Route-cost acquisition from routers

A method comprising:

• receiving a data packet and a destination address at a server that includes a plurality of network interfaces, each network interface comprising a network interface card and configured for connection to a different router, one of the routers a default gateway router for the server;
• selecting one of the plurality of network interfaces for sending the data packet from the server to the destination address, the selecting based on a cost associated with sending the data packet to the destination address using a router connected to the selected network interface, wherein the cost is less than or equal to a cost associated with sending the data packet to the destination address using an other router connected to another network interface;
• sending the data packet to the destination address using the router connected to the selected network interface;
• and updating the cost associated with sending the data packet to the destination address using any of the plurality of network interfaces in response to the router connected to the selected network interface being the default gateway router, wherein the updating comprises sending a route-cost-query to each of the routers connected to the plurality of network interfaces and receiving a route-cost-query-response indicating the cost associated with sending the data packet to the destination address for each of the routers connected to the plurality of network interfaces, wherein the updating the cost associated with sending the data packet to the destination address using any of the plurality of network interfaces is not performed in response to the router connected to the selected network interface being different from the default gateway router.

A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by processing circuitry to cause the processing circuitry to perform:

• receiving a data packet and a destination address at a server that includes a plurality of network interfaces, each network interface comprising a network interface card and configured for connection to a different router, one of the routers a default gateway router for the server;
• selecting one of the plurality of network interfaces for sending the data packet from the server to the destination address, the selecting based on a cost associated with sending the data packet to the destination address using a router connected to the selected network interface, wherein the cost is less than or equal to a cost associated with sending the data packet to the destination address using an other router connected to another network interface;
• sending the data packet to the destination address using the router connected to the selected network interface;
• and updating the cost associated with sending the data packet to the destination address using any of the plurality of network interfaces in response to the router connected to the selected network interface being the default gateway router, wherein the updating comprises sending a route-cost-query to each of the routers connected to the plurality of network interfaces and receiving a route-cost-query-response indicating the cost associated with sending the data packet to the destination address for each of the routers connected to the plurality of network interlaces, wherein the updating the cost associated with sending the data packet to the destination address using any of the plurality of network interfaces is not performed in response to the router connected to the selected network interface being different from the default gateway router.