According to a first embodiment, a first computing device receives a request packet originating from a client. In response to at least the request packet and a state of at least one of the first computing device and a second computing device, the first computing device selects a computing device for maintaining a session with the client. If the selected computing device is the first computing device, the first computing device outputs a response packet to the client for identifying the first computing device as maintaining the session with the client. If the selected computing device is a second computing device, the first computing device outputs a response packet to the client for identifying the second computing device as maintaining the session with the client. According to a second embodiment, a first computing device receives a request packet originating from a client. The request packet includes an identifier. In response to the request packet, the first computing device identifies a computing device that is associated with the identifier. If the identified computing device is the first computing device, the first computing device performs an operation of an application in response to the request packet. If the identified computing device is a second computing device, the first computing device outputs the request packet to the second computing device for performing the operation in response to the request packet.