A group of big tech firms is backing a new open-source software effort that aims to make the Linux operating system kernel more programmable.

Announced today, the move promises to help information technology infrastructure become more intelligent, scalable and feature-rich without adding any complexity. The likes of Google LLC, Facebook Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Netflix Inc. said they’re throwing their weight behind the eBPF Foundation, which will henceforth come under the governance of the Linux Foundation.

The new open-source technology makes it possible for developers to safely and efficiently embed and run sandboxed programs in any kind of software, including the operating system kernel. In Linux, Windows and other operating systems, the kernel is what sits at the core and has complete control over everything in the system, facilitating interactions between hardware and software components.

The ability of eBPF to interact with the Linux kernel means it has incredible potential, its backers say. By bridging the boundary between the kernel and user space, it can change the way operating systems and infrastructure are designed and has big implications in everything from networking and security to application tracing and system observability.

Netflix senior performance engineer Brendan Gregg didn’t hold back, saying in a statement that eBPF provides “superpower capabilities” that give birth to a new industry of networking, performance, and security technologies.

“Netflix has pioneered uses of eBPF for observability, providing insight into countless areas that were previously difficult or prohibitively expensive to instrument,” he said, adding that it has helped it lower application latency and find cost savings.

One of the key advantages of eBPF is it allows developers to reprogram runtime behavior actively without compromising efficiency or safety, its backers say.

Facebook, for example, uses eBPF as the primary software-defined load balancer in its data centers. Meanwhile, Google uses Cilium to deliver eBPF-based networking and security to Kubernetes, its container orchestration software, as well as its cloud-native application development platform Anthos.

“EBPF is a revolutionary technology that allows us to modify operating system behavior in real time without risky or expensive kernel code changes,” said Facebook Kernel Developer Alexei Starovoitov, who is also a co-creator and maintainer of eBPF. “It’s had a remarkable impact on our ability to iterate quickly on everything from networking to security to containerization.”

Yet more praise came from Thomas Graf, the chief technology officer of Isovalent, a startup that’s looking to leverage eBPF to redesign cloud-native networking infrastructure. Graf said eBPF is enabling a revolution in security, observability and networking, especially in the area of containers and cloud-native software. “Even though eBPF has already found its ways into the production stacks of countless enterprises, we are still at the beginning of the innovation curve that eBPF as a technology unlocks,” Graf said.

Analyst Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. told SiliconANGLE it’s always exciting to see cross-industry collaboration on open-source technologies, especially when a project gets the level of attention that eBPF has attracted.

“All of the key players share a wish for Linux to operate in their data centers in the best way possible with respective to their specific workloads,” Mueller said. “Going forward, more adoption will be key, but eBPF already has a good start with large portions of data centers already up and running with it.”

The eBPF Foundation will look to expand the software’s capabilities and adoption and eventually grow beyond Linux, the project’s backers say. As part of those efforts, the foundation is planning to host its first ever eBPF Summit, a free virtual event that will take place Aug. 18 and 19.

Image: eBPF