10gbps scalability (was: Re: FreeBSD problems and preliminary ways to solve)

[Poul-Henning Kamp]

In message <alpine.BSF.2.00.1108201234280.4529 at fledge.watson.org>, Robert Watso
n writes:

>Part of the key here will be reworking things like ipfw(4) 

Here is how to do it:

Compile IPFW rules to C-code, compile C-code to KLD, load KLD and hook
the firewall rules.

If the C-code is designed smartly, the C-compiler can optimize to
insanely efficient code.

The same semantics as today can be preserved with respect to counters
and dynamic addition/removal of rules, with a little bit of creative
thinking about data structures.

Somebody[tm] did that long ago, but never contributed the patches back
once The Mgt[tm] realized what performance we were talking about.

-- 
Poul-Henning Kamp       | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20
phk at FreeBSD.ORG         | TCP/IP since RFC 956
FreeBSD committer       | BSD since 4.3-tahoe    
Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence.