Methods and apparatus for identifying a best path from a plurality of equal cost paths while accounting for service level agreement (SLA) metrics are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for routing a packet that has a payload using a node includes obtaining the packet, and adding an address of the node to the payload. Adding the address of the node to the payload creates an augmented packet. The method also includes identifying at least one element to which the augmented packet is to be routed, and providing the augmented packet to that element. In one embodiment, the method also includes storing ingress and egress timestamps associated with the node.