The present disclosure relates to a pre-5th-Generation (5G) or 5G communication system to be provided for supporting higher data rates beyond 4th-Generation (4G) communication system such as Long Term Evolution (LTE). A controller and a switch for network failure relieving from a software-defined networking (SDN) is provided. A method for operating the controller includes: transmitting, to the switch, path information for at least one packet and a session establishment message to establish a session for detecting a link failure of the at least one packet based on information regarding a capability of detecting a link failure of the switch. The method also includes receiving, from the switch, a session status message regarding a status of the session. If the status of the session is identified as the link failure, updated path information for the at least one packet based on information of the session is transmitted to the switch.