Introduction

The Intel® Ethernet 800 Series is the next generation of Intel® Ethernet Controllers and Network Adapters. The 800 Series is designed with an enhanced programmable pipeline, allowing deeper and more diverse protocol header processing. It has capabilities like intelligent offloads to enable high performance, I/O virtualization for maximum performance in a virtualized server, and Intel® Ethernet Adaptive Virtual Function (Intel® Ethernet AVF) to ease SR-IOV migration to future Intel® Ethernet products.

This document describes a feature introduced in the 800 Series to support a switchdev mode for the controller's embedded switch (eSwitch). This feature allows the adapters to support hardware-assist for virtual switch (OVS, Linux* Bridge) filters.

This document describes:

• The theory of the eSwitch in both legacy and switchdev modes
• The advantages of switchdev mode
• Some limitations with switchdev mode
• How to configure switchdev mode on 800 Series Network Adapters, including OVS filter configuration