XDP use for data diodes

XDP use for data diodes

[Rene Vrolijk]

Hi,

I have a question about the use of XDP. A little warning upfront, i’m not a programmer or network manager so my question could be strange. Sorry for that.

I created a Github to teach people about the basics of data diodes on https://github.com/vrolijk/osdd 
Via this git i explain student in 2 hours the basics and how to to get their hands on a data diode, insight in UDP packetloss with normal operating systems, setup Ubuntu to use as a proxy and send data with three different use cases. All with publicly available hard and software and with complicated scripting.

My (noob) question:
There is a major issue when using Ubuntu and  packetloss in the Linuxkernel. Is it possible to use XDP to prevent packetloss when sending data over an unidirectional connection between 2 Ubuntu machines via a data diode? 
Is it possible to help me (and the students) via an example how to configure this on the 2 machines? 

The main idea for the workshop is having a noob proof example so the student has a working example and can continue with his own more advanced setup or use-case.

Regards, 
Rene Vrolijk

Re: XDP use for data diodes

[Toke Høiland-Jørgensen]

Rene Vrolijk <rrvrolijk@gmail.com> writes:

> Hi,
>
> I have a question about the use of XDP. A little warning upfront, i’m
> not a programmer or network manager so my question could be strange.
> Sorry for that.
>
> I created a Github to teach people about the basics of data diodes on
> https://github.com/vrolijk/osdd Via this git i explain student in 2
> hours the basics and how to to get their hands on a data diode,
> insight in UDP packetloss with normal operating systems, setup Ubuntu
> to use as a proxy and send data with three different use cases. All
> with publicly available hard and software and with complicated
> scripting.
>
> My (noob) question:
> There is a major issue when using Ubuntu and packetloss in the
> Linuxkernel. Is it possible to use XDP to prevent packetloss when
> sending data over an unidirectional connection between 2 Ubuntu
> machines via a data diode? Is it possible to help me (and the
> students) via an example how to configure this on the 2 machines?

While XDP can help alleviate some causes of packet loss, it is always
possible to overwhelm a receiver. And XDP is certainly not noob
friendly, so I'm not sure I'd recommend it as a tool for people who are
just starting out experimenting with network programming.

The XDP tutorial is probably still the best resource we have for getting
started with XDP, so I'd suggest you take a look at that:
https://github.com/xdp-project/xdp-tutorial

-Toke