Intel QuickAssist DH895xCC Virtual Function crypto accelerator
The SR-IOV virtual-function side of Intel's first-generation QuickAssist crypto and compression accelerator (DH895xCC "Coleto Creek", sold as the QuickAssist Adapter 8950), letting virtual machines offload bulk symmetric crypto, public-key crypto, and compression. The hardware shipped from late 2013 until its 2020 end-of-life, mainly in telecom gear, networking appliances, and SSL-offload servers.
recommendation
Worth keeping but documenting as legacy hardware. The DH895xCC generation (Coleto Creek, launched Q4 2013) and its QuickAssist Adapter 8950 cards were officially discontinued by Intel in August 2020, but the virtual function driver is still receiving upstream maintenance in 2024 and 2025, and an Intel community thread from mid-2024 shows users still running this hardware. A note flagging it as a legacy first-generation QAT part would help future readers without disrupting existing deployments.
repository signals
sources
- git.kernel.org
The driver directory was still receiving upstream changes in 2025 ('crypto: qat - refactor compression template logic', seen in local git history for this path).
- git.kernel.org
The driver directory also received another 2025 update ('crypto: qat - remove initialization in device class'), supporting that it is not abandoned in-tree.
- cateee.net
LKDDb shows CONFIG_CRYPTO_DEV_QAT_DH895xCCVF is still present through current kernel series and binds PCI ID 8086:0443 (DH895XCC Series QAT Virtual Function).
- intel.com
Intel published a product discontinuance / end-of-life notice for the QuickAssist Adapter 8950 on 2020-08-05.
- intel.com
Intel ARK lists the Intel Communications Chipset 8950 (Coleto Creek, the DH895xCC generation) with marketing status 'Discontinued' and launch date Q4'13.
- community.intel.com
An Intel community thread from June 2024 shows real-world attempts to use QAT 8950 hardware and Intel staff still pointing users to the legacy HW 1.x driver, indicating lingering legacy deployments rather than zero use.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
`exec_command` on the local kernel tree confirmed this is a real PCI SR-IOV VF driver and showed multiple path-specific upstream commits in 2024-2025; the two kernel.org commit URLs are canonical recall constructed from hashes observed via `git log`. `web.search_query` + `web.open/find` provided LKDDb continuity, Intel EOL/discontinued status, and a 2024 Intel forum usage signal. I found no concrete removal-series evidence in the available lore-web path, while maintenance is still active, so this looks like obsolete/discontinued hardware with low but nonzero legacy deployment; annotate as legacy rather than deprecate/remove.