diff --git a/lib/rucio/core/topology.py b/lib/rucio/core/topology.py
index b2b0239f49..181b52e26a 100644
--- a/lib/rucio/core/topology.py
+++ b/lib/rucio/core/topology.py
@@ -79,6 +79,8 @@ def __init__(self, src_node: TN, dst_node: TN):
         self.cost: _Number = 1
         self.enabled: bool = True
 
+        self.__hash = None
+
         self.add_to_nodes()
 
     def add_to_nodes(self):
@@ -111,7 +113,12 @@ def __eq__(self, other):
         return self._src_node == other._src_node and self._dst_node == other._dst_node
 
     def __str__(self):
-        return f'{self._src_node}-->{self._dst_node}'
+        return f'{self.src_node}-->{self.dst_node}'
+
+    def __hash__(self):
+        if self.__hash is None:
+            self.__hash = hash((self.src_node, self.dst_node))
+        return self.__hash
 
 
 class Topology(RseCollection, Generic[TN, TE]):
@@ -146,6 +153,10 @@ def get_or_create(self, rse_id: str) -> "TN":
                     self._edges_loaded = False
         return rse_data
 
+    @property
+    def edges(self):
+        return self._edges
+
     def edge(self, src_node: TN, dst_node: TN) -> "Optional[TE]":
         return self._edges.get((src_node, dst_node))
 
diff --git a/lib/rucio/core/transfer.py b/lib/rucio/core/transfer.py
index 7332f599cf..9950cd0396 100644
--- a/lib/rucio/core/transfer.py
+++ b/lib/rucio/core/transfer.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import traceback
 from collections import defaultdict
 from dataclasses import dataclass
+from decimal import Decimal, localcontext
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from dogpile.cache import make_region
@@ -52,10 +53,10 @@
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from collections.abc import Callable, Generator, Iterable
-    from typing import Any, Optional
+    from typing import Any, Optional, Mapping
     from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
     from rucio.common.types import InternalAccount
-    from rucio.core.topology import Topology
+    from rucio.core.topology import Topology, Node, Edge
 
     LoggerFunction = Callable[..., Any]
 
@@ -499,6 +500,255 @@ def slice_time(
             older_t = older_t - resolution
 
