Described herein are techniques enabling the prioritization of network traffic in a distributed processing system. Information may be received regarding a plurality of flows, each flow configured to travel from one node to another node in the distributed processing system. Each flow may comprise a segment of at least one job. A priority associated with each flow may be identified. A flow table modification message for each flow may be generated. The flow table modification message can include a timeout value and a priority value consistent with the priority associated with the flow.

One embodiment provides a system that facilitates an intermediate node to handle a potential timeout event. During operation, the system receives, by an intermediate node, a keep-alive control packet which indicates a name for an Interest message, an indicator to keep alive a Pending Interest Table (PIT) entry, and a time period for which to keep the PIT entry alive. The intermediate node determines whether the keep-alive control packet corresponds to the PIT entry based on the name, and, responsive to determining that the keep-alive control packet corresponds to the PIT entry, updates a timeout value of the PIT entry based on the time period indicated in the keep-alive control packet. Responsive to determining one or more interfaces specified in the PIT entry from which the Interest message is received, the intermediate node forwards the keep-alive control packet to the one or more interfaces.