Patent ID: 6901445

Claim:
A packet-switched network including addressable routers for routing packet traffic, wherein a packet of data is routed from a source node to a destination node based on address fields of the packet, the packet-switched network comprising: at least one service node coupled to at least first one of the addressable routers and having logic to propagate data packets between a client and a plurality of nodes in an anycast group; and at least one redirector coupled to at least a second one of the addressable routers, the at least one redirector comprising: A) logic for advertising reachability to an anycast destination address associated with the plurality of nodes in the anycast group; B) logic for accepting a service request from the client, wherein the service request is an anycast message to the anycast destination address; and C) logic for generating a redirection message directed to the client for redirecting the service request to the at least one service node.