buffers: major cleanup and improvements

This patch introduces following changes:
- deprecated free lists which are not used and not compatible
  with external buffer managers (i.e. DPDK)
- introduces native support for per-numa buffer pools
- significantly improves performance of buffer alloc and free

Change-Id: I4a8e723ae47056717afd6cac0efe87cb731b5be7
Signed-off-by: Damjan Marion <damarion@cisco.com>

26 files changed, 997 insertions, 1372 deletions

diff --git a/src/plugins/avf/avf.h b/src/plugins/avf/avf.h
index 518c7d8329a..b79a22b073f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/avf/avf.h
+++ b/src/plugins/avf/avf.h
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ typedef struct
   u32 *bufs;
   u16 n_enqueued;
   u8 int_mode;
+  u8 buffer_pool_index;
 } avf_rxq_t;
 
 typedef struct
diff --git a/src/plugins/avf/device.c b/src/plugins/avf/device.c
index f73e5d372d2..039a8203edb 100644
--- a/src/plugins/avf/device.c
+++ b/src/plugins/avf/device.c
@@ -229,6 +229,9 @@ avf_rxq_init (vlib_main_t * vm, avf_device_t * ad, u16 qid, u16 rxq_size)
 						   2 * CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES,
 						   ad->numa_node);
 
+  rxq->buffer_pool_index =
+    vlib_buffer_pool_get_default_for_numa (vm, ad->numa_node);
+
   if (rxq->descs == 0)
     return vlib_physmem_last_error (vm);
 
@@ -239,7 +242,8 @@ avf_rxq_init (vlib_main_t * vm, avf_device_t * ad, u16 qid, u16 rxq_size)
   vec_validate_aligned (rxq->bufs, rxq->size, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
   rxq->qrx_tail = ad->bar0 + AVF_QRX_TAIL (qid);
 
-  n_alloc = vlib_buffer_alloc (vm, rxq->bufs, rxq->size - 8);
+  n_alloc = vlib_buffer_alloc_from_pool (vm, rxq->bufs, rxq->size - 8,
+					 rxq->buffer_pool_index);
 
   if (n_alloc == 0)
     return clib_error_return (0, "buffer allocation error");
diff --git a/src/plugins/avf/input.c b/src/plugins/avf/input.c
index fc884ce39f6..beb5c052423 100644
--- a/src/plugins/avf/input.c
+++ b/src/plugins/avf/input.c
@@ -72,7 +72,9 @@ avf_rxq_refill (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_node_runtime_t * node, avf_rxq_t * rxq,
   slot = (rxq->next - n_refill - 1) & mask;
 
   n_refill &= ~7;		/* round to 8 */
-  n_alloc = vlib_buffer_alloc_to_ring (vm, rxq->bufs, slot, size, n_refill);
+  n_alloc =
+    vlib_buffer_alloc_to_ring_from_pool (vm, rxq->bufs, slot, size, n_refill,
+					 rxq->buffer_pool_index);
 
   if (PREDICT_FALSE (n_alloc != n_refill))
     {
@@ -368,6 +370,7 @@ no_more_desc:
 
   vnet_buffer (bt)->sw_if_index[VLIB_RX] = ad->sw_if_index;
   vnet_buffer (bt)->sw_if_index[VLIB_TX] = ~0;
+  bt->buffer_pool_index = rxq->buffer_pool_index;
 
   if (n_tail_desc)
     n_rx_bytes = avf_process_rx_burst (vm, node, ptd, n_rx_packets, 1);
diff --git a/src/plugins/dpdk/buffer.c b/src/plugins/dpdk/buffer.c
index aed194074cc..73310eff95a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/dpdk/buffer.c
+++ b/src/plugins/dpdk/buffer.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2017 Cisco and/or its affiliates.
+ * Copyright (c) 2017-2019 Cisco and/or its affiliates.
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  * You may obtain a copy of the License at:
@@ -12,586 +12,378 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-/*
- * buffer.c: allocate/free network buffers.
- *
- * Copyright (c) 2008 Eliot Dresselhaus
- *
- * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
- * a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
- * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
- * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
- * distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
- * permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
- * the following conditions:
- *
- * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
- * included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
- *
- *  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
- *  EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
- *  MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
- *  NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
- *  LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
- *  OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
- *  WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
- */
-
-/**
- * @file
- *
- * Allocate/free network buffers.
- */
 
