linux-drivers/
drivers/net/ethernet/sfc

AMD Solarflare and XtremeScale datacenter Ethernet adapters

A family of high-performance 10/25/40/100 Gbps PCIe Ethernet network cards originally from Solarflare, now sold by AMD under the Solarflare and XtremeScale brands (including the SFN8000, X2, X3, and X4 series). They are widely used in financial trading, low-latency networking, and datacenter environments, often paired with AMD's Onload kernel-bypass stack.

keep conf=0.92 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
92%

recommendation

It should stay because the hardware is still actively sold by AMD in 2025 with current support pages and a 2026 Onload supported-adapters guide, and the driver itself is under active upstream development — including a 2026 patch series adding CXL support. There is no replacement driver covering this installed base, and the cards remain common in low-latency and datacenter deployments.

repository signals

163 files
140,759 source lines
370 commits, 5y
+75,593 / −22,500 lines added / removed, 5y
86 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 370 total · active in 55/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 2 commits · +4 −2 2021-05: 5 commits · +38 −38 2021-06: 5 commits · +21 −27 2021-07: 4 commits · +16 −10 2021-08: 10 commits · +164 −233 2021-09: 2 commits · +122 −59 2021-10: 6 commits · +48 −39 2021-11: 5 commits · +33 −22 2021-12: 5 commits · +14 −5 2022-01: 4 commits · +72 −30 2022-02: 2 commits · +44 −19 2022-03: 3 commits · +86 −73 2022-04: 10 commits · +150 −45 2022-05: 30 commits · +43,637 −2,405 2022-06: 17 commits · +592 −471 2022-07: 27 commits · +9,777 −344 2022-08: 1 commit · +22 −22 2022-09: 16 commits · +1,137 −65 2022-10: 6 commits · +62 −134 2022-11: 21 commits · +1,319 −51 2022-12: 1 commit · +2 −2 2023-01: 1 commit · +4 −1 2023-02: 14 commits · +1,331 −55 2023-03: 16 commits · +1,217 −144 2023-04: 3 commits · +10 −6 2023-05: 11 commits · +365 −195 2023-06: 19 commits · +1,483 −94 2023-07: 14 commits · +118 −4,084 2023-08: 19 commits · +2,683 −68 2023-09: 3 commits · +46 −19 2023-10: 8 commits · +513 −34 2023-11: 2 commits · +76 −56 2023-12: 3 commits · +216 −205 2024-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2024-02: 2 commits · +9 −11 2024-03: 1 commit · +2 −0 2024-04: 1 commit · +3 −4 2024-05: 1 commit · +3 −3 2024-06: 3 commits · +215 −259 2024-07: 2 commits · +11 −10 2024-08: 4 commits · +5 −5 2024-09: 13 commits · +356 −243 2024-10: 1 commit · +4 −2 2024-11: 6 commits · +85 −305 2024-12: 3 commits · +11 −29 2025-01: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-02: 5 commits · +796 −33 2025-03: 3 commits · +8,222 −12,093 2025-04: 2 commits · +32 −37 2025-05: 1 commit · +10 −7 2025-06: 8 commits · +133 −130 2025-07: 3 commits · +20 −16 2025-08: 3 commits · +9 −17 2025-09: 3 commits · +19 −8 2025-10: 1 commit · +4 −0 2025-11: 0 commits · +0 −0 2025-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-01: 5 commits · +32 −21 2026-02: 4 commits · +190 −210 2026-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. lore.kernel.org

    Upstream activity is current and substantive: a 2026 netdev patch in this driver adds CXL support, indicating ongoing feature development rather than retirement.

  2. amd.com

    AMD still markets Solarflare X2 Ethernet adapters as current products for enterprise/private/public cloud datacenters, so covered hardware was still sold new in 2025.

  3. docs.amd.com

    AMD's 2026 Onload user guide lists supported AMD Solarflare/XtremeScale X4, X3, X2, and SFN8000 adapters, showing an active supported deployment base.

  4. amd.com

    AMD publishes current X2-series support/downloads with 2026 release dates, reinforcing that this hardware/software stack remains maintained and deployable.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local `rg` inspection of `drivers/net/ethernet/sfc/efx.c` showed Solarflare/SFC/X4 PCI IDs plus newer `ef100*` code, so this is a real multi-generation NIC driver family. `lore_activity` on `drivers/net/ethernet/sfc/efx.c` returned repeated 2025-2026 `sfc: add cxl support` series on lore.kernel.org, which is strong evidence of active upstream development and no obvious removal trajectory. Web search found current AMD product/support pages for Solarflare X2 and the 2026 Onload supported-adapters guide; together they indicate the hardware family is still sold/supported, especially in datacenter and low-latency networking niches. No natural upstream replacement driver covers the same installed base, so removal/deprecation is not justified.