Data path rule management in virtual switch

A method comprising:

• identifying an addition of a first data path (DP) rule in a flow table associated with the virtual switch;
• determining that the first DP rule overlaps at least a second DP rule in the flow table in response to the addition of the first DP rule in the flow table;
• and
• simulating receipt of a simulated packet to cause a third DP rule to be added to the flow table before deleting the second DP rule, wherein the first DP rule and the third DP rule are non-overlapping.

A computing system comprising:

• a data processing unit (DPU) comprising a network interface, a host interface, a central processing unit (CPU), and an acceleration hardware engine, the DPU to implement a virtual switch, wherein the virtual switch is to:
• receive mirrored network traffic data from the acceleration hardware engine;
• sample the mirrored network traffic data to obtain a sampled copy of the mirrored network traffic data;
• store a data path (DP) rule identifier and a specified portion of a network header for each packet of the sampled copy;
• identify an addition of a first DP rule in a flow table;
• determine that the first DP rule and a second DP rule in the flow table overlap, wherein the addition of the first DP rule causes a second DP rule to be deleted in the flow table;
• before deleting the second DP rule, simulate receipt of a simulated packet comprising the specified portion of the network header corresponding to a second DP rule identifier of the second DP rule, wherein the receipt of the simulated packet causes a third DP rule to be added to the flow table;
• and
• after adding the third DP rule, delete the second DP rule.