I've been thinking about what it would take to backport some of the
GLDv3 conversions to Solaris 10. Given that Solaris 10 seems to have no
plan to end, I think its time to seriously reexamine the problems that
prevented GLDv3 conversions in the past.
What I'd like to propose is an update to use GLDv3 for hme, eri, dmfe,
and perhaps other NIC drivers as well.
What is needed for a backport:
* ndd support for the "instance" hack. Looking at this, it looks
like not a huge problem to solve in Nemo .. simply changing dld to
recognize the situation and handle it specially (logically "attaching"
the stream and tracking a driver-wide instance parameter. I know its
ugly and I hate it, but its embedded in a lot of scripts.) Of course,
if folks believe that this interface is one we can break in Solaris 10,
please speak up. I'd be happy to run such a case, but I see it fraught
with troubles.
* dladm brussels support -- this is a bigger issue. Some of these
GLDv3 drivers have moved away from implementing their own ndd support,
and are instead relying on simpler interfaces in Brussels.
Is this worth doing? IMO, it is. But I'm keen to hear other opinions.
-- Garrett
