An aspect includes receiving, at a software-defined networking (SDN) controller, a request from a requestor to identify a flow of a data packet in a computer network. The data packet includes a data packet header. It is determined, based on the data packet header, that the data packet includes one of a peripheral component internet express (PCIe) data packet and a multi-root input/output (MR-IOV) data packet. It is also determined that the flow of the data packet requires a virtual tunnel between a source network device and a destination network device. The creation of the virtual tunnel is initiated and the requestor is instructed to send the packet from the source network device to the destination network device via the virtual tunnel. The requestor is also instructed to use the virtual tunnel for sending subsequent packets having the same flow and received prior to the virtual tunnel being shut down.