This is a VM host for libvirt (kvm) machines and LXC containers.

I see dropped packets on the VMs too.

Example #1:

tompos@lxc01:~$ uptime
 10:47:46 up 10:44,  2 users,  load average: 0.16, 0.42, 0.48
tompos@lxc01:~$ uname -a
Linux lxc01 3.2.0-23-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 10 20:39:51 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux


LXC HOST:
br-eth0   Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:25:b3:82:fd:d8  
          inet addr:10.0.0.54  Bcast:10.0.1.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::225:b3ff:fe82:fdd8/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:400371 errors:0 dropped:84828 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:94804 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:167501161 (167.5 MB)  TX bytes:18564022 (18.5 MB)

Debian container:
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 52:54:00:00:00:00  
          inet addr:10.0.0.55  Bcast:10.0.1.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::5054:ff:fe00:0/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:17213802 errors:0 dropped:84822 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:40391225 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:5360613932 (4.9 GiB)  TX bytes:12306335047 (11.4 GiB)

Debian container:
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 36:6d:6a:e4:86:ea  
          inet addr:10.0.0.115  Bcast:10.0.1.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::346d:6aff:fee4:86ea/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:324344 errors:0 dropped:84822 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:1030 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:143732907 (137.0 MiB)  TX bytes:105055 (102.5 KiB)


Example #2:

LXC+libvirt KVM host:
tompos@virt101:~$ uname -a
Linux virt101 3.2.0-23-generic #36-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 10 20:39:51 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
tompos@virt101:~$ uptime
 10:51:28 up 11:05,  1 user,  load average: 0.26, 0.22, 0.23

br-eth0   Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:25:90:58:37:7c  
          inet addr:10.0.0.126  Bcast:10.0.1.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::225:90ff:fe58:377c/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:502125 errors:0 dropped:87609 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:170265 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:208178343 (208.1 MB)  TX bytes:30995052 (30.9 MB)


Debian container:

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr ae:7f:44:57:9f:0f  
          inet addr:10.0.0.124  Bcast:10.0.1.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::ac7f:44ff:fe57:9f0f/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:5638101 errors:0 dropped:87602 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:7535345 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:1896436495 (1.7 GiB)  TX bytes:1321880127 (1.2 GiB)

KVM Lucid VM:
dropped packets number does not increasing continuosly:

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 52:54:1c:67:24:89  
          inet addr:10.0.0.178  Bcast:10.0.1.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::5054:1cff:fe67:2489/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:2840 errors:0 dropped:4 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:62 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:705953 (705.9 KB)  TX bytes:8214 (8.2 KB)

Centos 6.2 VM works perfectly
Linux ldap11.maramaros.chemaxon.local 2.6.32-220.13.1.el6.x86_64 #1 SMP Tue Apr 17 23:56:34 BST 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 52:54:AB:93:11:E4  
          inet addr:10.0.0.155  Bcast:10.0.1.255  Mask:255.255.254.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::5054:abff:fe93:11e4/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:345362 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:917 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:150693942 (143.7 MiB)  TX bytes:81938 (80.0 KiB)


In KVM machines network setup bridge source is br-eth0.



I don't know if this helps.