A method for bandwidth control on a network interface card (NIC), the method that includes initiating a current time period, receiving a plurality of incoming packets for a receive ring, populating, by a NIC, the receive ring with the plurality of incoming packets according to a size of the receive ring during the current time period, wherein the size of the receive ring is based on an allocated bandwidth for the receive ring, and sending, by the NIC, the plurality of incoming packets to a host when a duration of the current time period elapses, wherein the duration is based on the allocated bandwidth for the receive ring.