A method for using metadata in an Internet Protocol (IP) packet is provided. A first processor at a first node sets a dedicated field of the IP packet to a predetermined value to indicate that metadata is present in the IP packet, and adds metadata to the IP packet by inserting the metadata between an original transport header of the IP packet and an original packet payload of the IP packet. A second processor at a second node receives the IP packet from the first node, reads the dedicated field to identify the predetermined value indicating that metadata is present in the IP packet, and identifies the metadata in the IP packet based on the predetermined value.