Described herein are techniques for managing failover in a data center environment interconnected using an internet small computer systems interface (iSCSI) communication protocol, the techniques including receiving, at a host and from a kernel driver, an asynchronous message comprising an indication of a failed path associated with a first node having a first port, a list of internet protocol (IP) addresses associated with a plurality of failover paths including a first failover path associated with a second node having a second port, and an expiration. The techniques further including performing, by the host and before the expiration, a first input/output (I/O) operation on the second port associated with the second node. The techniques further including performing, by the host and after the expiration, a second I/O operation on the first port of the first node.