An OSA-Express port can be shared by multiple TCP/IP stacks. In such a configuration, when a unicast packet is sent over the OSA-Express port and the next-hop IP address is registered by another TCP/IP stack on the same LAN or VLAN that shares the OSA-Express port, then the OSA adapter routes the packet directly to the stack that shares the port, bypassing the external LAN. For multicast and broadcast, the OSA adapter also routes the packet directly to the stack that shares the port, in addition to sending the packet onto the LAN.