1. A method for providing cascaded network packet search engines, comprising: receiving a search command at one of the network packet search engines, the search command comprising a specific search key; determining at the network packet search engine a longest prefix match based on the specific search key; and determining at the network packet search engine whether the longest prefix match comprises an overall longest prefix match among the cascaded network packet search engines such that any of the cascaded network packet search engines may comprise the overall longest matching prefix independently of position relative to the other cascaded network packet search engines.