VirtIO-FS Sent In For Linux 5.4 With Better Performance Over VirtIO-9P

VirtIO-FS as a better approach for sharing folders/files with guest VMs is set to debut in Linux 5.4.

VirtIO-FS makes use of FUSE and is much faster than virtio-9p that serves a similar purpose for sharing folders/files between the host and guest virtual machines. Directories can be exported from the host and mounted by the guest with VirtIO-FS and is effectively the "glue" between FUSE and VirtIO.

In addition to being faster than VirtIO-9P, VirtIO-FS also has better POSIX compliance. The QEMU support for VirtIO-FS is coming following this kernel addition.

More details via this morning's pull request as well as the project site at virtio-fs.gitlab.io.