A method includes a compute node transmitting data to a port of a first switch at a first data transfer rate, monitoring the temperature of the port, and a management node providing an instruction to the compute node in response to the port temperature exceeding a temperature limit, wherein the instruction instructs the compute node to reduce the first data transfer rate to the port. The method further includes the compute node reducing the data transfer rate to the port in response to receiving the instruction. The method is applicable to multiple compute nodes transmitting data to multiple ports of a first switch. The data transfer rate may be reduced by throttling the compute node, renegotiating a link speed between the compute node and the port, or redirecting data to another switch. The methods facilitate thermal control of a switch without its own thermal throttling capability.