Stateful network router for managing network appliances

A method, comprising:

• receiving, by a stateful network router, a first data packet identifying a first source and a first destination, the first data packet being received from a virtual private network operated by a first entity using one or more resources provided by a second entity under a utility computing model;
• identifying, by the stateful network router, a particular network appliance from a plurality of network appliances based at least in part on the first data packet, the plurality of network appliances being operated by the second entity as a service to the first entity under the utility computing model;
• forwarding, by the stateful network router, the first data packet to the particular network appliance for processing without modifying the first source or the first destination;
• receiving, by the stateful network router, a second data packet identifying a second source and a second destination, the second source being the first destination, and the second destination being the first source;
• identifying, by the stateful network router, the particular network appliance based at least in part on the second data packet;
• forwarding, by the stateful network router, the second data packet to the particular network appliance for processing without modifying the second source or the second destination;
• receiving, by a network appliance scaling service executed in at least one computing device, network utilization metrics from the virtual private network;
• receiving, by the network appliance scaling service, utilization information from the plurality of network appliances;
• and
• dynamically scaling, by the network appliance scaling service, a quantity of the plurality of network appliances allocated to process the data from the virtual private network based at least in part on the network utilization metrics and the utilization information.

A system, comprising:

• at least one computing device configured to at least:
• intercept a network data connection between a first host and a second host on a virtual private network operated by a first entity using one or more resources provided by a second entity under a utility computing model;
• route first data packets from the network data connection sent by the first host to the second host to a target network appliance of a plurality of network appliances operated by the second entity as a service to the first entity under the utility computing model;
• route second data packets from the network data connection sent by the second host to the first host to the target network appliance;
• receive network utilization metrics from the virtual private network;
• receive utilization information from the plurality of network appliances;
• and
• dynamically scale a quantity of the plurality of network appliances allocated to process the data from the virtual private network based at least in part on the network utilization metrics and the utilization information.