The invention is an intelligent traffic redirection system that does
global load balancing. It can be used in any situation where an end-user
requires access to a replicated resource. The method directs end-users to
the appropriate replica so that the route to the replica is good from a
network standpoint and the replica is not overloaded. The technique
preferably uses a Domain Name Service (DNS) to provide IP addresses for
the appropriate replica. The most common use is to direct traffic to a
mirrored web site.