Jiri Benc: The Network Packet's Diary: A Kernel Journey

Ever wondered what's happening with network packets in the kernel? What all those weird abbreviations such as “skb”, “GSO” and “NAPI” mean? Why sometimes your firewall rules are ignored? This presentation will be your illustrated introduction guide to the kernel networking. Join a network packet on its tour through the kernel. From its arrival at the network card, through all the different layers up to the final destination: your application. And then back. And forth and back again, this time with some tricks to speed things up. We won't look into any C code. Instead, we'll focus at how and why things work and what are the ideas behind. No previous experience with kernel coding required. It's enough to have a vague idea that network packets begin with stacked protocol headers.