Are Kernel Drivers Ready For Accelerated Packet Processing Using AF_XDP?

AF_XDP is a new technology for accelerated packet processing that was introduced in Linux kernel 4.18. Unlike other kernel bypassing technologies, AF_XDP promises low operational efforts requiring no special execution environment and relying on the vendor kernel driver to achieve good performance. Our paper targets understanding the operational readiness of AF_XDP kernel drivers by comparing their maturity to their DPDK counterparts. We use the throughput and latency of both technologies for multiple frame sizes as metrics to study the mlx5 driver design, an example of enterprise-grade drivers available for AF_XDP and DPDK. Our results show that the AF_XDP mlx5 driver performs better than the traditional sockets API but is less mature in design to handle heavy traffic of all types than its user-space counterpart. We also contribute documentation of all drivers supporting AF_XDP and their limitations to familiarize the developers with the risks of porting an AF_XDP application from one driver to another.