linux-drivers/
drivers/net/ethernet/qlogic/qed

Marvell/QLogic FastLinQ 41000/45000 Ethernet Core Module

Shared core support for Marvell (formerly QLogic) FastLinQ 41000 and 45000 series converged network adapters — 10, 25, 50, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe cards used in enterprise servers and cloud datacenters, often as combined NIC/iSCSI/FCoE/RoCE controllers. It is the low-level base module that the qede Ethernet, qedr RDMA, qedi iSCSI, and qedf FCoE drivers all build on.

keep conf=0.90 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
90%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because Marvell still sells FastLinQ 41000 and 45000 series 10/25/50/100 GbE adapters in 2025, and the code is actively maintained: cleanup and bug-fix patches were still landing in net-next as recently as November 2025. There is no in-tree replacement for the same hardware, so removing it would strand existing datacenter deployments.

repository signals

60 files
85,252 source lines
127 commits, 5y
+16,515 / −11,816 lines added / removed, 5y
57 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 127 total · active in 42/61 months
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sources

  1. spinics.net

    The qed code was still receiving upstream net-next maintenance in 2025, including code cleanup patches directly touching drivers/net/ethernet/qlogic/qed.

  2. spinics.net

    The sibling qede Ethernet driver stack built on qed was still receiving bug fixes that were applied to netdev in November 2025, indicating active upstream use rather than removal.

  3. cateee.net

    LKDDb identifies CONFIG_QED as the core driver for the Marvell FastLinQ adapters family and shows it remains present in current kernel series.

  4. marvell.com

    Marvell still marketed FastLinQ 41000 series Ethernet adapters in 2026, supporting the conclusion that this hardware was still sold new in 2025.

  5. marvell.com

    Marvell's current FastLinQ CNA portfolio page still lists FastLinQ 41000/45000/8400 series as active product families for enterprise and cloud deployments.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local shell (`sed` on qed_main.c) confirmed this directory is the loadable 'QLogic FastLinQ 4xxxx Core Module', so it is a real driver, not just a helper library. All cited URLs were obtained via web search. Search results showed active 2025 upstream patch traffic for qed/qede and no evident driver-removal/deprecation thread, which argues against deprecation. LKDDb ties CONFIG_QED to Marvell FastLinQ adapters, and Marvell product pages still advertised FastLinQ 41000/45000 hardware in 2026; that points to ongoing, but datacenter-niche, deployments rather than obsolescence. There is no natural in-tree replacement for the same hardware family, so the right outcome is keep.