Patent ID: 7613198

Claim:
A method for dynamically changing a first virtual network interface card (VNIC) binding, comprising: obtaining monitoring information associated with a first hardware receive ring (HRR) and a software receive ring (SRR), wherein the first VNIC is bound to the first HRR and a second VNIC is bound to the SRR; determining, using the monitoring information, whether a use of the first HRR is below a first threshold; determining, using the monitoring information, whether a use of the SRR is above a second threshold; if the use of the first HRR is below the first threshold and the use of the SRR is above the second threshold: binding the first VNIC to the SRR and the second VNIC to the first HRR; removing the binding from the first VNIC to the first HRR; removing the binding from the second VNIC to the SRR; and reprogramming a hardware classifier to send packets associated with the first VNIC to a second HRR and to send packets associated with the second VNIC to the first HRR; reprogramming a software classifier to send packets associated with the first VNIC to the SRR, wherein the software classifier is associated with a soft ring (SR) and the SR is configured to obtain packets from the second HRR.