DPDK

DPDK stands for Data Plane Development Kit. It is an open‑source set of libraries and drivers for fast packet processing on Linux. The project was started by Intel to provide a high‑performance, user‑space network stack that can bypass the kernel network stack for applications such as virtual switches, load balancers and high‑frequency trading platforms.

DPDK is written primarily in C and uses a driver model that compares target devices against a list of supported network interface cards. When a supported NIC is detected, DPDK loads the corresponding driver, initializes the device’s memory‑mapped registers, creates memory pools for packet buffers (mbufs), and sets up interrupt and polling mechanisms. Applications use the DPDK APIs to obtain mbufs, enqueue them to transmit queues, and dequeue received packets, typically from one or more polling loops running on dedicated CPU cores. This zero‑copy, lock‑free design greatly reduces context switches and improves CPU utilization.

Key architectural components include the Environment Abstraction Layer (EAL) which abstracts system resources, the poll mode driver (PMD) interface that hides hardware specifics, and the packet buffer abstraction. Optional libraries provide a timer framework, an event manager, and support for virtualised environments via tools such as vhost and SR‑IOV.

DPDK is used by a wide range of vendors and research projects. Telecom operators employ it inside virtualised network functions (VNFs) to meet qkd packets per second targets. Cloud providers use it to accelerate the networking stack in hypervisors and container runtimes. Open‑source projects such as Open vSwitch and Quagga include DPDK support to achieve line‑rate packet forwarding.

The project is released under the BSD 3‑Clause license, which permits commercial redistribution. Development is coordinated on GitHub where contributors submit patches, report issues, and track feature requests. The current release cycle targets stability for specific kernel versions while continuously integrating new PCIe NIC drivers.