Abstract: A method and system are provided for balancing a server's traffic load in an internet protocol (IP) based half-duplex network that uses an address resolution protocol (ARP) for address resolution. The server includes multiple network interface cards (NICS) that are used for communicating with multiple clients. The server may be accessible either directly to a client or indirectly to a client via a router or gateway. The clients, router, or gateway may store a single IP address identifying the server. The method comprises sending outbound traffic via some of the NICs and receiving inbound traffic via another of the NICs. To achieve this, the server is configured so that certain NICs are used only for outbound traffic and another NIC is used only for inbound traffic. This prevents a single NIC from both sending and receiving traffic, and minimizes the impact of inbound traffic on the server's overall throughput.

Abstract: A method and system are provided for maintaining a load balance of incoming traffic on a server after the server broadcasts an address request, such as an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request for an network address. The method includes informing each client of a hardware address to use in communicating with the server. The hardware address is associated with a first network address. Different clients may be assigned different hardware addresses to balance the server's incoming traffic. The server stores client addresses that expire after a period of time has elapsed. When an address expires, the server broadcasts an address request using a second network address. Because the network address used for the broadcast address request does not match the network address assigned to the clients, the clients will continue using the originally assigned hardware addresses instead of switching to the hardware address used to send the broadcast request.