A storage unit configured to store information regarding flow characteristics indicating whether a flow constituted by a packet is a flow having a tendency to have a large number of short packets or a flow having a tendency to have a large number of long packets in association with destination information of the packet, a determination unit configured to, in a case where an input port receives a packet, determine flow characteristics of a flow constituted by the packet on the basis of the storage unit, and an output unit configured to output the packet received by the input port to a packet transfer apparatus in a load state indicating that a load due to the flow of the flow characteristics is light among a plurality of packet transfer apparatuses according to the flow characteristics determined by the determination unit are provided.