Patent ID: 7072979

Claim:
A method of facilitating redirection of traffic between a server and a client to between the client and a nearest replica selected from a plurality of replicas, the method comprising: receiving a packet that is traveling between a client and a server or between the client and a replica; when the received packet is a start packet that is traveling from the client to the server, altering the start packet to indicate that the start packet should be forwarded to any replica that duplicates the data content of the server; when the received packet is an acknowledgement packet that is received first in response to the forwarded start packet, altering the acknowledgement so that it spoofs the server when the acknowledgement originates from the replica and forwarding the altered acknowledgement to the client; and when the received packet is an acknowledgement that is not received first in response to the forwarded start packet, inhibiting sending of the acknowledgement to the client.