Virtio as a Universal Communication Format

Explore the concept of virtio as a universal communication format in this Linux Plumbers Conference talk. Delve into the terminology, popularity, and motivations behind virtio, including its applications in userspace drivers, VM guests, overcommit, and bug mitigation. Examine virtio properties, feature negotiation, and net failover support. Investigate compatibility issues with existing drivers, devices, and different virtio versions. Learn about PCI-based discovery, virtqueue ring, and the process of incorporating changes into the specification. Address interface compatibility, hardware specifics, platform issues, and device quirks. Gain valuable insights into this important topic in Linux development through the presentation and subsequent Q&A session.

Intro
Terminology
The inexplicable popularity of virtio
Motivation: userspace drivers
Motivation: VM guests
Motivation: overcommit
Motivation: bugs
Virtio Properties
Virtio feature negotiation
Virtio net add failover support
Compatibility: existing drivers
Compatibility: existing devices
Compatibility: virtio 0.9 versus 1.0
PCI based discovery
Virtqueue ring
How to get it in the spec?
Interface compatibility
Hardware s special
Platform issues
Device quirks
Summary
Questions?