The data distribution VM can be used to replicate the data captured by the intelligent network adapter to each virtual machine that requires that data. The only limitation is the bandwidth of the VMCI interface itself, which is dependent on the processing power of the supported CPU chipset.

Implementations of the solutions described have been made providing a benchmark for expected performance. It has successfully been demonstrated that the VMCI interface can support up to 30Gbps of data replication and distribution to multiple VMs. This allows any combination of port speeds and number of virtual clients to be implemented as long as the total consumed VMCI bandwidth does not exceed 30Gbps.

Obviously not all network appliances can be virtualized, especially high-speed, high-performance appliances that require all the processing resources available. However, for less processing-intensive appliance applications, there is an opportunity for consolidation that is compelling.

One of the advantages of using virtualization for consolidation is that each network appliance can be reused to a large extent, with the same operating system and environment. This also means that it is possible to upgrade the physical hardware without needing to upgrade the supported network appliance virtual machines. As physical servers continue to increase in power and performance, even more appliances can be consolidated onto a single physical server.

As network interface speeds change, it is possible to upgrade the intelligent adapter to support a higher-speed interface without having to change the support network appliance VMs. This approach can also be used to upgrade existing network appliances to support higher-speed interfaces in a fast and effective way.