On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 3:50 PM, Arnd Bergmann[off-list ref] wrote:

This is a first prototype of a new interface into the network
stack, to eventually replace tun/tap and the bridge driver
in certain virtual machine setups.

I have some general questions about the intended use and benefits of
VEPA, from an IT perspective:

In which virtual machine setups and technologies do you forsee this
interface being used?
Is this new interface to be used within a virtual machine or
container, on the master node, or both?
What interface(s) would need to be configured for a single virtual
machine to use VEPA to access the network?
What are the current flexibility, security or performance limitations
of tun/tap and bridge that make this new interface necessary or
beneficial?
Is this new interface useful at all for VPN solutions or is it
*specifically* targeted for connecting virtual machines to the
network?
Is this essentially a bridge with layer-2 isolation for the virtual
machine interfaces built-in? If isolation is provided, what mechanism
is used to accomplish this, and how secure is it?
Does VEPA look like a regular ethernet interface (eth0) on the virtual
machine side?
Are there any associated user-space tools required for configuring a VEPA?

Do you have any HOWTO-style documentation that would demonstrate how
this interface would be used in production? Or a FAQ?

This seems like a very interesting effort but I don't quite have a
good grasp of VEPA's benefits and limitations -- I imagine that others
are in the same boat too.

Best Regards,

Daniel