From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1751968AbbJEOeG (ORCPT ); Mon, 5 Oct 2015 10:34:06 -0400 Received: from mga03.intel.com ([134.134.136.65]:52596 "EHLO mga03.intel.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751311AbbJEOeC (ORCPT ); Mon, 5 Oct 2015 10:34:02 -0400 X-ExtLoop1: 1 X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i="5.17,639,1437462000"; d="scan'208";a="574425939" Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2015 14:34:01 +0000 (UTC) From: Keith Busch X-X-Sender: vmware@localhost.lm.intel.com To: Ingo Molnar cc: Keith Busch , LKML , x86@kernel.org, linux-pci@vger.kernel.org, Jiang Liu , Thomas Gleixner , Dan Williams , Bjorn Helgaas , Bryan Veal , Ingo Molnar , "H. Peter Anvin" Subject: Re: [RFC PATCHv2] x86/pci: Initial commit for new VMD device driver In-Reply-To: <20151003094512.GA29104@gmail.com> Message-ID: References: <1443721454-25467-1-git-send-email-keith.busch@intel.com> <20151003094512.GA29104@gmail.com> User-Agent: Alpine 2.00 (LNX 1167 2008-08-23) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Sat, 3 Oct 2015, Ingo Molnar wrote: > * Keith Busch wrote: >> +config VMDDEV >> + depends on PCI && PCI_DOMAINS && PCI_MSI && GENERIC_MSI_IRQ_DOMAIN && IRQ_DOMAIN_HIERARCHY >> + tristate "Volume Management Device Driver" >> + default N >> + select HAVE_VMDDEV >> + ---help--- >> + Adds support for the Intel Volume Manage Device (VMD). VMD is >> + a secondary PCI host bridge that allows PCI Express root ports, >> + and devices attached to them, to be removed from the default PCI >> + domain and placed within the VMD domain. If your system provides >> + one of these and has devices attached to it, say "Y". > > So what this text does not explain is why does the user care? What tangible > benefits does this feature offer to users? Hi Ingo, The immediate benefit is that devices on VMD domains do not use resources on the default PCI domain, so we have more than the 256 buses available.