A method of sending data through a network from a first computing device to a second computing device is described, where the computing devices adhere to a packet-based network protocol. A connection between the first computing device and the second computing device is established for a session according to the network protocol. A packet header template is defined having a plurality of static fields filled with static values valid for all packets sent during the session and variable fields that can acquire packet-dependent values for different packets sent during a session. A packet header is created based on the header template by defining, in a central processing unit, at least one value of a variable field and by reusing the static values for the static fields. The packet header is pre-pended to payload data to form a packet, and the packet is sent to the second computing device.