1. A network device comprising: a plurality of ports for forwarding one or more packets; a first processing entity configured to perform processing to facilitate the forwarding of the one or more packets from the network device; the first processing entity further configured to: transmit a packet, to a second processing entity, comprising destination information, the destination information comprising a destination identifier and role identification information, the destination identifier identifying a set of one or more destinations, the role identification information identifying a role; receive an acknowledgement packet from the second processing entity, the acknowledgement packet indicating that the second processing entity was identified as a destination from the set of one or more destinations and the second processing entity operated in the role when the packet was received by the second processing entity; and release resources associated with the packet after receiving the acknowledgement packet for the packet.