From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <1249595428-21594-1-git-send-email-arnd@arndb.de> References: <1249595428-21594-1-git-send-email-arnd@arndb.de> Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 11:35:48 -0600 Message-ID: From: Daniel Robbins Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: [Bridge] [PATCH] macvlan: add tap device backend List-Id: Linux Ethernet Bridging List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , To: Arnd Bergmann Cc: Herbert Xu , "Michael S. Tsirkin" , "Fischer, Anna" , netdev@vger.kernel.org, bridge@lists.linux-foundation.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Or Gerlitz , Edge Virtual Bridging , "David S. Miller\"" On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 3:50 PM, Arnd Bergmann wrote: > This is a first prototype of a new interface into the network > stack, to eventually replace tun/tap and the bridge driver > in certain virtual machine setups. I have some general questions about the intended use and benefits of VEPA, from an IT perspective: In which virtual machine setups and technologies do you forsee this interface being used? Is this new interface to be used within a virtual machine or container, on the master node, or both? What interface(s) would need to be configured for a single virtual machine to use VEPA to access the network? What are the current flexibility, security or performance limitations of tun/tap and bridge that make this new interface necessary or beneficial? Is this new interface useful at all for VPN solutions or is it *specifically* targeted for connecting virtual machines to the network? Is this essentially a bridge with layer-2 isolation for the virtual machine interfaces built-in? If isolation is provided, what mechanism is used to accomplish this, and how secure is it? Does VEPA look like a regular ethernet interface (eth0) on the virtual machine side? Are there any associated user-space tools required for configuring a VEPA? Do you have any HOWTO-style documentation that would demonstrate how this interface would be used in production? Or a FAQ? This seems like a very interesting effort but I don't quite have a good grasp of VEPA's benefits and limitations -- I imagine that others are in the same boat too. Best Regards, Daniel