linux-drivers/
drivers/infiniband/hw/vmw_pvrdma

VMware PVRDMA paravirtual RDMA adapter

A paravirtualised RDMA network adapter that VMware exposes to Linux guest VMs running on ESXi 6.5 and newer. It lets virtual machines use high-performance RDMA verbs (the same programming interface as InfiniBand or RoCE hardware) without needing a real RDMA NIC passed through, and it works alongside the VMXNET3 virtual Ethernet adapter.

keep-annotate conf=0.84 deploy=low replacement=none subsystem=infiniband category=virtualization
84%

recommendation

Worth keeping but documenting its niche: the hardware is purely virtual and only appears inside VMware vSphere guests, so real-world deployments are limited to that ecosystem. However, the code is clearly still being maintained upstream, with patches landing through 2024 and into 2026 (including modernisation work on the completion-queue interface), and Broadcom/VMware continues to ship PVRDMA as a supported vSphere adapter type, so there is no case for removal today.

repository signals

15 files
6,082 source lines
18 commits, 5y
+115 / −160 lines added / removed, 5y
13 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 18 total · active in 14/61 months
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sources

  1. lore.kernel.org

    Upstream still carries non-trivial 2026 vmw_pvrdma work ('Provide a modern CQ creation interface'), so the driver is not abandoned.

  2. lore.kernel.org

    Recent 2024 vmw_pvrdma patching continued in linux-rdma ('Support report_port_event() ops').

  3. knowledge.broadcom.com

    VMware/Broadcom documents PVRDMA as a paravirtual RDMA device for Linux VMs on ESXi 6.5+; this is a virtual-device niche, not physical hardware sold new.

  4. knowledge.broadcom.com

    VMware/Broadcom still documents PVRDMA as an available virtual adapter type in vSphere, indicating ongoing availability in VMware guest deployments.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Kconfig/local source inspection shows a real PCI RDMA driver for 'VMware Paravirtualized RDMA Driver' tied to VMXNET3. lore_file_timeline on pvrdma_main.c returned vmw_pvrdma-specific patches in 2024 and 2026; cited lore URLs were obtained from that MCP output. No removal evidence was found in the gathered lore signals, so active maintenance outweighs niche status. Deployment is likely limited to VMware/Linux guest RDMA setups, so 'low' fits better than none. Web URLs were obtained via web search results turn0search0 and turn0search2.