Thunderbolt Networking Driver Lands In Linux 4.15

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Thunderbolt Networking Driver Lands In Linux 4.15

The networking feature updates have landed for the Linux 4.15 merge window...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-4.15-Networking

[arbition]

Even though thunderbolt is expensive, this is probably still cheaper than a 10gig card and SFP+ Direct Attach Cables.

[Marc Driftmeyer]

Even though thunderbolt is expensive, this is probably still cheaper than a 10gig card and SFP+ Direct Attach Cables.

Thunderbolt becomes royalty free this January.

[microcode]

Thunderbolt becomes royalty free this January.

Man, that is a huge deal. Means that fully-functioning TB3 ports (USB-C, USB 3.x signalling, DisplayPort signalling, and Thunderbolt signalling) can function with entirely royalty free protocols.

[microcode]

This should be a great help for docks: have the dock export the DisplayPorts, an Ethernet NIC abstracted as ThunderboltIP (so completely portable, no new drivers need to be distributed), a USB hub, and full charging power over one USB-C connector.

[GruenSein]

Is this just point to point are there such things as "thunderbolt switches"?

[zamadatix]

ThunderboltIP, another tool that delivers Ethernet but calls it something else.

[FireBurn]

Just to check, does that mean you could connect two computers up with a USB-C cable and transfer files at superfast speeds if they're both thunderbolt enabled?

[zamadatix]

Just to check, does that mean you could connect two computers up with a USB-C cable and transfer files at superfast speeds if they're both thunderbolt enabled?

Well, a Thunderbolt cable yes. Not all USB-C cables can carry Thunderbolt.

[TheLexMachine]

Man, that is a huge deal. Means that fully-functioning TB3 ports (USB-C, USB 3.x signalling, DisplayPort signalling, and Thunderbolt signalling) can function with entirely royalty free protocols.

You say it like it's a good thing. But then, you look at the state of the actual controllers, which isn't great. Intel is moving the controller for the PC inside their future CPUs, but we still need reliable controllers for devices, which are in dire need of refinement and improvements. We also need things like HBM to be integrated into the chips, to provide significant performance increases for big data taskss like multi-gigabit networking, which is what HBM was originally intended to be used for. That won't come for a long time. We also don't know how many CPUs Intel will fit with Thunderbolt, as it may be a few or it may be many, and it may take several years for them to move to many. It may not even hit the budget chips until after 2020.