numam-spdk/doc/virtio.md
Dariusz Stojaczyk 36506448d4 doc/virtio: minor updates
Reflect three changes:
 * Virtio now works with Linux and QEMU vhost targets
 * The Virtio library was separated from bdev modules
 * Virtio Blk bdev module has been added

Change-Id: I7d3075ca863a1142b3ddcc4d18e982f3b7c72202
Signed-off-by: Dariusz Stojaczyk <dariuszx.stojaczyk@intel.com>
Reviewed-on: https://review.gerrithub.io/405288
Tested-by: SPDK Automated Test System <sys_sgsw@intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Pawel Wodkowski <pawelx.wodkowski@intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Daniel Verkamp <daniel.verkamp@intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Jim Harris <james.r.harris@intel.com>
2018-03-27 21:26:09 -04:00

1.2 KiB

Virtio driver

Introduction

SPDK Virtio driver is a C library that allows communicating with Virtio devices. It allows any SPDK application to become an initiator for (SPDK) vhost targets.

The driver supports two different usage models:

  • PCI - This is the standard mode of operation when used in a guest virtual machine, where QEMU has presented the virtio controller as a virtual PCI device.
  • vhost-user - Can be used to connect to a vhost socket directly on the same host.

The driver, just like the SPDK @ref vhost, is using pollers instead of standard interrupts to check for an I/O response. If used inside a VM, it bypasses interrupt and context switching overhead of QEMU and guest kernel, significantly boosting the overall I/O performance.

This Virtio library is currently used to implement two bdev modules: @ref bdev_config_virtio_scsi and Virtio Blk. These modules will export generic SPDK block devices usable by any other SPDK application.

Limitations

Current Virtio-SCSI implementation has a couple of limitations:

  • supports only up to 8 hugepages (implies only 1GB sized pages are practical)
  • single LUN per target