Microsoft brings Linux XDP project to Windows

Microsoft brings Linux XDP project to Windows

Linux has a high performance networking project called eXpress Data Path (XDP) that has been part of the Linux kernel since version 4.8. Multiple big tech firms including Google, Amazon, and Intel already invest time and resources in its development. XDP allows apps to achieve low latency and a high throughput in networking.

Now, Microsoft has joined the fray with its open-source project "XDP for Windows", based on XDP. The company has described it as its first contribution to the XDP community and has showed inclination to make the network data path truly cross-platform.

As of now, XDP for Windows contains a network driver and a placeholder user mode API. Microsoft has emphasized that the project is still under active development but should be ready for testing and prototyping. The firm is also partnering with other firms and adding support for XDP in the MsQuic protocol.

Microsoft has noted that anyone can clone the XDP for Windows repository and start building on it since the project is designed to accelerate network performance in multiple scenarios. The company is adding more features such as checksum offload and integration with eBPF for Windows too, but in the meantime, you can check out XDP for Windows on GitHub here.

It is important to note that XDP does not work on every piece of hardware and is only supported on a handful of network interface cards (NIC) and drivers right now.