Kernel bypass NICs reduce traditional TCP/IP latency by avoiding kernel stack overhead, memory copies, interrupts, and context switches through user-space drivers, zero-copy DMA, polling, and hardware offload. With PCI passthrough and SR-IOV, SmartX ECP lets VMs directly use Solarflare NIC capabilities such as PTP and Onload. In testing, SR-IOV significantly lowered VM network latency, and Onload further reduced it to 2-3 us, enabling low-latency VM deployment for HFT and HPC while reducing hardware cost and power consumption.
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SmartX builds powerful and simple-to-use computing and data infrastructures, elevating IT to focus on application and innovations that power their business.
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