Load balancing in a multiple network environment

摘要

Methods, systems and computer program products are provided which dynamically balance the load between gateways which provide access between a first computer network and a second computer network. This load balancing includes receiving at a gateway a communication to be transmitted to a second computer network from a source device on the first computer network. The gateway determines, preferably based on an address contained in the communication, through which of the gateways the communication is to be transmitted and then either transmits the communication to the second network or over the first network to the determined gateway. A redirect message may then be sent to the source device to direct subsequent messages to the proper gateway. The gateway determination may be made by dividing a resource identifier into subgroups, summing the subgroups and then dividing the sum by the number of parallel gateways. The remainder may then be used as a gateway identifier.