In this episode of the backend engineering show I go through the main job of the network interface controller (NIC for short) and how the datacenter is pushing it to the limit by allowing it to do more TCP/IP processing, creating what is being popularized as smartNIC.
0:00 Intro
1:20 What is a NIC?
3:40 NIC job
8:00 When does the OS get involved
12:40 Promiscuous mode
14:00 SmartNIC
18:30 Disadvantages
Resources
https://developer.nvidia.com/networking/ethernet-adapters
https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/11/smartnics_network_market/
https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.09615
Fundamentals of Networking for Effective Backends udemy course (link redirects to udemy with coupon)
https://network.husseinnasser.com