diff --git a/api/src/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/user/vm/AddIpToVmNicCmd.java b/api/src/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/user/vm/AddIpToVmNicCmd.java
index c0e8d3e16a6..439879add9b 100644
--- a/api/src/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/user/vm/AddIpToVmNicCmd.java
+++ b/api/src/org/apache/cloudstack/api/command/user/vm/AddIpToVmNicCmd.java
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ public class AddIpToVmNicCmd extends BaseAsyncCmd {
         try {
             result = _networkService.allocateSecondaryGuestIP(getNicId(), getIpaddress());
         } catch (InsufficientAddressCapacityException e) {
-            throw new InvalidParameterValueException("Allocating guest ip for nic failed");
+            throw new InvalidParameterValueException("Allocating guest ip for nic failed : " + e.getMessage());
         }
 
         if (result != null) {
diff --git a/engine/schema/src/com/cloud/vm/dao/NicSecondaryIpDao.java b/engine/schema/src/com/cloud/vm/dao/NicSecondaryIpDao.java
index 9fbfa279089..39b8470b8c2 100644
--- a/engine/schema/src/com/cloud/vm/dao/NicSecondaryIpDao.java
+++ b/engine/schema/src/com/cloud/vm/dao/NicSecondaryIpDao.java
@@ -51,4 +51,6 @@ public interface NicSecondaryIpDao extends GenericDao<NicSecondaryIpVO, Long> {
     NicSecondaryIpVO findByIp4AddressAndNetworkIdAndInstanceId(long networkId, Long vmId, String vmIp);
 
     List<String> getSecondaryIpAddressesForNic(long nicId);
+
+    Long countByNicId(long nicId);
 }
diff --git a/engine/schema/src/com/cloud/vm/dao/NicSecondaryIpDaoImpl.java b/engine/schema/src/com/cloud/vm/dao/NicSecondaryIpDaoImpl.java
index 2f3cc290b40..29af0198b47 100644
--- a/engine/schema/src/com/cloud/vm/dao/NicSecondaryIpDaoImpl.java
+++ b/engine/schema/src/com/cloud/vm/dao/NicSecondaryIpDaoImpl.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import com.cloud.utils.db.SearchCriteria.Op;
 public class NicSecondaryIpDaoImpl extends GenericDaoBase<NicSecondaryIpVO, Long> implements NicSecondaryIpDao {
     private final SearchBuilder<NicSecondaryIpVO> AllFieldsSearch;
     private final GenericSearchBuilder<NicSecondaryIpVO, String> IpSearch;
+    protected GenericSearchBuilder<NicSecondaryIpVO, Long> CountByNicId;
 
     protected NicSecondaryIpDaoImpl() {
         super();
@@ -50,6 +51,11 @@ public class NicSecondaryIpDaoImpl extends GenericDaoBase<NicSecondaryIpVO, Long
         IpSearch.and("network", IpSearch.entity().getNetworkId(), Op.EQ);
         IpSearch.and("address", IpSearch.entity().getIp4Address(), Op.NNULL);
         IpSearch.done();
+
+        CountByNicId = createSearchBuilder(Long.class);
+        CountByNicId.select(null, Func.COUNT, null);
+        CountByNicId.and("nic", CountByNicId.entity().getNicId(), SearchCriteria.Op.EQ);
+        CountByNicId.done();
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -135,4 +141,11 @@ public class NicSecondaryIpDaoImpl extends GenericDaoBase<NicSecondaryIpVO, Long
         sc.setParameters("address", vmIp);
         return findOneBy(sc);
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public Long countByNicId(long nicId) {
+        SearchCriteria<Long> sc = CountByNicId.create();
+        sc.setParameters("nic", nicId);
+        return customSearch(sc, null).get(0);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/com/cloud/configuration/Config.java b/server/src/com/cloud/configuration/Config.java
index 9117bc45e9d..6ba67749aef 100755
--- a/server/src/com/cloud/configuration/Config.java
+++ b/server/src/com/cloud/configuration/Config.java
@@ -402,6 +402,10 @@ public enum Config {
             "10",
             "The maximum number of subnets per customer gateway",
             null),
+    MaxNumberOfSecondaryIPsPerNIC(
+            "Network", ManagementServer.class, Integer.class,
+            "vm.network.nic.max.secondary.ipaddresses", "256",
+            "Specify the number of secondary ip addresses per nic per vm", null),
 
     // Console Proxy
     ConsoleProxyCapacityStandby(
diff --git a/server/src/com/cloud/network/NetworkServiceImpl.java b/server/src/com/cloud/network/NetworkServiceImpl.java
index 056190f1c4a..399f08681d1 100755
--- a/server/src/com/cloud/network/NetworkServiceImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/com/cloud/network/NetworkServiceImpl.java
@@ -669,6 +669,14 @@ public class NetworkServiceImpl extends ManagerBase implements NetworkService {
             throw new InvalidParameterValueException("Invalid network id is given");
         }
 
+        int maxAllowedIpsPerNic = NumbersUtil.parseInt(_configDao.getValue(Config.MaxNumberOfSecondaryIPsPerNIC.key()), 10);
+        Long nicWiseIpCount = _nicSecondaryIpDao.countByNicId(nicId);
+        if(nicWiseIpCount.intValue() >= maxAllowedIpsPerNic) {
+            s_logger.error("Maximum Number of Ips \"vm.network.nic.max.secondary.ipaddresses = \"" + maxAllowedIpsPerNic + " per Nic has been crossed for the nic " +  nicId + ".");
+            throw new InsufficientAddressCapacityException("Maximum Number of Ips per Nic has been crossed.", Nic.class, nicId);
+        }
+
+
         s_logger.debug("Calling the ip allocation ...");
         String ipaddr = null;
         //Isolated network can exist in Basic zone only, so no need to verify the zone type
diff --git a/setup/db/db/schema-430to440.sql b/setup/db/db/schema-430to440.sql
index 1b6a9ab420f..0ce92023811 100644
--- a/setup/db/db/schema-430to440.sql
+++ b/setup/db/db/schema-430to440.sql
@@ -443,4 +443,4 @@ CREATE VIEW `cloud`.`user_vm_view` AS
            left join
         `cloud`.`user_vm_details` `custom_ram_size`  ON (((`custom_ram_size`.`vm_id` = `cloud`.`vm_instance`.`id`) and (`custom_ram_size`.`name` = 'memory')));
 
-
+INSERT INTO `cloud`.`configuration`(category, instance, component, name, value, description, default_value) VALUES ('NetworkManager', 'DEFAULT', 'management-server', 'vm.network.nic.max.secondary.ipaddresses', NULL, 'Specify the number of secondary ip addresses per nic per vm', '256') ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE category='NetworkManager';
\ No newline at end of file