Patent ID: 8804531

Claim:
A method for providing load balancing for a port channel including a plurality of network ports, comprising: assigning a quantized value to each of the network ports in the port channel, each quantized value being based on a current load on each of the network ports in the port channel; assigning a respective number of n-bit hash values of a plurality of possible n-bit hash values to each of the network ports in the port channel, wherein the respective number of n-bit hash values assigned to each of the network ports in the port channel is weighted according to the quantized value of each of the network ports in the port channel; receiving a data packet addressed to egress through the port channel; identifying a traffic flow with which the received data packet is associated; determining whether the identified traffic flow is a new traffic flow; upon determining that the identified traffic flow is a new traffic flow, selecting one of the network ports in the port channel as an egress port, wherein a probability of selecting each of the network ports in the port channel as the egress port is based on the respective number of n-bit hash values assigned to each of the network ports in the port channel.