A technique is disclosed for managing load balancing operations in a storage area network. A frame is received at a switch in the fibre channel fabric. According to a specific implementation, the frame includes header information including a source device identity and a destination device identity. Zone and/or flow information relating to the identity of the zone/flow which is associated with the frame is identified. Using the identified information, a load balancing mechanism to be used for handling the frame is selected. According to a specific implementation, the selection of the load balancing mechanism is based at least in part upon the identity of the zone and/or flow which is associated with the frame.