KernelTrap: vmsplice() versus COW | Linux Today

KernelTrap: vmsplice() versus COW

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Apr 21, 2006

“While explaining the new splice() and tee() buffer management
system calls, Linus Torvalds made reference to some possible future
extensions. This included vmsplice(), a system call since
implemented by Jens Axboe ‘to basically do a ‘write to the buffer’,
but using the reference counting and VM traversal to actually fill
the buffer.’ Reviewing the implications of using such a system call
lead to a comparison with FreeBSD’s ZERO_COPY_SOCKET which uses COW
(copy on write)…”

Complete Story

Related Story:
Andrew
Morton: Linux 2.6.14-mm2
(Nov 11, 2005)

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

Linux Today Logo

LinuxToday is a trusted, contributor-driven news resource supporting all types of Linux users. Our thriving international community engages with us through social media and frequent content contributions aimed at solving problems ranging from personal computing to enterprise-level IT operations. LinuxToday serves as a home for a community that struggles to find comparable information elsewhere on the web.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.