LOAD BALANCING METHOD, APPARATUS, NETWORK DEVICE, AND SYSTEM

Embodiments of this application disclose a load balancing method and apparatus, a network device, and a system, to improve network resource utilization by performing per-flow load balancing on a per application basis. The method includes: A first network device obtains a first Internet Protocol version 6 IPv6 packet, where the first IPv6 packet includes first load balancing information, the first load balancing information indicates the first network device to send the first IPv6 packet in a load balancing manner, the first load balancing information includes first application characteristic information, and the first application characteristic information describes a characteristic of a first application associated with the first IPv6 packet. The first network device determines a first link based on a hash algorithm and the first load balancing information, where the first network device communicates with a second network device over a plurality of links, and the plurality of links include the first link. The first network device sends the first IPv6 packet to the second network device over the first link.