Distributing service sessions

A method for dynamically distributing a service session from a client device, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a gateway node, from the client device, a packet of the service session;
• determining, by the gateway node, that the packet matches a service address in a forwarding policy;
• based on the determining, selecting, by the gateway node, based on the forwarding policy, one of a plurality of forwarding nodes for sending, by the gateway node, the packet to the one of the plurality of forwarding nodes;
• receiving, by the one of the plurality of forwarding nodes, the packet of the service session from the gateway node;
• determining, by the one of the plurality of forwarding nodes, based on the forwarding policy, that the packet matches the service address serviced by a servicing node of a plurality of servicing nodes;
• and
• sending, by the one of the plurality of forwarding nodes, the packet to the servicing node for forwarding the packet, by the servicing node, to a server of a plurality of servers.

A system for dynamically distributing a service session from a client device, the system comprising:

• a plurality of forwarding nodes;
• a plurality of servicing nodes;
• and
• a gateway node configured to:
• receive, from a network controller, a forwarding policy, the forwarding policy comprising a service address serviced by one or more of the plurality of forwarding nodes;
• receive, from the client device, a packet of the service session;
• determine that the packet matches the service address in the forwarding policy;
• based on the determining, select one of the plurality of forwarding nodes based on the forwarding policy for sending the packet to the one of the plurality of forwarding nodes;
• wherein the one of the plurality of forwarding nodes is configured to:
• receive, from the network controller, the forwarding policy, the forwarding policy further comprising the service address serviced by the plurality of servicing nodes;
• receive the packet of the service session from the gateway node;
• determine, based on the forwarding policy, that the packet matches the service address serviced by a servicing node of the plurality of servicing nodes;
• and
• send the packet to the servicing node;
• and
• wherein the servicing node of the plurality of servicing nodes is configured to:
• receive, from the network controller, a service policy for selecting a server from a plurality of servers;
• receive the packet from the one of the plurality of forwarding nodes;
• determine whether the packet is a service request packet;
• select the server to serve the service session;
• and
• forward the packet to the server of the plurality of servers.