Patent ID: 7107348

Claim:
A packet relay processing apparatus having a network connecting device, wherein the network connecting device comprises a session managing unit managing a session, a packet processing unit relaying a packet based on session management made by said session managing unit; a process distributing unit, a plurality of service processing units; said process distributing unit distributes a packet to at least one of said plurality of service processing units based on contents of a service for the packet; and a service processing unit to which the packet is distributed performs a service process for the packet; a session table storing session information about a session, and a policy table storing a policy which describes a rule for executing a service for a packet; said session managing unit searches said session table by using information included in the packet as a search key, upon receipt of the packet; if corresponding session information is not registered to said session table as a result of the search, said session managing unit obtains a corresponding policy from said policy table by using the information included in the packet as a search key, and writes session information to said session table based on the obtained policy; and if corresponding information is registered to said session table as a result of the search, said session managing unit manages the session information stored in said session table based on a state of the session.