# DPDK/dpdk

Data Plane Development Kit

Repository: https://github.com/DPDK/dpdk
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/dpdk
Language: C
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-26T20:35:02+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3346, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4394, forks 1504 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:48.156509+00:00)

## What it is
DPDK is a set of C libraries and NIC drivers for fast userspace packet processing, bypassing the kernel network stack. It supports multiple CPU architectures and runs on Linux and FreeBSD.

## Use cases
- build a high-throughput packet processing application
- implement a userspace network stack that bypasses the kernel
- write custom NIC drivers for low-latency networking
- build a software router or load balancer
- benchmark network I/O performance
- process packets at line rate on commodity servers

## When to choose
- you need maximum packet throughput or minimal latency
- you are building network functions like routers, firewalls, or vSwitches
- you want kernel-bypass networking on Linux or FreeBSD

## When to avoid
- you need a simple socket-based network application
- your workload is not performance-critical and kernel networking suffices
- you need portability beyond Linux and FreeBSD

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: networking, concurrency, developer-tools
- domain: networking, performance, infrastructure-as-code, microservices
- platform: bsd, c, cpp
- tags: packet-processing, data-plane, kernel-bypass, high-performance-networking, nic-drivers, userspace-networking, linux

## Member repositories
- DPDK/dpdk (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:48.156509+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:21:11.056621+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/DPDK/dpdk (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:48.156509+00:00, sha 6406ee4502ad)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.