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, a type of hardware platform and a presence of a file for validating a rate limiting license, the intermediary device processing network traffic between a plurality of clients and a plurality of servers, the rate limiting license comprising content identifying a particular performance level from a plurality of performance levels supported by the intermediary device, the particular performance level identifying a predetermined set of performance level settings comprising a rate limit; b) establishing, by the rate limiting manager based on the type of hardware platform and the performance level, the rate limit obtained from the predetermined performance level settings identified by the particular performance level identified by the rate limiting license; and c) controlling, by a throttler of the intermediary device, a rate of receiving network packets in accordance with the rate limit.