Multi-path packet descriptor delivery scheme

Examples describe use of multiple meta-data delivery schemes to provide tags that describe packets to an egress port group. A tag, that is smaller than a packet, can be associated with a packet. The tag can be stored in a memory, as a group with other tags, and the tag can be delivered to a queue associated with an egress port. Packets received at an ingress port can be as non-interleaved to reduce underrun and providing cut-through to an egress port. A shared memory can be allocated to store packets received at a single ingress port or shared to store packets from multiple ingress ports.