CXL Type 2 Device Passthrough with VFIO - Enhancing Data Center Performance

Explore the intricacies of CXL Type 2 device passthrough using VFIO in this 29-minute KVM Forum talk. Delve into the world of Compute Express Link (CXL), an open standard interconnect built on PCI layers, and its role in enhancing data center performance. Understand the three key CXL protocols: CXL.io, CXL.cache, and CXL.mem, and their significance in seamlessly integrating CXL Type 2 devices with host CPUs. Learn about VFIO, the standard Linux kernel interface for passing host devices to virtual machines, and its various modules. Discover the unique challenges of passing CXL Type 2 devices compared to traditional PCI devices, and the need for new VFIO CXL modules. Review CXL Type 2 device requirements, explore the architecture design of VFIO CXL modules and their UABIs, and examine necessary changes to the kernel CXL core and QEMU. Gain insights from Zhi Wang, an open-source developer with expertise in vGPU, confidential computing, and virtualization, as he shares his knowledge on this cutting-edge topic.