A rate limiter incorporated in a server connected to a network. The rate limiter is adapted to reduce congestion in the network in response to a congestion notification message. The server is adapted to send packets over the network. The rate limiter includes at least one of: a server rate limiter engine adapted to rate limit the packets in response to the server; a virtual machine rate limiter engine adapted to rate limit the packets in response to a virtual machine associated with the packets, the virtual machine hosted by the server; a flow rate limiter engine adapted to rate limit the packets in response to a flow associated with the packets; the flow being one of a plurality of flows transporting packets over the network; and a transmit engine adapted to rate limit the packets in response to a virtual pipe of the network for transmitting the packets.