Patent ID: 7536693

Claim:
A method for distributing an incoming request to one of a plurality of peer node computer systems of a distributed storage system, the method comprising: receiving a request at a switch, the switch including a load spreading configuration, wherein the load spreading configuration is a weighted array, the load spreading configuration being reconfigurable by one of the plurality of peer node computer systems, the request including a header, the header including a destination port address, a source IP address, and a source port address; determining whether the request is to be distributed to one of the plurality of peer node computer systems in accordance with the load spreading configuration by determining an application type of the request and determining whether the application type identifies the request as a request to be distributed in accordance with the load spreading configuration; upon a determination that the request is to be distributed to one of the plurality of peer node computer systems in accordance with the load spreading configuration, computing a hash value from the request, the hash value being computed, at least in part, by determining a number of least significant bits of the source IP address, determining a number of least significant bits of the source port address, and computing the hash value utilizing the number of least significant bits of the source IP address and the number of least significant bits of the source port address; selecting a peer node computer system in accordance with the load spreading configuration based on the application type and the hash value; and redirecting the request to the peer node computer system.