Data packet traffic using speculative unified flow

A flow processing system for trafficking directional data packets between a source device and a destination device, comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a rule processing engine, comprising:
• one or more flow generation cores configured to:
• receive a main data packet, the main data packet characterized by a plurality of main data packet characteristics including at least a first internet protocol (IP) address representing a first source, and a second IP address representing a first destination;
• retrieve, from memory, a set of rules for processing the main data packet based on the plurality of main data packet characteristics;
• generate a main direction unified flow for the main data packet based on the main data packet characteristics and the retrieved set of rules;
• and
• generate a speculative reverse direction unified flow for a reverse direction data packet based on the main data packet characteristics and the retrieved set of rules;
• and
• one or more flow processing cores configured to:
• process the main data packet based on the main direction unified flow;
• and
• responsive to receiving the reverse direction data packet, process the reverse direction data packet based on the speculative reverse direction unified flow.

A method for processing directional data packet traffic between a client device and a virtual machine, comprising:

• receiving a main data packet at a network interface, the main data packet characterized by a plurality of main data packet characteristics including at least a first internet protocol (IP) address representing a first source, and a second IP address representing a first destination;
• based on the plurality of main data packet characteristics, retrieving a set of rules for processing the main data packet, including a rule for modifying the second IP address to a third IP address;
• generating a main direction unified flow for the main data packet based on the main data packet characteristics and the retrieved set of rules;
• generating a speculative reverse direction unified flow for a reverse direction data packet based on the main data packet characteristics and the retrieved set of rules;
• processing the main data packet based on the main direction unified flow at least by modifying the second IP address to the third IP address;
• and
• responsive to receiving the reverse direction data packet, processing the reverse direction data packet based on the speculative reverse direction unified flow.