DPDK — Data Plane Development Kit
Definition
An open-source toolkit for high-performance packet processing, enabling user-space network applications to bypass the Linux kernel for ultra-low-latency I/O.
Context & Usage
DPDK is used in NFV (Network Functions Virtualization), high-frequency trading, and any application processing millions of packets per second. By pinning CPUs to packet processing in userspace and using poll-mode drivers, DPDK applications achieve line-rate 100 GbE throughput with single-digit microsecond latency. Common DPDK applications: Open vSwitch, FD.io VPP, F5 BIG-IP, Cisco IOS XR.
Examples
- Mellanox ConnectX-5 with DPDK polling 100 GbE wire-speed
- Open vSwitch-DPDK on KVM hosts
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