A method and apparatus for receiving inbound data on an I/O device wherein a request to receive inbound data is received. A direct-data-placement request-tag is generated and associated with a pre-allocated buffer when the request requires direct data placement. A non-direct-data-placement request-tag is generated when the request does not require direct data placement. The received request is then augmented with a generated request-tag and directed to a data interface unit. A data packet that includes a reply-tag and a payload is then received in the data interface unit. The payload is directed from the data interface unit into a pre-allocated buffer when the reply-tag correlates with a request-tag that is associated with a pre-allocated buffer. Otherwise, the payload is retrieved from the data interface unit when the reply-tag does not correlate with a request-tag that is associated with a pre-allocated buffer.