Calico/VPP - Using Calico’s Pluggable Dataplanes for Fun and Fast Networking

Overview

Explore the innovative Calico/VPP dataplane in this conference talk from KubeCon + CloudNativeCon. Dive into Calico's pluggable dataplane support, which offers futureproofing and agility for users in dataplane choices. Learn how VPP's flexible and modular userspace networking stack enables network-intensive pods to send and receive data at high speeds while conserving CNI features through kernel bypass. Discover the benefits for workloads focused on network I/O, such as proxies, content delivery servers, and VPN endpoints. Compare performance levels with other approaches and gain insights into the integration of Calico and VPP. Examine various data path options, including memif interfaces and host stack, along with their implementation and performance considerations. Understand the control plane/data plane separation and its advantages in network management.

Syllabus

Your Hosts Today
What is Calico?
Designed with the Future in Mind
Control Plane/Data Plane ontrol plane network knowledge
The Benefits of CP/DP Separation
The Data Planes Available Today
What is VPP?
Calico/VPP integration
What it's good for
Network intensive applications?
Regular Calico data path
Calico/VPP data path
Calico/VPP optimized data path
Option 1: memif interfaces
Option 1: gomemif example
Enabling memif
Option 2: Host stack
Host-stack integrated apps examples
Host-stack performance
Enabling the host stack
Other considerations
Summary
Wrapping up