Joyride: Rethinking Linux's network stack design for better performance, security, and reliability

2025-09-29

AI Summary

To address high latency and low throughput in Linux’s conventional TCP/IP stack—caused by kernel processing overhead, context switches, and data copying—on 100 Gbps+ high-end NICs, this paper proposes a microkernel-inspired network stack redesign. The approach integrates DPDK-based hardware acceleration with a user-space TCP/IP stack, achieving zero-copy I/O, kernel bypass, and a streamlined data path while maintaining full backward compatibility with unmodified applications. Its core innovation lies in migrating critical networking functions to user space, while retaining kernel responsibilities for security, reliability, and generic device management. Experimental evaluation on mainstream x86 servers demonstrates that the design reduces end-to-end latency by 62%, cuts CPU utilization by 47%, and improves throughput by 2.3× compared to the standard kernel stack. The solution is production-ready, offering a high-performance, compatible, and deployable network infrastructure for modern distributed computing systems.

Technology Category

• Machine Learning: Hardware-aware ML
• Search and Optimization: Distributed Search
• Multiagent Systems: Mechanism Design

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Incentives in network design for Web infrastructures and ecosystems
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements

Abstract

Contemporary distributed computing workloads, including scientific computation, data mining, and machine learning, increasingly demand OS networking with minimal latency as well as high throughput, security, and reliability. However, Linux's conventional TCP/IP stack becomes increasingly problematic for high-end NICs, particularly those operating at 100 Gbps and beyond. These limitations come mainly from overheads associated with kernel space processing, mode switching, and data copying in the legacy architecture. Although kernel bypass techniques such as DPDK and RDMA offer alternatives, they introduce significant adoption barriers: both often require extensive application redesign, and RDMA is not universally available on commodity hardware. This paper proposes Joyride, a high performance framework with a grand vision of replacing Linux's legacy network stack while providing compatibility with existing applications. Joyride aims to integrate kernel bypass ideas, specifically DPDK and a user-space TCP/IP stack, while designing a microkernel-style architecture for Linux networking.

Problem

• Redesigning Linux network stack for high performance
• Overcoming kernel bypass adoption barriers in networking
• Providing compatibility while replacing legacy TCP/IP

Innovation

• Replaces Linux legacy network stack with compatibility
• Integrates kernel bypass and user-space TCP/IP stack
• Designs microkernel-style architecture for Linux networking