1. A method for controlling a rate of a traffic of a device in accordance with a rate limit identified by a rate limiting license, the method comprising: a) identifying, by a rate limiting manager of an intermediary device, presence of a rate limiting license, the intermediary device processing network traffic between a plurality of clients and a plurality of servers, the rate limiting license identifying a performance level; b) establishing, by the rate limiting manager, a rate limit based on the performance level of the rate limiting license; and c) controlling, by a throttler of the intermediary, a rate of receiving network packets in accordance with the rate limit.