Enhancing User Space Networking with Vivek Gupta at the DPDK Summit, Bangkok

The DPDK Summit is a major event where tech enthusiasts and industry leaders gather to discuss the latest in data plane development. This year, Vivek Gupta, CTO and Co-founder of Benison Technologies, took the stage to share his vision on "Enhancing DPDK to Enable Migration of User Space Networking Applications." Drawing on his extensive 2 decades of experience in data communications and network security, Vivek shared valuable insights and practical solutions for the betterment of user space networking applications.?

Understanding the Challenges?

Vivek kicked off his talk by highlighting the tremendous advancements we've seen in high-throughput networking and security technologies—think high-end CPUs, accelerated I/O operations, high-speed memory, and enhanced packet processing frameworks like DPDK, VPP, and eBPF. Despite these advancements, user space networking applications lag in fully leveraging these capabilities. The core issue lies in architectural bottlenecks that limit the potential gains from these advancements.?

One example Vivek highlighted was the significant performance gap between direct packet forwarding and more complex operations like SSL VPN, where throughput drops drastically. This gap underscores the need for enhancements in the DPDK framework to bridge this divide and fully utilize the available technology.

Key Requirements and Practical Solutions?

Vivek then outlined what user space networking applications need to truly thrive. These include transitioning to DPDK and VPP-enabled environments, managing limited hardware resources efficiently, and addressing application-level bottlenecks. High-throughput I/O-intensive TCP/UDP applications, deep packet inspection, AI/ML-driven security applications, and SSL VPNs are all areas that stand to benefit enormously from these enhancements.?

He proposed several enhancements to the DPDK framework to meet these needs. These enhancements aim to provide a common framework for building various user space applications in an integrated and efficient manner. Key suggestions include:?

• Granular Resource Pools: Introducing buffer and resource pools at a per-thread and per-object level to reduce contention and improve efficiency.?

• Packet Capturing Support: Enabling user space applications to capture packets directly from interfaces without copy operations.?

• Thread Usage Models: Allowing a mix of blocking and non-blocking operations and supporting a high number of worker threads not tied to the number of cores.?

• Integrated TLS and Crypto Framework: Combining TLS operations with a crypto framework to improve performance and ease of use for applications.?

• Enhanced Connection Tables: Setting up connection tables after the L4 or TLS layer to facilitate fast packet transfer between sockets, benefiting proxy and CASB applications.?

Looking Ahead?

Vivek's proposed enhancements promise to significantly boost the performance and scalability of user space networking applications, unlocking their full potential. He ended his talk with an important call to action, inviting the community to collaborate on these developments. By working together, we can address the current limitations and drive innovation forward.?

Missed Vivek's Talk at the DPDK Summit last year? Watch now.