Systems and methods for directly responding to distributed network traffic

A system for directly responding to distributed network traffic received from a plurality of client devices, the system including:

• a data storage device that stores instructions for directly responding to distributed network traffic received from a plurality of client devices;
• and
• a processor configured to execute the instructions to perform a method including:
• receiving, at a source device, client requests from a plurality of client devices, each client request including a packet having a reserved portion, a source portion set to an address of the respective client device, and a destination portion set to an address of the source device;
• determining, for each client request, a target device from a plurality of target devices to respond to the client request;
• modifying, for each client request by the source device, the destination portion of the packet to an address of a target device determined to respond to the client request and modifying the reserve portion to indicate the address of the source device;
• transmitting, by the source device, the modified client request to the determined target device;
• modifying, for each client request by a switching layer prior to the target device receiving the modified client request, the destination portion of the packet to the address of source device based on the reserve portion;
• and
• responding directly to each client request by the target device without traversing the source device, each response including a packet having a source portion set to the address of the source device and a destination portion set to the address of the respective client device.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of directly responding to distributed network traffic received from a plurality of client devices, the method including:

• receiving, at a source device, client requests from a plurality of client devices, each client request including a packet having a reserved portion, a source portion set to an address of the respective client device, and a destination portion set to an address of the source device;
• determining, for each client request, a target device from a plurality of target devices to respond to the client request;
• modifying, for each client request by the source device, the destination portion of the packet to an address of a target device determined to respond to the client request modifying the reserve portion to indicate the address of the source device;
• transmitting, by the source device, the modified client request to the determined target device;
• modifying, for each client request by a switching layer prior to the target device receiving the modified client request, the destination portion of the packet to the address of source device based on the reserve portion;
• and
• responding directly to each client request by the target device without traversing the source device, each response including a packet having a source portion set to the address of the source device and a destination portion set to the address of the respective client device.