[dpdk-dev] [PATCH 0/4] Introduce IF proxy library

[Stephen Hemminger]

On Thu, 16 Apr 2020 17:12:07 +0000
"Andrzej Ostruszka [C]" <aostruszka at marvell.com> wrote:

> On 4/16/20 6:49 PM, Jerin Jacob wrote:
> > On Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 9:41 PM Stephen Hemminger
> > <stephen at networkplumber.org> wrote:  
> [...]
> >> Has anyone investigated solving this in the kernel rather than
> >> creating the added overhead of more Linux devices?
> >>
> >> What I am thinking of is a netlink to userspace interface.
> >> The kernel already has File-System-in-Userspace (FUSE) to allow
> >> for filesystems. What about having a NUSE (Netlink in userspace)?  
> > 
> > IMO, there is no issue with the Linux Netlink _userspace_ interface.
> > The goal of IF proxy to abstract the OS differences so that it can
> > work with Linux, FreeBSD, and Windows(if needed).  
> 
> My understanding of Stephen's question is a bit different - Stephen
> please correct me if I'm wrong.  By the comparison with FUSE he was
> thinking about providing a "kernel proxy" to userspace-based
> port/interface, which could be used not only by DPDK but by other too.
> 
> The answer from me is: no I have not.  For two reasons:
> - that would be Linux only
> - if we would create such proxy, we would probably end up with tap like
> driver in the end
> 
> With regards
> Andrzej Ostruszka

The point is think of the problem beyond just DPDK.