified client server is not classified as a preferred client server for communicating with the identified source device, classifying the identified client server as one of the at least one preferred client servers for communicating with the identified source device.

62. The system of claim 61 being further configured or designed to select a least preferred one of the at least one preferred client servers for preferred status degradation in response to the identified client server being classified as a preferred client server.

63. The system of claim 54 wherein the first packet utilizes a TCP protocol, the system being further configured or designed to:

receive a TCP acknowledgement (ACK) segment from the source device, said ACK segment having an associated sequence number which includes information relating to an identity of a successful client server of the first plurality of client servers which generated a response to the forwarded first packet information that was first received at the source device;

identify the successful client server using information from the received ACK segment;

encapsulating the received ACK segment in accordance with an encapsulation tunneling protocol; and

transmit, using the encapsulation tunneling protocol, the encapsulated packet to the successful client server.

64. The system of claim 63 being further configured or designed to issue a TCP reset packet to each of the other client servers of the first portion of client servers which are not identified as the successful client server.

65. The system of claim 54 being further configured or designed to:

identify a successful client server of said first portion of client servers associated with generating a response to the first packet which was first received at the source device;

receive a second packet from said source device, said second packet relating to a request to access data from said destination device;

encapsulating the second packet;

tunnel the encapsulated second packet to the successful client server; and

generate, at the successful client server, a spoofed response to the source device, wherein the spoofed response includes a redirect response.

66. A system for routing traffic in a data network, the data network including a sub-network of client servers which include information corresponding to information stored on at least one host server, the system comprising:

means for receiving, at a first device, a first packet, the first packet having an associated source device and an associated destination device;

means for selecting a first portion of the client servers for forwarding information relating to the first packet, wherein the first portion includes two or more client servers;

means for forwarding information relating to the first packet from the first device to the first portion of the client servers;

means for determining a specific trigger time reference value for causing each of the first portion of client servers to transmit a respective spoofed response to the first packet at a time corresponding to the trigger time reference value; and

means for transmitting said trigger time reference value to each of the first portion of client servers along with the forwarded first packet information to thereby cause each of the first portion of client servers to transmit a respective response to the source device at substantially the same time.

67. The system of claim 66 further comprising means for assigning a unique starting sequence number to each of the first portion of client servers, wherein each starting sequence number corresponds to a SYN, DCK segment of a TCP protocol, and wherein the assigning is performed by the intermediary device.

68. The system of claim 67 further comprising means for causing each of the first portion of client servers to include its assigned starting sequence number in its response transmitted to the source device.

69. The system of claim 66 wherein said forwarding further includes:

means for encapsulating the received first packet in accordance with an encapsulation tunneling protocol; and

means for transmitting the encapsulated packet to each of the first portion of client servers using the encapsulation tunneling protocol.

70. The system of claim 69 further comprising:

means for receiving, at a first client server, the encapsulated packet;

means for generating, at said first client server using information from said received encapsulated packet, a first spoofed response to said first packet; and

means for transmitting said first spoofed response to the source device.

71. The system of claim 66 further comprising means for determining a respective propagation delay value associated with communicating with each client server of at least the first portion of client servers;

and

means for using the propagation delay information to forward the information relating to the first packet to the first portion such that the forwarded first packet information is received at each of the first portion of client servers at substantially the same time.

72. The system of claim 66 further comprising:

means for receiving, at the source device, a plurality of responses to the first packet from at least some of the first portion of client servers;

means for processing an earliest received response of the plurality of received responses in accordance with a first technique, wherein said first technique includes using information from the earliest received response at the source device to conduct subsequent communication transactions; and

means for processing at least one duplicate responses to the first packet in accordance with a second technique, wherein said second technique includes not using information from the at least one duplicate received response at the source device to conduct subsequent communication transactions.

73. The system of claim 66:

wherein said selecting means includes means for identifying at least one preferred client server associated with the identified source device; and

wherein said first plurality of client servers includes said at least one preferred client server and at least one randomly selected client server from the sub-network.

74. The system of claim 73 further comprising:

means for identifying a successful client server of said first portion of client servers associated with generating a response to the first packet which was first received at the source device; and

if the identified client server is not classified as a preferred client server for communicating with the identified source device, means for classifying the identified client server as one of the at least one preferred client servers for communicating with the identified source device.

75. The system of claim 74 further comprising means for selecting a least preferred one of the at least one preferred client servers for preferred status degradation in response to the identified client server being classified as a preferred client server.

76. The system of claim 66 wherein the first packet utilizes a TCP protocol, the system further comprising:

means for receiving a TCP acknowledgement (DCK) segment from the source device, said DCK segment having an associated sequence number which includes information relating to an identity of a successful client server of the first plurality of client servers which generated a response to the forwarded first packet information that was first received at the source device;

means for identifying the successful client server using information from the received DCK segment;

means for encapsulating the received DCK segment in accordance with an encapsulation tunneling protocol; and

means for transmitting, using the encapsulation tunneling protocol, the encapsulated packet to the successful client server.

77. The system of claim 66 further comprising:

means for identifying a successful client server of said first portion of client servers associated with generating a response to the first packet which was first received at the source device;

means for receiving a second packet from said source device, said second packet relating to a request to access data from said destination device;

means for encapsulating the second packet;

means for tunneling the encapsulated second packet to the successful client server;

means for generating, at the successful client server, a spoofed response to the source device, wherein the spoofed response includes a redirect response.