Re: Beyond DPDK 2.0

[Ivan Boule <ivan.boule-pdR9zngts4EAvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>]

Hi Avi,

On 05/07/2015 04:02 PM, Avi Kivity wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 6:11 PM, O'Driscoll, Tim <tim.o'driscoll-ral2JQCrhuEAvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Does anybody have any input or comments on this?
>>
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: O'Driscoll, Tim
>>> Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 11:39 AM
>>> To: dev-VfR2kkLFssw@public.gmane.org
>>> Subject: Beyond DPDK 2.0
>>>
>>> Following the launch of DPDK by Intel as an internal development
>>> project, the launch of dpdk.org by 6WIND in 2013, and the first DPDK RPM
>>> packages for Fedora in 2014, 6WIND, Red Hat and Intel would like to
>>> prepare for future releases after DPDK 2.0 by starting a discussion on
>>> its evolution. Anyone is welcome to join this initiative.
>>>
>>> Since then, the project has grown significantly:
>>> -    The number of commits and mailing list posts has increased
>>> steadily.
>>> -    Support has been added for a wide range of new NICs (Mellanox
>>> support submitted by 6WIND, Cisco VIC, Intel i40e and fm10k etc.).
>>> -    DPDK is now supported on multiple architectures (IBM Power support
>>> in DPDK 1.8, Tile support submitted by EZchip but not yet reviewed or
>>> applied).
>>>
>>> While this is great progress, we need to make sure that the project is
>>> structured in a way that enables it to continue to grow. To achieve
>>> this, 6WIND, Red Hat and Intel would like to start a discussion about
>>> the future of the project, so that we can agree and establish processes
>>> that satisfy the needs of the current and future DPDK community.
>>>
>>> We're very interested in hearing the views of everybody in the
>>> community. In addition to debate on the mailing list, we'll also
>>> schedule community calls to discuss this.
>>>
>>>
>>> Project Goals
>>> -------------
>>>
>>> Some topics to be considered for the DPDK project include:
>>> -    Project Charter: The charter of the DPDK project should be clearly
>>> defined, and should explain the limits of DPDK (what it does and does
>>> not cover). This does not mean that we would be stuck with a singular
>>> charter for all time, but the direction and intent of the project should
>>> be well understood.
>>
>
>
> One problem we've seen with dpdk is that it is a framework, not a library:
> it wants to create threads, manage memory, and generally take over.  This
> is a problem for us, as we are writing a framework (seastar, [1]) and need
> to create threads, manage memory, and generally take over ourselves.
>
> Perhaps dpdk can be split into two layers, a library layer that only
> provides mechanisms, and a framework layer that glues together those
> mechanisms and applies a policy, trading in generality for ease of use.
>
> [1] http://seastar-project.org
>
I fully agree with this analysis/proposal.
And I think that:
- the associated modifications should be done ASAP,
- the underlying design rules that this proposal refers to should drive 
the design and review of new DPDK features.

Regards,
Ivan