Abstract: The present application describes a system and method for a virtual machine to classify a packet. Once the virtual machine (VM) classifies the packet, it bypasses a hypervisor to enqueue the packet directly on a hardware transmission queue. The NIC will then verify that the VM classified and enqueued the packet correctly. If the packet was classified properly, it is transmitted over the wire to its destination. In this regard, the system and method provides a technique for verifying that the VM is enqueuing packets properly, while improving performance by allowing high-rate flows to bypass the hypervisor.

Abstract: The present application describes a system and method for rate limiting traffic of a virtual machine (VM). In this regard, a VM bypasses a hypervisor and enqueues a packet on an assigned transmission queue. Based on information contained in the packet, the NIC determines whether the packet is to be delayed or transmitted immediately. If the NIC determines that the packet is to be transmitted immediately, the packet is moved to one of a plurality of primary output queues to be transmitted to the external network. If the packet is to be delayed, the packet is moved to one of a plurality of rate limited secondary output queues. In this regard, the NIC classifies the packets, thereby improving performance by allowing high-rate flows to bypass the hypervisor.