A method and system to perform exact match searches for fixed- or variable-length keys stored in a search database. The method is implemented using a plurality of hash tables, each indexed using an independent hash function. A system implementing this method provides deterministic search time, independent of the number of keys in the search database. The method permits two basic implementations; one which minimizes memory storage, and another which minimizes search time. The latter requires only two memory accesses to locate a key.