Re: [PATCH 0/4] Support accelerated network plugin modules

[Jambunathan K <jambunathan@netxen.com>]

I have a question regarding the feature set that is proposed here. The
intention is to further my own understanding and get some additional
insights.

Doesn't accelerated network plugins solve the same problem as say a
"native" PCI passthroughed driver. Put other way, what can an
accelerator do that a passthroughed driver cannot do?

Regards,
Jambunathan K.

Kieran Mansley wrote:
> This series of patches adds support to netfront and netback to allow
> accelerated drivers to plug in and support a fast path for network
> traffic.  This is designed to allow use of virtualisable "smart" NICs
> directly from domU, with help/control from dom0.  Experiments with
> Solarflare hardware have shown a doubling in network performance when
> using this approach on 10Gbps networks, compared to the traditional
> network path through netfront/netback.  i.e. Performance from domU
> approaches that normally seen in dom0.
> 
> The patches are as follows:
> 
> 1/4:  Add xenbus_for_each_[back,front]end functions to iterate each bus
>  - this is just a pair of simple helper functions to allow each item on
> the backend/frontend bus to be iterated.
> 
> 2/4:  Add accel option to vif xend config
>  - this allows users to specify which vif interfaces should be
> accelerated, and which plugin module should be used.
> 
> 3/4:  Frontend net driver acceleration
>  - this provides hooks in the netfront driver to allow a plugin module
> to attach and be called at appropriate points.
> 
> 4/4:  Backend net driver acceleration
>  - this provides hooks in the netback driver to allow a plugin module to
> attach and be called at appropriate points.  
> 
> 
> Kieran
> 
> 
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