Method and system for steering bidirectional network traffic to a same service device

A system, comprising:

• a plurality of hosts;
• a network element operatively connected to the plurality of hosts, and comprising a processor and a first plurality of network interfaces;
• and
• a pair of service devices directly connected to the network element,
• wherein the processor is programmed to:
• obtain a first media access control (MAC) frame originating from a first host and addressed to a second host of the plurality of hosts;
• process the first MAC frame to obtain a first virtual local area network (VLAN) tag;
• identify, using the first VLAN tag, a first link aggregation group (LAG) port comprising a second plurality of network interfaces, wherein the second plurality of network interfaces is a subset of the first plurality of network interfaces;
• derive a first hash key using at least a portion of the first MAC frame;
• identify, using the first hash key, a first network interface of the network element, wherein the second plurality of network interfaces comprises the first network interface;
• and
• bridge, using the first network interface, the first MAC frame to a first service device of the pair of service devices.

A non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer processor, enables the computer processor to:

• obtain, by a network element, a first media access control (MAC) frame originating from a first host and addressed to a second host;
• process the first MAC frame to obtain a first virtual local area network (VLAN) tag;
• identify, using the first VLAN tag, a first link aggregation group (LAG) port comprising a first plurality of network interfaces;
• derive a first hash key using at least a portion of the first MAC frame;
• identify, using the first hash key, a first network interface of the network element, wherein the first plurality of network interfaces comprises the first network interface;
• and
• bridge, using the first network interface, the first MAC frame to a first service device of a pair of service devices directly connected to the network element.