Arsenic: User-accessible gigabit networking |
Contents | NetOS |
Introduction | NetOS |
Arsenic is a Gigabit Ethernet host interface which exports an extended
interface to the operating system and user applications. Unlike
conventional adaptors, it implements some of the protection and
multiplexing functions traditionally performed by the operating
system. This enables applications to be given direct access to their
own 'virtual interface', allowing them to send and receive packets
without operating system interaction.
Packet filters uploaded onto the interface card by the operating system are used to demultiplex received packets to their destination application, and to validate packets before transmission. Transmit traffic shaping and scheduling mechanisms enable the bandwidth used by applications to be controlled. These features allow protocol processing to be moved into user-space shared libraries without sacrificing the security and resource management functions that the operating system normally provides. |
Software | NetOS |
Version 1.0 of the Arsenic software distribution can be downloaded
here. The distribution includes
the following components which we developed as part of the Arsenic
networking project:
|
Publications | NetOS |
The design and implementation of the Arsenic networking architecture
are described in our paper
"Arsenic: A User-Accessible Gigabit Ethernet Interface", to
be presented at INFOCOM 2001.
A Postscript version of the paper is available for download. |