A network switch comprises a plurality of packet processing units configured to process a received packet through multiple packet processing stages based on search result of a table. The network switch further comprises one or more memory units configured to maintain the table to be searched and provide the search result to the packet processing units. The network switch further comprises a table managing unit configured to accept a plurality of rules on bulk update to the table specified by a control unit, and perform the bulk update on the table based on the rules specified by the control unit without the control unit accessing the table directly for the bulk update.