Flow Control Method and Device

A flow control apparatus, comprising:

• a memory comprising instructions;
• and
• one or more processors coupled with the memory, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to:
• group stored multiple pieces of address information into at least two security groups according to attribute information of hosts to which the multiple pieces of address information respectively belong, wherein the attribute information comprises a service type or a security level;
• arrange the at least two security groups, so that in arranged security groups, a security group at a high level completely comprises a security group at a low level and security groups at a same level are completely independent of each other without overlap, wherein the level is used to indicate whether the security group is a parent group, a child group, or an independent security group;
• receive a policy configuration instruction, wherein the policy configuration instruction carries a specified source group, a specified destination group, and a specified action indicator, and the specified source group and the specified destination group are two different security groups in the arranged security groups;
• configure a specified rule according to the policy configuration instruction, and configure a storage sequence of the specified rule according to the policy configuration instruction, wherein the specified rule is generated according to the policy configuration instruction;
• receive a data packet after the specified rule is configured, wherein the data packet carries source address information and destination address information;
• and
• process the data packet according to the at least two rules and storage sequences of the at least two rules, to implement flow control.