Load balancing in data hosting systems

A computer program product for load balancing network traffic in a data hosting network, comprising:

• one or more computer-readable storage devices and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more computer-readable storage devices for execution by at least one or more computer processors of a computer system, the program instructions, when executed by the at least one of the one or more computer processors, causing the computer system to perform a method comprising:
• executing first network address translation rules with respect to a first data packet of the network traffic, the first data packet including initial address space data comprising an initial destination network address and port identifier of the first data packet, the first network address translation rules being executed to generate translated address space data of the first data packet by translating the initial destination network address and port identifier of the first data packet for routing of the first data packet to a host of the data hosting network;
• generating an entry in a network address translation table based on the initial address space data and the translated address space data of the first data packet, the translated address space data of the first data packet including a translated destination network address and port identifier of the first data packet, the generated entry comprising the translated destination network address and port identifier of the first data packet and an initial source network address and port identifier of the first data packet;
• receiving a second data packet of the network traffic from a client;
• identifying the generated entry based on correspondence between the initial address space data of the first data packet and initial address space data of the second data packet, the initial address space data of the second data packet comprising an initial destination network address and port identifier of the second data packet;
• executing second network address translation rules with respect to the second data packet according to the identified entry to translate the initial address space data of the second data packet, the second network address translation rules being executed based on the translated destination network address and port identifier of the first data packet to generate translated address space data of the second data packet by translating the initial destination network address and port identifier of the second data packet for routing of the second data packet to the host;
• and
• routing the second data packet with respect to the initial and translated address space data of the second data packet, wherein the second data packet is routed directly to the client upon servicing of the second data packet based on an initial source network address and port identifier of the second data packet.