Patent ID: 8625431

Claim:
A method for notifying a packet destination of a plurality of packet destinations on a host, comprising: receiving, by a network interface card (NIC) operatively connected to the host, a packet addressed to the packet destination of the plurality of packet destinations on the host, wherein a virtual network interface card (VNIC) on the host is bound to the packet destination; classifying the packet by the NIC; forwarding, by the NIC, the packet to one of a plurality of receive rings on the NIC, wherein the one of the plurality of receive rings is bound to the VNIC on the host; if the NIC determines that the one of the plurality of receive rings does not comprise space to store the packet: dropping the packet by the one of the plurality of receive rings, incrementing a drop counter associated with the one of the plurality of receive rings, and sending, by the NIC in response to the counter exceeding a first predefined notification threshold, a first notification message from the NIC to the packet destination, wherein the first notification message indicates that the packet was dropped by the one of the plurality of receive rings; if the NIC determines that the one of the plurality of receive rings comprises space to store the packet: forwarding the packet to the VNIC, dropping the packet by the VNIC in response to determining that the VNIC does not comprise space to store the packet, and sending, by the VNIC in response to the dropping, a second notification message from the VNIC to the packet destination, wherein the second notification message indicates that the packet was dropped by the VNIC.