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 
 #include <rte_config.h>
-
-#include <rte_common.h>
-#include <rte_log.h>
-#include <rte_memory.h>
-#include <rte_memzone.h>
-#include <rte_tailq.h>
-#include <rte_eal.h>
-#include <rte_per_lcore.h>
-#include <rte_launch.h>
-#include <rte_atomic.h>
-#include <rte_cycles.h>
-#include <rte_prefetch.h>
-#include <rte_lcore.h>
-#include <rte_per_lcore.h>
-#include <rte_branch_prediction.h>
-#include <rte_interrupts.h>
-#include <rte_vfio.h>
-#include <rte_random.h>
-#include <rte_debug.h>
-#include <rte_ether.h>
-#include <rte_ethdev.h>
-#include <rte_ring.h>
-#include <rte_mempool.h>
 #include <rte_mbuf.h>
-#include <rte_version.h>
+#include <rte_ethdev.h>
+#include <rte_vfio.h>
 
 #include <vlib/vlib.h>
-#include <vlib/unix/unix.h>
-#include <vnet/vnet.h>
-#include <dpdk/device/dpdk.h>
-#include <dpdk/device/dpdk_priv.h>
 #include <dpdk/buffer.h>
 
 STATIC_ASSERT (VLIB_BUFFER_PRE_DATA_SIZE == RTE_PKTMBUF_HEADROOM,
 	       "VLIB_BUFFER_PRE_DATA_SIZE must be equal to RTE_PKTMBUF_HEADROOM");
 
-typedef struct
-{
-  CLIB_CACHE_LINE_ALIGN_MARK (cacheline0);
-  struct rte_mbuf **mbuf_alloc_list;
-} dpdk_buffer_per_thread_data;
 
 typedef struct
 {
-  int vfio_container_fd;
-  dpdk_buffer_per_thread_data *ptd;
-} dpdk_buffer_main_t;
-
-dpdk_buffer_main_t dpdk_buffer_main;
-
-static_always_inline void
-dpdk_rte_pktmbuf_free (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 thread_index, vlib_buffer_t * b,
-		       int maybe_next)
-{
-  struct rte_mbuf *mb;
-  u32 next, flags;
+  /* must be first */
+  struct rte_pktmbuf_pool_private mbp_priv;
+  u8 buffer_pool_index;
+} dpdk_mempool_private_t;
 
-next:
-  flags = b->flags;
-  next = b->next_buffer;
-  mb = rte_mbuf_from_vlib_buffer (b);
-
-  if (PREDICT_FALSE (b->n_add_refs))
-    {
-      rte_mbuf_refcnt_update (mb, b->n_add_refs);
-      b->n_add_refs = 0;
-    }
-
-  if ((mb = rte_pktmbuf_prefree_seg (mb)))
-    rte_mempool_put (mb->pool, mb);
-
-  if (maybe_next && (flags & VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT))
-    {
-      b = vlib_get_buffer (vm, next);
-      goto next;
-    }
-}
+#ifndef CLIB_MARCH_VARIANT
+struct rte_mempool **dpdk_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index = 0;
+struct rte_mempool **dpdk_no_cache_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index = 0;
 
-/* Make sure free list has at least given number of free buffers. */
-uword
-CLIB_MULTIARCH_FN (dpdk_buffer_fill_free_list) (vlib_main_t * vm,
-						vlib_buffer_free_list_t * fl,
-						uword min_free_buffers)
+clib_error_t *
+dpdk_buffer_pool_init (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_buffer_pool_t * bp)
 {
-  dpdk_main_t *dm = &dpdk_main;
-  dpdk_buffer_main_t *dbm = &dpdk_buffer_main;
-  struct rte_mbuf **mb;
-  uword n_left, first;
-  word n_alloc;
-  unsigned socket_id = rte_socket_id ();
-  u32 thread_index = vlib_get_thread_index ();
-  dpdk_buffer_per_thread_data *d = vec_elt_at_index (dbm->ptd, thread_index);
-  struct rte_mempool *rmp = dm->pktmbuf_pools[socket_id];
-  dpdk_mempool_private_t *privp = rte_mempool_get_priv (rmp);
-  vlib_buffer_t bt;
+  struct rte_mempool *mp, *nmp;
+  dpdk_mempool_private_t priv;
+  enum rte_iova_mode iova_mode;
   u32 *bi;
+  u8 *name = 0;
 
