Advanced · Module 8 · Lesson 7 of 11
Zero-Copy Data Pipelines: sendfile, splice, and Vectored I/O
Eliminate redundant CPU memory copies and context switches using Linux sendfile, stream kernel buffers via splice, and aggregate non-contiguous buffers with vectored writev.
By the end you can
- Stream disk files directly to network sockets using Linux sendfile
- Transfer byte streams between arbitrary file descriptors and pipes via splice and tee
- Batch non-contiguous memory buffers into atomic transmissions using writev and readv
- Trace DMA controller transfers, kernel page cache references, and scatter-gather sk_buff buffers
Builds on TCP State Machine and Socket Options: setsockopt, SO_REUSEADDR, and TIME_WAIT.
01 · A question first
Why does a traditional file-serving loop copy every byte four times and trigger four context switches, while Linux sendfile streams gigabytes directly from disk to the network card with zero CPU memory copies?
Make a guess before you read on.
02 · The idea
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What's inside
- Start with the problem
- How the idea works
- Production Implementation: High-Performance Static File Server
- Why it is correct
- What it costs
- Pitfalls and variations
- Where it is used
03 · Practice
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