Patent ID: 8537676

Claim:
A network device comprising: a first processor to: receive, from a remote device, a request to initiate filtering of network traffic, the request including information identifying a first destination device and a second destination device, and the remote device being different from the second destination device; receive the network traffic intended for an original destination; determine whether the network traffic matches filtering criteria that defines conditions by which the network traffic is to be forwarded to the first destination device, the first destination device being different from the original destination; forward the network traffic to the first destination device when the network traffic matches the filtering criteria; forward, to the second destination device, control messages relating to the network traffic that is forwarded, based on the filtering criteria, to the first destination device, the second destination device being different from the first destination device and the original destination, and the second destination device including a second processor; determine a threshold rate based on a speed of the second processor of the second destination device; and limit, based on the threshold rate, a maximum rate at which the control messages are forwarded to the second destination device.