-  /* Too early? */
-  if (PREDICT_FALSE (rmp == 0))
-    return 0;
-
-  /* Already have enough free buffers on free list? */
-  n_alloc = min_free_buffers - vec_len (fl->buffers);
-  if (n_alloc <= 0)
-    return min_free_buffers;
-
-  /* Always allocate round number of buffers. */
-  n_alloc = round_pow2 (n_alloc, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES / sizeof (u32));
+  u32 elt_size =
+    sizeof (struct rte_mbuf) + sizeof (vlib_buffer_t) + bp->data_size;
 
-  /* Always allocate new buffers in reasonably large sized chunks. */
-  n_alloc = clib_max (n_alloc, fl->min_n_buffers_each_alloc);
-
-  vec_validate_aligned (d->mbuf_alloc_list, n_alloc - 1,
+  /* create empty mempools */
+  vec_validate_aligned (dpdk_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index, bp->index,
+			CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
+  vec_validate_aligned (dpdk_no_cache_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index, bp->index,
 			CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
 
-  if (rte_mempool_get_bulk (rmp, (void *) d->mbuf_alloc_list, n_alloc) < 0)
-    return 0;
+  /* normal mempool */
+  name = format (name, "vpp pool %u%c", bp->index, 0);
+  mp = rte_mempool_create_empty ((char *) name, vec_len (bp->buffers),
+				 elt_size, 512, sizeof (priv),
+				 bp->numa_node, 0);
+  vec_reset_length (name);
 
-  clib_memset (&bt, 0, sizeof (vlib_buffer_t));
-  bt.buffer_pool_index = privp->buffer_pool_index;
+  /* non-cached mempool */
+  name = format (name, "vpp pool %u (no cache)%c", bp->index, 0);
+  nmp = rte_mempool_create_empty ((char *) name, vec_len (bp->buffers),
+				  elt_size, 0, sizeof (priv),
+				  bp->numa_node, 0);
+  vec_free (name);
 
-  _vec_len (d->mbuf_alloc_list) = n_alloc;
+  dpdk_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index[bp->index] = mp;
+  dpdk_no_cache_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index[bp->index] = nmp;
 
-  first = vec_len (fl->buffers);
-  vec_resize_aligned (fl->buffers, n_alloc, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
+  rte_mempool_set_ops_byname (mp, "vpp", NULL);
+  rte_mempool_set_ops_byname (nmp, "vpp-no-cache", NULL);
 
-  n_left = n_alloc;
-  mb = d->mbuf_alloc_list;
-  bi = fl->buffers + first;
+  /* Call the mempool priv initializer */
+  priv.mbp_priv.mbuf_data_room_size = VLIB_BUFFER_PRE_DATA_SIZE +
+    VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE;
+  priv.mbp_priv.mbuf_priv_size = VLIB_BUFFER_HDR_SIZE;
+  priv.buffer_pool_index = bp->index;
+  rte_pktmbuf_pool_init (mp, &priv);
+  rte_pktmbuf_pool_init (nmp, &priv);
 
-  ASSERT (n_left % 8 == 0);
+  iova_mode = rte_eal_iova_mode ();
 
-  while (n_left >= 8)
+  /* populate mempool object buffer header */
+  vec_foreach (bi, bp->buffers)
+  {
+    struct rte_mempool_objhdr *hdr;
+    vlib_buffer_t *b = vlib_get_buffer (vm, *bi);
+    struct rte_mbuf *mb = rte_mbuf_from_vlib_buffer (b);
+    hdr = (struct rte_mempool_objhdr *) RTE_PTR_SUB (mb, sizeof (*hdr));
+    hdr->mp = mp;
+    hdr->iova = (iova_mode == RTE_IOVA_VA) ?
+      pointer_to_uword (mb) : vlib_physmem_get_pa (vm, mb);
+    STAILQ_INSERT_TAIL (&mp->elt_list, hdr, next);
+    STAILQ_INSERT_TAIL (&nmp->elt_list, hdr, next);
+    mp->populated_size++;
+    nmp->populated_size++;
+  }
+
+  /* call the object initializers */
+  rte_mempool_obj_iter (mp, rte_pktmbuf_init, 0);
+
+  /* map DMA pages if at least one physical device exists */
+  if (rte_eth_dev_count_avail ())
     {
-      if (PREDICT_FALSE (n_left < 24))
-	goto no_prefetch;
-
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[16]), STORE);
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[17]), STORE);
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[18]), STORE);
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[19]), STORE);
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[20]), STORE);
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[21]), STORE);
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[22]), STORE);
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[23]), STORE);
-
-    no_prefetch:
-      vlib_get_buffer_indices_with_offset (vm, (void **) mb, bi, 8,
-					   sizeof (struct rte_mbuf));
+      uword i;
+      size_t page_sz;
+      vlib_physmem_map_t *pm;
 
