Netdev Driver for Acceleration COMBO Cards

This thesis deals with the development of the network device driver for the FPGA network COMBO cards, which should enable receiving and sending packets through standard network interface of Linux kernel. CESNET is developing a device called DDoS Protector for protection against an amplification (D)DoS attacks, which uses COMBO cards to achieve high performance. A SZE2 interface is used for high speed transfers of network data between COMBO card and a controlling software application, using technique of bypassing kernel network stack and other methods. DDoS Protector has to support standard network protocols, whose implementation directly on top of the SZE2 is very difficult. Instead, using kernel network stack, which is, by default, bypassed to achieve high performance, is much easier to implement and supports all sorts of protocols. Creation of the network device driver enables us to use kernel network stack and other network applications for COMBO cards. Based on the study of SZE2 interface and driver development, I designed and then successfully implemented network device driver. Driver was tested to ensure standard protocols work. It was also tested from the performance point of view. I have also developed the same type of driver for the newer interface - NDP and an application for an accelerated packet forwarding, both of which are functional and were not part of the thesis specification