Passthrough Hardware
Passthrough hardware is a virtualization technique that allows a virtual machine (VM) or container to directly access physical hardware devices, bypassing the hypervisor or host operating system's abstraction layer. This enables near-native performance for devices like GPUs, network adapters, or storage controllers by eliminating virtualization overhead. It is commonly used in scenarios where high-performance or specialized hardware access is critical, such as gaming, scientific computing, or media processing.
Developers should use passthrough hardware when running applications in virtualized environments that require direct, low-latency access to physical hardware for optimal performance. Key use cases include GPU-intensive tasks like machine learning training, video rendering, or gaming VMs, as well as network functions virtualization (NFV) where dedicated NICs are needed. It is also essential for testing hardware-dependent software or running legacy systems that rely on specific device drivers.