Patent ID: 8793687

Claim:
A method for operating a virtual switch, comprising: determining, using a data processing system, network connection requirements for virtual machines controlled by a virtual machine monitor; determining, using the data processing system, resources available for processing data traffic of the virtual machines; and selecting, using the data processing system, whether ports of a virtual switch operate as one of a virtual Ethernet bridge and a virtual Ethernet port aggregator based on the network connection requirements and the resources available, wherein a first port of the virtual switch is selected to operate as a virtual Ethernet bridge for a first virtual machine, included in the virtual machines, in response to the first virtual machine requiring a latency below a first predetermined time period and a second port of the virtual switch is selected to operate as a virtual Ethernet port aggregator for a second virtual machine, included in the virtual machines, in response to the second virtual machine requiring access controls above a first access control level.