Patent ID: 7613827

Claim:
A method of operating a server computer of a plurality of server computers that comprise a front layer of server computers for controlling data traffic of a computer network, said plurality of server computers being members of a first subnet of network addresses over which network data traffic is sent and received, the method comprising: receiving network data traffic through a network interface that permits communication between the server computer and other server computers of said plurality of server computers; receiving a data request from a responding server computer of the first subnet, which data request was initially received at the responding server computer; identifying a server computer in the first subnet that will handle the data traffic associated with the data request and forwarding the data request to the identified server computer for handling; receiving a reply message from a server computer of the first subnet that is operating as a default reply node to a network computer of a second subnet that is responding to the data request; and forwarding the reply message to a server computer of the first subnet that will ensure symmetric routing of the data request and reply message with respect to the plurality of server computers of the first subnet.