CoRD: Converged RDMA Dataplane for High-Performance Clouds

TL;DR

CoRD demonstrates that high-performance RDMA networking can be achieved without kernel bypass, maintaining OS control and simplifying network architecture by using alternative performance techniques.

Contribution

The paper introduces CoRD, a converged RDMA dataplane that eliminates kernel bypass, challenging the notion that kernel bypass is essential for high-performance networking.

Findings

Achieves high-performance RDMA without kernel bypass

Maintains OS control over RDMA dataplane

Simplifies network architecture

Abstract

High-performance networking is often characterized by kernel bypass which is considered mandatory in high-performance parallel and distributed applications. But kernel bypass comes at a price because it breaks the traditional OS architecture, requiring applications to use special APIs and limiting the OS control over existing network connections. We make the case, that kernel bypass is not mandatory. Rather, high-performance networking relies on multiple performance-improving techniques, with kernel bypass being the least effective. CoRD removes kernel bypass from RDMA networks, enabling efficient OS-level control over RDMA dataplane.