NETWORK PRIORITIZATION BASED ON NODE-LEVEL ATTRIBUTES

A first method includes a plurality of nodes communicating with a network switch, each node transmitting a packet with a packet header that includes a value of a node-level attribute selected from a node utilization level, a node role, and a dependency involving the node, and the network switch receiving the packet and prioritizing transmission of the packet based on the value of the node-level attribute identified in the packet header. In a related second method, each node reports the value of the node-level attribute to a management entity, the management entity determines a priority for each node based on the value of the node-level attribute received from each node, and the management entity provides the priority for each node to the network switch, such that the network switch prioritizes, for each packet, transmission of the packet based on the priority for the node involved in communication of the packet.