A system and method can provide a data service in a network environment. A subnet administrator can receive a path record resolution request from a source node, wherein the source node uses the path record resolution request to obtain an address of a destination node. Furthermore, the subnet administrator can provide an address of an intermediate node to the source node, wherein the intermediate node provides the data service. Then, the source node can send one or more data packets in a data flow to the intermediate node based on the address of the intermediate node.