-      vlib_buffer_copy_template (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[0]), &bt);
-      vlib_buffer_copy_template (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[1]), &bt);
-      vlib_buffer_copy_template (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[2]), &bt);
-      vlib_buffer_copy_template (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[3]), &bt);
-      vlib_buffer_copy_template (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[4]), &bt);
-      vlib_buffer_copy_template (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[5]), &bt);
-      vlib_buffer_copy_template (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[6]), &bt);
-      vlib_buffer_copy_template (vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb[7]), &bt);
-
-      n_left -= 8;
-      mb += 8;
-      bi += 8;
-    }
+      pm = vlib_physmem_get_map (vm, bp->physmem_map_index);
+      page_sz = 1ULL << pm->log2_page_size;
 
-  if (fl->buffer_init_function)
-    fl->buffer_init_function (vm, fl, fl->buffers + first, n_alloc);
+      for (i = 0; i < pm->n_pages; i++)
+	{
+	  char *va = ((char *) pm->base) + i * page_sz;
+	  uword pa = (iova_mode == RTE_IOVA_VA) ?
+	    pointer_to_uword (va) : pm->page_table[i];
 
-  fl->n_alloc += n_alloc;
+	  if (rte_vfio_dma_map (pointer_to_uword (va), pa, page_sz))
+	    break;
+	}
+    }
 
-  return n_alloc;
+  return 0;
 }
 
-static_always_inline void
-dpdk_prefetch_buffer (vlib_buffer_t * b)
+static int
+dpdk_ops_vpp_alloc (struct rte_mempool *mp)
 {
-  struct rte_mbuf *mb;
-  mb = rte_mbuf_from_vlib_buffer (b);
-  CLIB_PREFETCH (mb, 2 * CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES, LOAD);
-  CLIB_PREFETCH (b, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES, LOAD);
+  clib_warning ("");
+  return 0;
 }
 
-static_always_inline void
-recycle_or_free (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_buffer_main_t * bm, u32 bi,
-		 vlib_buffer_t * b)
+static void
+dpdk_ops_vpp_free (struct rte_mempool *mp)
 {
-  u32 thread_index = vlib_get_thread_index ();
-
-  dpdk_rte_pktmbuf_free (vm, thread_index, b, 1);
+  clib_warning ("");
 }
 
+#endif
+
 static_always_inline void
-vlib_buffer_free_inline (vlib_main_t * vm,
-			 u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers, u32 follow_buffer_next)
+dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_one (vlib_buffer_t * bt, void *obj)
 {
-  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
-  vlib_buffer_t *bufp[n_buffers], **b = bufp;
-  u32 thread_index = vm->thread_index;
-  int i = 0;
-  u32 simple_mask = VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT;
-  u32 n_left, *bi;
-  u32 (*cb) (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers,
-	     u32 follow_buffer_next);
-
-  cb = bm->buffer_free_callback;
+  /* Only non-replicated packets (b->ref_count == 1) expected */
 
-  if (PREDICT_FALSE (cb != 0))
-    n_buffers = (*cb) (vm, buffers, n_buffers, follow_buffer_next);
+  struct rte_mbuf *mb = obj;
+  vlib_buffer_t *b = vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb);
+  ASSERT (b->ref_count == 1);
+  ASSERT (b->buffer_pool_index == bt->buffer_pool_index);
+  vlib_buffer_copy_template (b, bt);
+}
 
