Dynamic resource allocation in network device

A method of operating a network device, the method comprising:

• assigning, by a controller of the network device, a first memory region of memory resources of the network device to a first software feature of the network device, wherein a hash table comprising a plurality of entries is configured to be stored in the first memory region, wherein the first memory region is a logic memory region that includes one or more physical memory regions of the memory resources, wherein the entries of the hash table are configured to be stored in various portions of the one or more physical memory regions;
• receiving, by the controller, a first request from a server to reduce a size of the first memory region by a first amount, wherein the server is connected to the network device through a network connection;
• and
• in response to the first request, reducing, by the controller, the size of the first memory region while the network device stays powered on, wherein the controller is configured to, in response to the first request, reduce the size of the first memory region by:
• determining sizes of the one or more physical memory regions and determining numbers of the entries of the hash table stored in the one or more physical memory regions;
• and
• in response to determining that a physical memory region of the first memory region has a memory size no less than the first amount and stores no entry of the hash table, releasing the physical memory region from the first memory region for use by other software features.

A network device comprising:

• a controller comprising one or more processors;
• memory resources comprising a plurality of memory regions;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by the one or more processors to:
• monitor utilization of the memory resources;
• send information regarding the utilization of the memory resources to a remote server, wherein the remote server is connected to the network device through a network connection;
• receive a first request from the remote server to reduce a size of a first memory region of the memory resources by a first amount, wherein the first memory region is configured to store a hash table, wherein the hash table comprises a plurality of entries, wherein the first memory region is a logic memory region that includes one or more physical memory regions of the memory resources, wherein the entries of the hash table are configured to be stored in various portions of the one or more physical memory regions;
• and
• in response to the first request, reduce the size of the first memory region without restarting the network device, comprising:
• determining sizes of the one or more physical memory regions and determining numbers of the entries of the hash table stored in the one or more physical memory regions;
• and
• in response to determining that a physical memory region of the first memory region has a memory size no less than the first amount and stores no entry of the hash table, releasing the physical memory region from the first memory region.