Patent ID: 7913529

Claim:
A network device comprising: a switch fabric; a first service module coupled to the switch fabric; a second service module coupled to the first service module over the switch fabric; and a third service module coupled to the first service module and the second service module over the switch fabric, wherein in response to packets of a network transaction received from a client device over a first network to access a server of a data center having a plurality of servers over a second network, the first service module is configured to terminate a transport control protocol (TCP) connection of the packets, wherein the TCP terminated packets are transmitted to the second and third service modules over the switch fabric, wherein the second service module is configured to perform first application network services on the TCP terminated packets without having to perform a TCP process on the packets, and wherein the third service module is configured to perform second application network services different from the first application network services on the TCP terminated packets without having to perform a TCP process on the packets.