linux-drivers/
drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ipoib

Mellanox/NVIDIA ConnectX IPoIB acceleration for mlx5

Hardware-accelerated IP-over-InfiniBand support for NVIDIA/Mellanox ConnectX-4 and newer InfiniBand adapters, letting IP traffic ride on InfiniBand fabrics with offloads handled by the network card. It is widely used in HPC clusters, AI training fabrics, and high-end storage and datacenter networks built on ConnectX-4 through ConnectX-7 VPI hardware.

keep conf=0.91 deploy=medium replacement=ib_ipoib subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
91%

recommendation

It should stay because the underlying ConnectX-4, ConnectX-6, and ConnectX-7 VPI adapters are still sold new by NVIDIA in 2025 and are core to HPC, AI, and storage fabrics. The code has seen steady upstream maintenance through 2024-2025, and NVIDIA continues to document Enhanced IPoIB as a current feature. If the accelerated path were ever dropped, the generic ib_ipoib driver remains as a fallback.

repository signals

4 files
1,672 source lines
62 commits, 5y
+380 / −234 lines added / removed, 5y
27 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 62 total · active in 30/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 6 commits · +46 −72 2021-05: 1 commit · +2 −0 2021-06: 1 commit · +3 −4 2021-07: 3 commits · +8 −14 2021-08: 1 commit · +6 −2 2021-09: 3 commits · +37 −4 2021-10: 3 commits · +11 −9 2021-11: 2 commits · +15 −5 2021-12: 2 commits · +1 −3 2022-01: 6 commits · +31 −15 2022-02: 3 commits · +5 −3 2022-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-04: 1 commit · +10 −4 2022-05: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-06: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-08: 1 commit · +1 −1 2022-09: 2 commits · +11 −4 2022-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2022-11: 3 commits · +15 −1 2022-12: 1 commit · +62 −7 2023-01: 2 commits · +7 −8 2023-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-05: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-06: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-08: 1 commit · +22 −6 2023-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-10: 1 commit · +8 −16 2023-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-12: 2 commits · +2 −2 2024-01: 1 commit · +1 −1 2024-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-05: 1 commit · +2 −2 2024-06: 1 commit · +1 −1 2024-07: 2 commits · +4 −6 2024-08: 2 commits · +2 −2 2024-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-02: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-04: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-05: 1 commit · +3 −0 2025-06: 1 commit · +19 −0 2025-07: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-08: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-09: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-10: 4 commits · +33 −27 2025-11: 1 commit · +8 −10 2025-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-02: 2 commits · +4 −4 2026-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. docs.kernel.org

    Current kernel docs still list CONFIG_MLX5_CORE_IPOIB as 'IPoIB offloads & acceleration support' for mlx5.

  2. docs.nvidia.com

    NVIDIA documents Enhanced IPoIB as a current feature and states it is supported on ConnectX-4 adapter cards family and above only.

  3. docs.nvidia.com

    ConnectX-6 VPI adapter documentation lists current InfiniBand/Ethernet adapter SKUs and positions them for HPC, storage, and datacenter deployments.

  4. docs.nvidia.com

    ConnectX-7 VPI documentation presents the family as a current InfiniBand/Ethernet adapter line for AI, scientific computing, and hyperscale/cloud workloads.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Real driver directory, not an early-exit case: local `sed` reads of `ipoib.c` and `ethtool.c` show mlx5-enhanced IPoIB netdev support for IB-port HCAs and explicit linkage to `ib_ipoib`. Local shell `git -c safe.directory=... log --since=2021-01-01 -- drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/ipoib` showed steady 2021-2025 maintenance traffic, with recent 2024-2025 fixes/refactors and no directory-specific remove/deprecate hits from a grep over commit subjects. The cited kernel-doc URL was obtained via web search; the NVIDIA IPoIB and ConnectX-6/7 URLs were also obtained via web search/open. Conclusion: this is active support for still-current ConnectX InfiniBand hardware in ongoing HPC/datacenter niches, so removal/deprecation is not indicated; if acceleration were ever dropped, generic `ib_ipoib` is the natural fallback.