Methods, apparatus and systems are directed to managing network traffic using a variable length Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC) index to hash an address header. The invention copies an address header of a data packet to a CRC generator. A CRC index is determined based, in part, on the address header. A subset of bits is determined from the CRC index based, in part, on a predetermined bit mask. The address header and the data payload are then combined with the subset of bits from the CRC index. The modified data packet is subsequently forwarded over a network. In one embodiment, the invention is implemented on a hardware circuit residing on a traffic device.