DPDK l3fwd is a high-performance forwarding application in DPDK (Data Plane Development Kit) that is used for routing IPv4 and IPv6 packets. It uses the DPDK framework to perform fast packet processing on multi-core CPUs.
The l3fwd application provides a simple example of how to use the DPDK library to receive and forward IP packets at layer 3 (L3). The application reads packets from multiple NIC ports, performs L3 forwarding based on the destination IP address, and sends the packets out through other NIC ports.
The l3fwd application uses a hash table data structure to store forwarding information. Each entry in the hash table contains an IP address prefix and corresponding next-hop MAC address. When a packet arrives, the application looks up its destination IP address in the hash table and determines which NIC port to send it out through.
The performance of the l3fwd application is highly dependent on hardware and configuration. It can achieve line-rate forwarding at speeds of up to 100 Gbps with appropriate hardware and tuning.
Overall, DPDK l3fwd is a useful tool for building high-performance network applications that require fast packet processing and forwarding capabilities.
