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Learn about VIO, a novel dynamic I/O device passthrough approach that addresses memory oversubscription challenges in cloud environments through this 17-minute conference presentation from OSDI '25. Discover how traditional SR-IOV and I/O device passthrough methods require static memory pinning, which conflicts with cloud service providers' need for memory oversubscription to reduce costs. Explore the limitations of the Page Request Interface (PRI) and why it hasn't achieved broad adoption in network interface cards and storage devices. Understand VIO's innovative solution that leverages shadow available queues to dynamically switch between VIO and passthrough modes based on I/O operations per second pressure, achieving near-native performance while remaining hardware-independent. Examine how VIO eliminates I/O page faults through IOPA-snooping in the virtio data plane while maintaining direct interrupt passthrough to VM guests. Review real-world deployment results from a leading global cloud service provider across 300,000 VMs, demonstrating how VIO reclaims the equivalent of 30,000 VM memory daily without compromising Service Level Objectives, with benefits scaling as deployment grows.