 
+class FlowManager:
+    class EdgeFlow:
+        def __init__(self, edge):
+            self.edge = edge
+            self.capacity = 10 ** 9
+            self.cost = 1
+            self.flow = 0
+
+    class NodeFlow:
+        def __init__(self, node):
+            self.node = node
+            self.capacity = 10 ** 9
+            self.cost = 1
+            self.in_flow = 0
+            self.out_flow = 0
+
+    def __init__(self, topology: "Topology"):
+        self.topology = topology
+
+    @read_session
+    def _demand_from_requests(self, *, session: "Session"):
+        """
+        Scans the Requests table and returns the current demand
+        """
+        topology = self.topology
+        db_stats = request_core.get_request_stats(
+            state=[RequestState.QUEUED,
+                   RequestState.SUBMITTING,
+                   RequestState.SUBMITTED,
+                   RequestState.WAITING],
+            session=session,
+        )
+
+        pledged_demand = defaultdict(lambda: defaultdict(Decimal))
+        pending_demand = defaultdict(Decimal)
+        for db_stat in db_stats:
+            if (db_stat.dest_rse_id not in topology) or (db_stat.source_rse_id and db_stat.source_rse_id not in topology):
+                # The RSE was deleted. Ignore
+                continue
+
+            src_node = topology[db_stat.source_rse_id] if db_stat.source_rse_id else None
+            dst_node = topology[db_stat.dest_rse_id]
+            if src_node:
+                pledged_demand[dst_node][src_node] += Decimal(db_stat.bytes)
+            else:
+                pending_demand[dst_node] += Decimal(db_stat.bytes)
+
+        return pledged_demand, pending_demand
+
+    def _route_in_tree(
+            self,
+            root_node,
+            demand_towards_root_node: "Mapping[Node, Decimal]",
+            node_flow_provider: "Callable[[Node], NodeFlow]",
+            edge_flow_provider: "Callable[[Edge], EdgeFlow]",
+            ignore_capacity: bool = False,
+    ):
+        """
+        Compute the shortest path tree towards the root node from all other nodes.
+        Route the demands in this tree and increase the associated flow.
+        """
+        accepted_demand_towards_root_node = {}
+        remaining_demand_towards_root_node = {}
+        sorted_nodes = list(
+            self.topology.dijkstra_spf(
+                dst_node=root_node,
+                nodes_to_find=set(demand_towards_root_node),
+                node_state_provider=node_flow_provider,
+                edge_state_provider=edge_flow_provider,
+            )
+        )
+        # Adding the demand may result in an edge or node to become overloaded. record by how much it was overloaded
+        overflow_ratio = Decimal(1)
+        inbound_flow_by_node = defaultdict(Decimal)
+        for node, _, node_state, edge_to_next_hop, edge_state in reversed(sorted_nodes):
+            next_hop = edge_to_next_hop.dst_node
+
+            inbound_flow = inbound_flow_by_node[node]
+            # Whatever flow goes out of the current node will have to go into the next hop
+            outbound_flow = inbound_flow + demand_towards_root_node.get(node, Decimal(0))
+            inbound_flow_by_node[next_hop] = inbound_flow_by_node[next_hop] + outbound_flow
+            # Detect if we overload a node or an edge. And by how much
+            if not ignore_capacity:
+                overflow_ratio = max(
+                    overflow_ratio,
+                    inbound_flow / node_state.capacity,
+                    outbound_flow / edge_state.capacity
+                )
+        if not ignore_capacity:
+            overflow_ratio = max(overflow_ratio, inbound_flow_by_node[root_node] / root_node.capacity)
+
+        # Push each demand. If overflow_ratio is bigger than one, only push the fraction of demand which
+        # doesn't overload anything.
+        sorted_nodes.append((root_node, 0, node_flow_provider(root_node), None, None))
+        for node, _, node_state, edge_to_next_hop, edge_state in sorted_nodes:
+            desired_demand = demand_towards_root_node.get(node, Decimal(0))
+
+            # Only accept the fraction of the demand which doesn't overload a node or an edge
+            accepted_demand = desired_demand / overflow_ratio
+            accepted_inbound = inbound_flow_by_node[node] / overflow_ratio
+            accepted_outbound = accepted_inbound + accepted_demand
+
+            if desired_demand > 0:
+                remaining_demand = desired_demand - accepted_demand
+                accepted_demand_towards_root_node[node] = accepted_demand
+                if remaining_demand > 0:
+                    remaining_demand_towards_root_node[node] = remaining_demand
+
+            if accepted_inbound > 0:
+                node_state.in_flow += accepted_inbound
+
+            if edge_state is not None and accepted_outbound > 0:
+                node_state.out_flow += accepted_outbound
+                edge_state.flow += accepted_outbound
+
+        return accepted_demand_towards_root_node, remaining_demand_towards_root_node
+
+    @METRICS.time_it()
+    def _karakostas_multicommodity_flow(
+            self,
+            demands: "Mapping[Node, Mapping[Node, float | Decimal]]",
+            epsilon: Decimal = Decimal('0.1')
+    ):
+        """
+        Compute the maximum multicommodity flow [1]. This corresponds to the most load-balanced way of transferring the given demand.
+        The input demand must be in the format {source_node: {destination_node: amount_of_bytes_to_transfer_from_source_to_destination}}
+        The resulted solution is fractional: a flow from source_node to destination_node can be split at will over all possible paths.
+
+        Uses the following algorithm. The result will be within (1 - epsilon)**(-3) from the optimal solution.
+        [1] Karakostas, G. (2008). Faster approximation schemes for fractional multicommodity flow problems. ACM Transactions on Algorithms (TALG)
+        """
+        flow = defaultdict(lambda: defaultdict(Decimal))
+        if not demands:
+            return None, None
+
