diff --git a/byteps/common/global.cc b/byteps/common/global.cc
index 2fba86fad..3e5fe15ff 100644
--- a/byteps/common/global.cc
+++ b/byteps/common/global.cc
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ uint32_t BytePSGlobal::_partition_bytes = 4096000;
 std::shared_ptr<BytePSComm> BytePSGlobal::_basic_comm;
 std::shared_ptr<BytePSSharedMemory> BytePSGlobal::_shm_obj;
 std::unordered_map<uint64_t, PSKV> BytePSGlobal::ps_kv_;
+std::hash<ps::Key> BytePSGlobal::_hash_fn;
+std::vector<unsigned long> BytePSGlobal::_server_accumulated_len;
+bool BytePSGlobal::_use_hash;
 
 volatile BytePSScheduledQueue* BytePSGlobal::_queues[QueueNum] = {NULL};
 std::mutex BytePSGlobal::_queues_mutex[QueueNum];
@@ -111,6 +114,9 @@ void BytePSGlobal::Init() {
   if (_is_distributed_job) {
     BPS_CHECK(getenv("DMLC_NUM_SERVER"))
         << "error: launch distributed job, but env DMLC_NUM_SERVER not set";
+    _use_hash = getenv("BYTEPS_USE_HASH_KEY") ? atoi(getenv("BYTEPS_USE_HASH_KEY")) : false;
+    int num_server = atoi(getenv("DMLC_NUM_SERVER"));
+    for (int i = 0; i < num_server; ++i) _server_accumulated_len.push_back(0);
   }
 
   BPS_LOG(DEBUG) << "Number of worker=" << _num_worker << ", launching "
@@ -307,8 +313,16 @@ PSKV& BytePSGlobal::EncodeDefaultKey(uint64_t key, size_t len) {
     const int num_servers = krs.size();
     BPS_CHECK_GT(num_servers, 0);
     // send it to a single random picked server
-    int server = (((key >> 16) + key) * 9973) % num_servers;
-    BPS_LOG(DEBUG) << "key " << key << " assigned to server " << server;
+    int server;
+    if (_use_hash) {
+      server = _hash_fn(key) % num_servers;
+    } else {
+      server = (((key >> 16) + (key % 65536)) * 9973) % num_servers;
+    }
+    _server_accumulated_len[server] += len;
+    BPS_LOG(DEBUG) << "key " << key << " assigned to server " << server
+                   << ", accumulated workload for this server is "
+                   << _server_accumulated_len[server];
     ps::Key ps_key = krs[server].begin() + key;
     BPS_CHECK_LT(ps_key, krs[server].end());
     pskv.keys.push_back(ps_key);
diff --git a/byteps/common/global.h b/byteps/common/global.h
index 2f55b325e..4d9a87b2a 100644
--- a/byteps/common/global.h
+++ b/byteps/common/global.h
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ class BytePSGlobal {
   static BPSContext& GetContextFromName(const std::string& name);
   static uint32_t GetTensorCount();
 
+  static bool _use_hash;
+  static std::hash<ps::Key> _hash_fn;
+  static std::vector<unsigned long> _server_accumulated_len;
   static std::unordered_map<uint64_t, PSKV> ps_kv_;
   static PSKV& EncodeDefaultKey(uint64_t key, size_t len);