Electrode - Accelerating Distributed Protocols with eBPF

Explore a 16-minute conference talk from USENIX NSDI '23 that introduces Electrode, an innovative approach to accelerating distributed protocols using eBPF. Discover how the researchers from Harvard University, Peking University, and Cornell University tackle the performance challenges of implementing distributed protocols under standard Linux kernel networking stacks. Learn about the set of eBPF-based performance optimizations designed to execute in the kernel before the networking stack, avoiding user-kernel crossings and kernel networking stack traversing. Examine the impressive results achieved when applying Electrode to a classic Multi-Paxos state machine replication protocol, including throughput improvements of up to 128.4% and latency reductions of up to 41.7%. Gain insights into balancing the benefits of load-aware CPU scaling, high compatibility, and robust security with enhanced performance in distributed systems.