1. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for managing a plurality of multi-field classification rules comprising, the program instructions for: (a) providing a first table including a plurality of entries corresponding to a plurality of rules relating to an ingress context; (b) providing a second table including a plurality of entries corresponding to a plurality of rules relating to an egress context; and (c) utilizing the first table and the second table to identify any rules relating to the ingress context and any rules relating to the egress context that match a search key.