Methods systems and computer program products for source address selection

A system for establishing a connection between an application and a client, the system comprising:

• a cluster of data processing systems;
• the application executing on a data processing system in the cluster of data processing systems;
• and
• a communication protocol stack on the data processing system in the cluster of data processing systems, the communication protocol stack being configured to associate a dynamic virtual Internet protocol address (DVIPA) with the application so that the DVIPA is utilized as a source address for a connection request from the application.

A system for establishing a connection originated by an application executing on a data processing system in a cluster of data processing systems, comprising:

• means for associating a dynamic network address with the application at the data processing system on which the application is executing;
• means for determining if a received request for the data processing system to originate a connection is associated with the application;
• and
• means for establishing the connection utilizing the associated dynamic network address as a source address for the connection if the request is associated with the application.

A computer program product for establishing a connection originated by an application executing on a data processing system in a cluster of data processing systems, comprising:

• a computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising:
• computer readable program code which associates a dynamic network address with the application at the data processing system on which the application is executing;
• computer readable program code which determines if a received request for the data processing system to originate a connection is associated with the application;
• and
• computer readable program code which establishes the connection utilizing the associated dynamic network address as a source address for the connection if the request is associated with the application.