linux-drivers/
drivers/net/ethernet/hisilicon/hns3/hns3vf

HiSilicon HNS3 SR-IOV virtual function Ethernet driver (Kunpeng 920/930)

Provides the guest-side networking for SR-IOV virtual functions on Huawei's built-in HNS3 Ethernet controllers, which are integrated into the Kunpeng 920 and 930 ARM server SoCs (HIP08/HIP09/HIP10) used in TaiShan servers and related Huawei cloud and enterprise gear. It lets virtual machines and containers on those hosts get direct, near-native access to slices of the physical NIC.

keep conf=0.87 last_sold=2025 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
87%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because the underlying hardware is still being shipped and supported in 2025 on Huawei's Kunpeng-based TaiShan servers, and the code is still receiving real bug fixes upstream — netdev saw VF-specific patches landing in 2025 for resource allocation and channel-count handling. There is also no alternative driver: the VF side is paired with the matching HNS3 PF stack, and the wider ecosystem (including DPDK) continues to track this hardware family.

repository signals

9 files
4,718 source lines
104 commits, 5y
+1,441 / −2,220 lines added / removed, 5y
27 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 104 total · active in 38/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-05: 3 commits · +59 −13 2021-06: 1 commit · +3 −6 2021-07: 5 commits · +211 −1 2021-08: 13 commits · +132 −134 2021-09: 4 commits · +39 −35 2021-10: 6 commits · +10 −8 2021-11: 6 commits · +70 −28 2021-12: 9 commits · +195 −881 2022-01: 7 commits · +112 −740 2022-02: 1 commit · +17 −2 2022-03: 1 commit · +5 −0 2022-04: 3 commits · +7 −5 2022-05: 2 commits · +74 −68 2022-06: 1 commit · +1 −1 2022-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-08: 1 commit · +1 −1 2022-09: 2 commits · +3 −3 2022-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-11: 1 commit · +0 −5 2022-12: 1 commit · +2 −1 2023-01: 2 commits · +1 −2 2023-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-03: 1 commit · +2 −4 2023-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-05: 1 commit · +4 −1 2023-06: 1 commit · +5 −9 2023-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-08: 2 commits · +204 −143 2023-09: 1 commit · +2 −1 2023-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-11: 3 commits · +30 −3 2023-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-03: 1 commit · +4 −4 2024-04: 1 commit · +90 −0 2024-05: 4 commits · +15 −17 2024-06: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-08: 2 commits · +6 −6 2024-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-10: 3 commits · +38 −11 2024-11: 2 commits · +13 −42 2024-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-01: 4 commits · +41 −11 2025-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-04: 1 commit · +20 −6 2025-05: 1 commit · +1 −1 2025-06: 4 commits · +19 −18 2025-07: 1 commit · +1 −5 2025-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-12: 1 commit · +2 −2 2026-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-02: 1 commit · +2 −2 2026-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. spinics.net

    A 2025 netdev patch series includes VF-specific fixes for hns3, including 'using the num_tqps in the vf driver to apply for resources', showing active upstream maintenance rather than retirement.

  2. spinics.net

    Another 2025 netdev patch series includes 'fixed vf get max channels bug', further indicating current upstream bug-fix traffic for the VF path.

  3. support.huawei.com

    Huawei's 2025 SR-IOV guide documents creating VFs on supported NICs and shows VF PCI IDs including 19e5:a22f, demonstrating real deployment of HNS3 virtual functions.

  4. doc.dpdk.org

    Current DPDK documentation says HNS3 covers Kunpeng 920 and Kunpeng 930 SoCs and explicitly lists SR-IOV VF support, indicating an active software ecosystem around this hardware family.

  5. support.huawei.com

    Huawei support documentation updated in 2025 describes TaiShan 200 servers powered by Kunpeng 920 processors, supporting the conclusion that the platform remained in market/service in 2025.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local shell inspection confirmed this is a real PCI VF driver (`hclgevf`, Huawei VF PCI IDs) and local `git log` showed 2024-2025 nontrivial fixes in this directory. Public URLs were then obtained via `web.search_query`: Spinics/netdev threads for the matching 2025 VF fixes, Huawei support pages for 2025 TaiShan/Kunpeng and SR-IOV deployment evidence, and DPDK docs for ongoing HNS3 VF ecosystem support. Available searches found active maintenance and deployment evidence, but no clear removal/deprecation discussion; there is no natural replacement other than the paired PF-side `hns3`/`hclge` stack, so the correct hint is keep.