Abstract: The invention includes a method and apparatus for processing traffic in a load-balancing network comprising a plurality of nodes. The method includes determining an egress node associated with each of a plurality of packets of a traffic flow received at an ingress node of the plurality of nodes, determining, for each packet, whether a congestion condition exists on the egress node, and processing the packets such that packets associated with egress nodes for which the congestion condition does not exist have a different queuing priority within the load-balancing network than packets associated with egress nodes for which the congestion condition exists. The ingress node on which the traffic flow is received is adapted for splitting the traffic flow into a plurality of traffic flow portions independent of the egress node by which each packet is scheduled to exit the load-balancing network.

Abstract: When a switch in a switched network detects congestion at one of its inputs, it floods a congestion control message back to the ingress nodes of the network connected to that input, indicating congestion. The ingress nodes of the network restrict access to the network by comparing incoming information rates against customer-specific criteria and sending back pressure warning signals to respective customers when the criteria are exceeded. When an ingress node receives a congestion control message indicating congestion it changes the criteria by which it restricts access to the network to more restrictive criteria. When the switch detects that the congestion has subsided, it floods a further congestion control message to the ingress nodes connected to the input, indicating that the congestion has subsided. An ingress node receiving such a message then changes the criteria back to those which it normally applies.