[TECH TOPIC] VSOCK: From Convenience to Performant VirtIO Communication

[TECH TOPIC] VSOCK: From Convenience to Performant VirtIO Communication

[Bobby Eshleman]

Below is the abstract for talk we are proposing for LPC2023 about recent
work and advancements in the VSOCK socket family.

Thanks in advance!
Bobby Eshleman

Abstract

The VSOCK family of sockets has traditionally been embraced for its
convenience in enabling communication between virtual machines and the
host in virtualized environments. However, recent practical advancements
have developed VSOCK into more than just a convenience; it has become a
viable networking protocol even for some extremely demanding networking
workloads across the host/VM boundary.  This talk will delve into
virtio/vsock and its new support for datagrams, unlocking new potential
for efficient packet exchange between VMs and the host. By comparing
VSOCK datagrams with UDP over virtio, we showcase its practical
performance advantages, making it a compelling choice for
high-throughput point-to-point socket-based communication scenarios.

Additionally, we'll explore the integration of sockmap for VSOCK,
empowering eBPF programs to interact with VSOCK sockets within the
kernel. This capability allows for dynamic socket management, providing
the ability to leverage the performance advantages of both sockmap and
VSOCK in the same practical applications.