Patent ID: 8406230

Claim:
A method for processing packets, comprising: receiving, by a network interface card (NIC) comprising a plurality of receive ring groups (RRGs), a first packet from a network; identifying a first L2 classification item in a header of the first packet; selecting, based on the first L2 classification item, a first receive ring group (RRG) of the plurality of RRGs, wherein the first RRG comprises a plurality of receive rings (RRs); identifying a first higher-level classification item in the header of the first packet; identifying, in response to selecting the first RRG, a first receive load balancer of the first RRG located in the NIC; selecting, based on the first higher-level classification item and a load balancing policy of the first receive load balancer, a first RR of the plurality of RRs; sending, in response to selecting the first RR, the first packet to the first RR; and sending the first packet from the first RR to a host operatively connected to the NIC, wherein the first packet is received by a first virtual network interface card (VNIC) associated with the first RRG.