Andre Oppermann, FreeBSD Committer <*andre*@freebsd.org> (remove asterisks)

15. July 2005 - Update 28. July 2005: Target reached!!!

TCP/IP Cleanup and Optimizations

The TCP code in FreeBSD has evolved significantly since the fork from 4.4BSD-Lite2 in 1994 primarily due to new features and refinements of the TCP specifications.

The TCP code now needs a general overhaul, streamlining and cleanup to make it easily comprehensible, maintainable and extensible again. In addition there are many little optimizations that can be done during such an operation, propelling FreeBSD back at the top of the best performing TCP/IP stacks again, a position it has held for the longest time in the 90's.

This overhaul is a very involved and delicate matter and needs extensive formal and actual testing to ensure no regressions compared to the current code. The effort needed for this work is about three man-month of fully focused and dedicated time. To get it done I need funding to take time off my day job and to dedicate me to FreeBSD work much the way PHK did with his buffer cache and vnode rework projects.

I've got the opportunity to work up to three man-month exclusively full-time on FreeBSD during the second half of 2005. That means up to 720 hours of full-steam coding (at 60 hours/week)! I will work as much as the fundraise provides.

I need to raise enough money for each month from donations from the FreeBSD community to cover my fixed cost of living, office and associated overhead. These fixed cost amount to US$6,300/month (€5,200 or CHF8,000). Yes, Switzerland is not the cheapest place to live. :)

I will spend the funded time according the following schedule:

With these bullet points done I estimate performance improvements in IP of up to 40-50% and in TCP of up to 30%.

For corporate sponsors I can write invoices to those wishing to sponsor this work through expenses. We can also structure it as maintainance work and expenses. Tax exempt donations can probably be arranged through the FreeBSD foundation. My company is fully incorporated and has a VAT number. Contact me at <andre@freebsd.org> to discuss the options.

Sponsors and their donations:

For small donations you can use Paypal and send money to the PaypalID <contact@networx.ch>. Please put "FreeBSD TCP/IP Cleanup and Optimizations" into the subject line.

 
Thanks for your donations

Andre Oppermann, FreeBSD developer