Patent ID: 8103810

Claim:
A method, in a data processing system, for performing input/output (I/O) operations between a host system and an I/O adapter, comprising: creating a plurality of virtual functions (VFs) in an I/O adapter of the data processing system; configuring at least one first VF to support non-native I/O virtualization (IOV) in the I/O adapter; configuring at least one second VF to support native IOV in the I/O adapter; performing I/O operations between a host system of the data processing system and the I/O adapter utilizing native IOV and the at least one second VF; and performing I/O operations between the host system and the I/O adapter utilizing non-native IOV and the at least one first VF, wherein logical partitions of the host system have associated priority values, and wherein logical partitions are assigned to the at least one first VF and the at least one second VF according to their associated priority values.