A network device (400, 500), comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled with and readable by the one or more processors, wherein the memory (402, 502) is configured to include a first portion of physical memory (402, 502) used by a host process for Input/Output (I/O) operations, wherein the host process (440, 540) is executing on the network device (400, 500); a packet processor (430, 530) including a first channel used by the host process (440, 540) for transmission or receipt of packets and a second channel used by a virtual machine for transmission or receipt of packets, wherein the virtual machine is executing on the network device (400, 500); and a memory management unit, the memory management unit configured to use an address map associated with the packet processor (430, 530); wherein the one or more processors execute instructions to perform operations including: reserving a portion of the address map for the host process (440, 540), the reserved portion including a first set of mappings that map a first set of virtual addresses to a set of addresses in the first portion of physical memory (402, 502), wherein the host process (440, 540) uses the reserved portion to transmit or receive packets using the first channel; allocating a second portion of the address map for the virtual machine (420, 520), wherein the second portion is allocated in a part of the address map that does not include the reserved portion, wherein the virtual machine (420, 520) uses the second portion to transmit or receive packets using the second channel; wherein the host process (440, 540) comprises a software keep-alive process that periodically sends keep-alive packets to the network (400, 500); wherein the virtual machine (420, 520) is running a network operating system for the network device (400, 500); and wherein, when the virtual machine (420, 520) shuts down, the address map is preserved. one or more processors; and a memory coupled with and readable by the one or more processors, wherein the memory (402, 502) is configured to include a first portion of physical memory (402, 502) used by a host process for Input/Output (I/O) operations, wherein the host process (440, 540) is executing on the network device (400, 500); a packet processor (430, 530) including a first channel used by the host process (440, 540) for transmission or receipt of packets and a second channel used by a virtual machine for transmission or receipt of packets, wherein the virtual machine is executing on the network device (400, 500); and a memory management unit, the memory management unit configured to use an address map associated with the packet processor (430, 530); wherein the one or more processors execute instructions to perform operations including: reserving a portion of the address map for the host process (440, 540), the reserved portion including a first set of mappings that map a first set of virtual addresses to a set of addresses in the first portion of physical memory (402, 502), wherein the host process (440, 540) uses the reserved portion to transmit or receive packets using the first channel; allocating a second portion of the address map for the virtual machine (420, 520), wherein the second portion is allocated in a part of the address map that does not include the reserved portion, wherein the virtual machine (420, 520) uses the second portion to transmit or receive packets using the second channel; wherein the host process (440, 540) comprises a software keep-alive process that periodically sends keep-alive packets to the network (400, 500); wherein the virtual machine (420, 520) is running a network operating system for the network device (400, 500); and wherein, when the virtual machine (420, 520) shuts down, the address map is preserved. reserving a portion of the address map for the host process (440, 540), the reserved portion including a first set of mappings that map a first set of virtual addresses to a set of addresses in the first portion of physical memory (402, 502), wherein the host process (440, 540) uses the reserved portion to transmit or receive packets using the first channel; allocating a second portion of the address map for the virtual machine (420, 520), wherein the second portion is allocated in a part of the address map that does not include the reserved portion, wherein the virtual machine (420, 520) uses the second portion to transmit or receive packets using the second channel; wherein the host process (440, 540) comprises a software keep-alive process that periodically sends keep-alive packets to the network (400, 500); wherein the virtual machine (420, 520) is running a network operating system for the network device (400, 500); and wherein, when the virtual machine (420, 520) shuts down, the address map is preserved.