A computer network includes an inside network and an external network. The inside network may communicate with the external network over a first path through a first inner load balancer, a first set of firewalls, and a second outer load balancer. The inside network may also communicate with the external network over a second path through a second inner load balancer, a second set of firewalls, and a second outer load balancer. In normal operating conditions, traffic is flowing on both the first and second paths. Probes are passed over each path to monitor the operating status of the path. If a failure occurs in the first inner load balancer, its operating status is changed to standby and the second inner load balancer becomes active for the traffic previously handled by the first inner load balancer. The associated first outer load balancer, recognizing that a probe has not been received to indicate an operating state of the first path, changes its state to standby so that the second outer load balancer becomes active for the traffic previously handled by the first outer load balancer.