Improving Route Scalability with Nexthop Objects

Explore a comprehensive talk from the Linux Plumbers Conference on improving route scalability using nexthop objects. Learn about the new API committed to the kernel for managing nexthops as separate objects from routes, reducing overhead and enabling new capabilities. Dive into the kernel-side implementation, userspace API, performance improvements, and potential follow-on features. Understand how this approach benefits Linux as a Network Operating System (NOS) and other networking deployments. Discover the current API's limitations, use cases, and the hybrid approach for routing suites and daemons. Examine the code constraints, data structures, and the process of converting legacy systems to the new method. Gain insights into benefits such as overlay support, link event handling, and compatibility with RFC 5549. Explore future developments, including notifications and route dump improvements, while considering backward compatibility.

Introduction
Current API
Overhead
Backwards Compatibility
Use Case
Switch Dev
Hybrid Approach
Routing Suites
Routing Demons
Validation
Hardware Programming
Kernel Information
Separate Object
API
Multipath
Code Constraints
RTA and Hide
Code Overview
Nexthop Structure
Data Structures
ipv6 Multipath
ipv6 Nexthops
Basic Nexthops
Converting Legacy to New
Benefits
Overlay
Flame Graph
Link Event
RFC 5549
FRR
Whats next
Notifications
Route Dump
Backward Compatibility
Questions
MAC address