Patent ID: 8130641

Claim:
A method of managing network traffic within a virtual network system, the method comprising: identifying a virtual network system defined within a physical network device; identifying a first virtual network device defined within the virtual network system; defining a virtual network appliance within the physical network device; communicatively coupling the virtual network appliance to the first virtual network device; communicatively coupling the virtual network appliance to the virtual network system by defining a virtual switch within the physical network device, communicatively coupling the virtual switch to the first virtual network device, and communicatively coupling the virtual switch to the virtual network appliance, the virtual network appliance being operable to manage network traffic associated with the first virtual network device; and communicatively coupling the virtual network appliance to a physical network interface port thereby communicatively coupling the first virtual network device to a physical network system via the virtual network appliance, wherein communicatively coupling the virtual network appliance to the physical network interface port comprises communicatively coupling a further virtual switch to the physical network interface port.