Load-balanced forwarding of network packets generated by a networking device

A method, comprising:

• generating, by a packet processor, a plurality of network packets that originate from the packet processor instead of being received at the packet processor, wherein the plurality of network packets are generated in addition to different network packets received via respective network connections from different sources at the packet processor for processing;
• determining, by the packet processor, respective forwarding decisions for the plurality of network packets according to a load balancing scheme amongst a plurality of possible forwarding routes from the packet processor;
• and
• forwarding, by the packet processor, the plurality of network packets via different ones of the possible forwarding routes according to the respective forwarding decisions.

A system, comprising:

• a device configured to perform packet processing, the device comprising;
• a plurality of network interfaces configured to transmit and receive packets via a network connection to the device;
• and
• a packet processing pipeline that processes different network packets received from different sources via the network interfaces and forwards the different network packets according to forwarding decisions determined for the different network packets by the packet processing pipeline, wherein the packet processing pipeline is configured to:
• generate a plurality of network packets that originate from the device instead of being received at the device via the plurality of network interfaces in addition to the different network packets;
• apply a load balancing scheme amongst a plurality of possible forwarding routes via the network interfaces from the device to determine respective forwarding decisions for the generated network packets;
• and
• send the generated network packets via different ones of the possible forwarding routes according to the respective forwarding decisions.