eBPF Kernel Tracer
Zero-overhead Linux kernel network socket observability.
Event Throughput100k / sec
CPU Overhead< 0.8%
User-space DaemonGo / Cilium BPF
Kernel CompatibilityLinux 5.8+
System Overview & Motivation
eBPF Kernel Tracer is an in-kernel network monitoring agent that hooks into Linux socket tracepoints (sock:inet_sock_set_state) to deliver nanosecond-precision telemetry without modifying application code or introducing packet capture overhead.
Key Architectural Highlights
- Attaches directly to kernel sock tracepoints using modern CO-RE (Compile Once – Run Everywhere)
- Zero application performance penalty with ring buffer user-space data transmission
- Detects TCP retransmissions, connection latency spikes, and socket resets in real time
- Lightweight Go user-space agent exporting Prometheus metrics and OpenTelemetry spans
- Sub-5MB memory footprint on Linux server nodes
Technical Architecture & Data Pipeline
C-based eBPF bytecode is validated and JIT-compiled into the Linux kernel by the BPF verifier. Events are written to a shared BPF ring buffer. A Go daemon reads the buffer asynchronously and exposes Prometheus metrics.
Production Challenges & Edge Cases Solved
Passing strict BPF verifier bounds checks while maintaining multi-kernel compatibility. Solved by leveraging BPF CO-RE and BTF (BPF Type Format) relocations.