+        with localcontext() as ctx:
+            # We will manipulate very small numbers
+            ctx.prec = 50
+
+            num_n_e = len(self.topology.rse_id_to_data_map) + len(self.topology.edges)
+            # constants are described (with the accompanying proof) in the linked paper
+            delta = (Decimal(1) / pow(Decimal(1) + epsilon, (Decimal(1) - epsilon) / epsilon)) * pow((Decimal(1) - epsilon) / num_n_e, Decimal(1) / epsilon)
+            flow_scale_factor = ((Decimal(1) + epsilon) / delta).ln() / (Decimal(1) + epsilon).ln()
+            max_iterations = 2 * (Decimal(1) / epsilon) * (num_n_e * (Decimal(1) + epsilon) / (Decimal(1) - epsilon)).ln() / (Decimal(1) + epsilon).ln()
+
+            dl = Decimal(delta * num_n_e)
+
+            class _FlowProxy:
+                """
+                Stores the value of a flow while, also, automatically adjusting the cost
+                and the total volume (as neded for the Karakosta's algorithm) each time
+                an augmenting flow is pushed through the graph.
+                """
+                def __init__(self, element_flow: "_NodeFlow | _EdgeFlow"):
+                    self.value = Decimal(0)
+                    self.element_flow = element_flow
+
+                def __add__(self, other):
+                    self.value += other
+                    volume_increase = epsilon * other * self.element_flow.cost
+                    self.element_flow.cost += volume_increase / self.element_flow.capacity
+                    nonlocal dl
+                    dl += volume_increase
+                    return self
+
+            class _EdgeFlow(self.EdgeFlow):
+
+                def __init__(self, edge):
+                    super().__init__(edge)
+                    self.enabled = True
+                    self.capacity = 10 ** 9
+                    self.cost = delta / self.capacity
+                    self.flow = _FlowProxy(self)
+
+            class _NodeFlow(self.NodeFlow):
+
+                def __init__(self, node):
+                    super().__init__(node)
+                    self.enabled = True
+                    self.capacity = 10 ** 9
+                    self.cost = delta / self.capacity
+                    self.in_flow = _FlowProxy(self)
+                    self.out_flow = Decimal(0)
+
+            node_flows = {node: _NodeFlow(node) for node in self.topology.rse_id_to_data_map.values()}
+            edge_flows = {edge: _EdgeFlow(edge) for edge in self.topology.edges.values()}
+
+            demand_multiplier = 1
+            iteration = 0
+            while dl < 1:
+                # If the demands are very small compared to edge capacities, this algorithm will require an unreasonable
+                # number of iterations to complete. The following mechanism is described in the linked paper and is meant to
+                # speed up convergence time by doubling the demands multiple times.
+                iteration += 1
+                if iteration > max_iterations:
+                    iteration = 0
+                    demand_multiplier = demand_multiplier * 2
+
+                for dst_node, demand_towards_dst_node in demands.items():
+                    demand_towards_dst_node = {n: d * demand_multiplier for n, d in demand_towards_dst_node.items()}
+
+                    while dl < 1 and demand_towards_dst_node:
+                        accepted_flows, demand_towards_dst_node = self._route_in_tree(
+                            root_node=dst_node,
+                            demand_towards_root_node=demand_towards_dst_node,
+                            node_flow_provider=node_flows.get,
+                            edge_flow_provider=edge_flows.get,
+                        )
+                        for node, accepted_flow in accepted_flows.items():
+                            flow[dst_node][node] += accepted_flow
+
+            # The computed flow violated edge and node capacity constraints. We need to scale it down.
+            lam = Decimal('inf')
+            for dst_node, demand_per_src in demands.items():
+                for src_node, demand_from_src in demand_per_src.items():
+                    scaled_flow = flow[dst_node][src_node] / flow_scale_factor
+                    flow[dst_node][src_node] = scaled_flow
+                    lam = min(lam, scaled_flow / demand_from_src)
+            for node_state in node_flows.values():
+                node_state.in_flow.value /= flow_scale_factor
+                node_state.out_flow /= flow_scale_factor
+            for edge_state in edge_flows.values():
+                edge_state.flow.value /= flow_scale_factor
+        return node_flows, edge_flows
+
+    @read_session
+    def optimize_flow(self, *, session: "Session"):
+        pledged_demand, pending_demand = self._demand_from_requests(session=session)
+
+        # Compute the current status of the network
+        current_node_flow = {node: self.NodeFlow(node) for node in self.topology.rse_id_to_data_map.values()}
+        current_edge_flow = {edge: self.EdgeFlow(edge) for edge in self.topology.edges.values()}
+        for dst_node, demand_towards_dst_node in pledged_demand.items():
+            inbound_flow_by_node, _ = self._route_in_tree(
+                root_node=dst_node,
+                demand_towards_root_node=demand_towards_dst_node,
+                node_flow_provider=current_node_flow.get,
+                edge_flow_provider=current_edge_flow.get,
+            )
+
+        # Compute what would be the optimal flow in the network
+        desired_node_flow, desired_edge_flow = self._karakostas_multicommodity_flow(pledged_demand)
+
+        # TODO: combine the information from the current flow and the desired flow
+        # to pick the destination (during rule evaluation) or source (for transfers)
+        # - select in priority if desired_flow > current_flow
+        # - avoid if desired_flow < current_flow
+
+
 def transfer_path_str(transfer_path: "list[DirectTransferDefinition]") -> str:
     """
     an implementation of __str__ for a transfer path, which is a list of direct transfers, so not really an object