linux-drivers/
drivers/net/ethernet/intel/ice

Intel E800-series 100GbE Ethernet controllers (E810/E830)

Intel's high-end datacenter Ethernet controllers in the E800 family, covering the E810, E822/E823, and newer E830/E835 chips that drive 10/25/50/100 GbE PCIe server NICs introduced from around 2019 onward. These cards are widely used in modern cloud, storage, and HPC servers and support advanced offloads such as RDMA, DCB, and SR-IOV.

keep conf=0.98 deploy=high replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
98%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because this is the active driver for Intel's current-generation server Ethernet silicon, with more than 1,300 commits from nearly 200 authors over the last five years and ongoing additions of new PCI IDs for the newer E830 and E835 parts. Intel is still selling E810 adapters as launched products, and no replacement driver exists.

repository signals

127 files
125,335 source lines
1,397 commits, 5y
+115,450 / −55,258 lines added / removed, 5y
206 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 1,397 total · active in 60/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 5 commits · +594 −12 2021-05: 24 commits · +1,136 −177 2021-06: 18 commits · +3,629 −41 2021-07: 8 commits · +314 −381 2021-08: 47 commits · +8,115 −767 2021-09: 18 commits · +784 −348 2021-10: 58 commits · +10,920 −3,609 2021-11: 15 commits · +82 −67 2021-12: 31 commits · +5,101 −1,046 2022-01: 17 commits · +704 −170 2022-02: 47 commits · +6,865 −6,254 2022-03: 34 commits · +2,268 −570 2022-04: 31 commits · +507 −588 2022-05: 10 commits · +114 −36 2022-06: 16 commits · +716 −273 2022-07: 24 commits · +1,315 −860 2022-08: 24 commits · +1,176 −258 2022-09: 13 commits · +539 −228 2022-10: 9 commits · +679 −244 2022-11: 22 commits · +1,430 −300 2022-12: 35 commits · +4,139 −3,924 2023-01: 39 commits · +1,343 −1,029 2023-02: 31 commits · +522 −540 2023-03: 13 commits · +154 −43 2023-04: 16 commits · +590 −622 2023-05: 18 commits · +759 −956 2023-06: 29 commits · +2,461 −558 2023-07: 37 commits · +3,222 −920 2023-08: 20 commits · +548 −584 2023-09: 13 commits · +3,566 −257 2023-10: 47 commits · +2,428 −1,097 2023-11: 12 commits · +634 −219 2023-12: 47 commits · +3,757 −1,686 2024-01: 19 commits · +428 −352 2024-02: 25 commits · +790 −422 2024-03: 35 commits · +1,179 −1,132 2024-04: 16 commits · +919 −667 2024-05: 23 commits · +4,355 −1,136 2024-06: 31 commits · +920 −775 2024-07: 34 commits · +5,430 −196 2024-08: 52 commits · +3,116 −1,562 2024-09: 30 commits · +970 −737 2024-10: 21 commits · +913 −351 2024-11: 12 commits · +435 −182 2024-12: 31 commits · +1,434 −928 2025-01: 7 commits · +155 −114 2025-02: 19 commits · +538 −206 2025-03: 14 commits · +332 −179 2025-04: 16 commits · +1,309 −482 2025-05: 22 commits · +1,775 −1,654 2025-06: 31 commits · +2,589 −1,479 2025-07: 4 commits · +52 −46 2025-08: 36 commits · +10,801 −11,346 2025-09: 15 commits · +396 −1,104 2025-10: 16 commits · +2,093 −268 2025-11: 12 commits · +362 −201 2025-12: 8 commits · +40 −17 2026-01: 7 commits · +276 −177 2026-02: 14 commits · +1,285 −393 2026-03: 3 commits · +30 −35 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. cateee.net

    LKDDb shows CONFIG_ICE is current through Linux 7.0 and covers many actively supported Intel E800-family PCI IDs, including E810, E822/E823, E830, and E835 devices.

  2. intel.com

    Intel lists the E810 controller family as an active product family for high-performance server workloads.

  3. intel.com

    Intel shows a concrete E810 adapter SKU as 'Launched' with current specifications, indicating the hardware remained a live shipping product line beyond 2025.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

This is plainly a real PCI Ethernet driver: prompt metadata shows module-driver markers, 50 C files, 1352 substantive commits in 5 years, 188 authors, and most recent substantive touch on 2026-04-06, which is strong evidence against deprecation. Local shell `rg` confirmed the directory is the in-tree 'Intel(R) Ethernet Connection E800 Series' driver. `web search` found LKDDb's CONFIG_ICE page showing the driver is still built in current kernels and has gained newer E830/E835 PCI IDs, which indicates ongoing upstream expansion rather than retirement. `web search` also found Intel's E810 family page and a launched E810 adapter SKU page, supporting that hardware is still sold for server/datacenter deployments. A direct `web search` for lore removal/deprecation discussion returned no hits; combined with the very recent activity, that argues strongly for keep. No natural replacement driver exists upstream for the same hardware family.