A METHOD, A NETWORK DEVICE, AND A COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR RESETTING A PACKET PROCESSING COMPONENT TO AN OPERATIONAL STATE

A network device that includes a plurality of packet processing components may receive traffic associated with one or more services. The network device may store state information for each of the plurality of packet processing components, while the plurality of packet processing components are receiving the traffic. The state information may include state configuration information and/or internal storage information. The state information may be stored using a data structure that is internal to the network device and external to the packet processing component. The network device may detect an error that prevents the packet processing component from processing at least a portion of the traffic. The network device may execute, based on detecting the error that prevents the packet processing component from processing at least the portion of the traffic, a recovery procedure that uses the state information to reset the packet processing component to an operational state.