-  if (!n_buffers)
-    return;
+int
+CLIB_MULTIARCH_FN (dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue) (struct rte_mempool * mp,
+					  void *const *obj_table, unsigned n)
+{
+  const int batch_size = 32;
+  vlib_main_t *vm = vlib_get_main ();
+  vlib_buffer_t bt;
+  dpdk_mempool_private_t *privp = rte_mempool_get_priv (mp);
+  u8 buffer_pool_index = privp->buffer_pool_index;
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp = vlib_get_buffer_pool (vm, buffer_pool_index);
+  u32 bufs[batch_size];
+  u32 n_left = n;
+  void *const *obj = obj_table;
 
-  n_left = n_buffers;
-  bi = buffers;
-  b = bufp;
-  vlib_get_buffers (vm, bi, b, n_buffers);
+  vlib_buffer_copy_template (&bt, &bp->buffer_template);
 
   while (n_left >= 4)
     {
-      u32 or_flags;
-      vlib_buffer_t **p;
-
-      if (n_left < 16)
-	goto no_prefetch;
-
-      p = b + 12;
-      dpdk_prefetch_buffer (p[0]);
-      dpdk_prefetch_buffer (p[1]);
-      dpdk_prefetch_buffer (p[2]);
-      dpdk_prefetch_buffer (p[3]);
-    no_prefetch:
-
-      for (i = 0; i < 4; i++)
-	VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b[i]);
-
-      or_flags = b[0]->flags | b[1]->flags | b[2]->flags | b[3]->flags;
-
-      if (or_flags & simple_mask)
-	{
-	  recycle_or_free (vm, bm, bi[0], b[0]);
-	  recycle_or_free (vm, bm, bi[1], b[1]);
-	  recycle_or_free (vm, bm, bi[2], b[2]);
-	  recycle_or_free (vm, bm, bi[3], b[3]);
-	}
-      else
-	{
-	  dpdk_rte_pktmbuf_free (vm, thread_index, b[0], 0);
-	  dpdk_rte_pktmbuf_free (vm, thread_index, b[1], 0);
-	  dpdk_rte_pktmbuf_free (vm, thread_index, b[2], 0);
-	  dpdk_rte_pktmbuf_free (vm, thread_index, b[3], 0);
-	}
-      bi += 4;
-      b += 4;
+      dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_one (&bt, obj[0]);
+      dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_one (&bt, obj[1]);
+      dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_one (&bt, obj[2]);
+      dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_one (&bt, obj[3]);
+      obj += 4;
       n_left -= 4;
     }
+
   while (n_left)
     {
-      VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b[0]);
-      recycle_or_free (vm, bm, bi[0], b[0]);
-      bi += 1;
-      b += 1;
+      dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_one (&bt, obj[0]);
+      obj += 1;
       n_left -= 1;
     }
-}
-
-void
-CLIB_MULTIARCH_FN (dpdk_buffer_free) (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffers,
-				      u32 n_buffers)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_free_inline (vm, buffers, n_buffers,	/* follow_buffer_next */
-			   1);
-}
-
-void
-CLIB_MULTIARCH_FN (dpdk_buffer_free_no_next) (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffers,
-					      u32 n_buffers)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_free_inline (vm, buffers, n_buffers,	/* follow_buffer_next */
-			   0);
-}
 
-#ifndef CLIB_MARCH_VARIANT
-clib_error_t *
-dpdk_pool_create (vlib_main_t * vm, u8 * pool_name, u32 elt_size,
-		  u32 num_elts, u32 pool_priv_size, u16 cache_size, u8 numa,
-		  struct rte_mempool **_mp, u32 * map_index)
-{
-  struct rte_mempool *mp;
-  enum rte_iova_mode iova_mode;
-  dpdk_mempool_private_t priv;
-  vlib_physmem_map_t *pm;
-  clib_error_t *error = 0;
-  size_t min_chunk_size, align;
-  int map_dma = 1;
-  u32 size;
-  i32 ret;
-  uword i;
-
-  mp = rte_mempool_create_empty ((char *) pool_name, num_elts, elt_size,
-				 512, pool_priv_size, numa, 0);
-  if (!mp)
-    return clib_error_return (0, "failed to create %s", pool_name);
-
-  rte_mempool_set_ops_byname (mp, RTE_MBUF_DEFAULT_MEMPOOL_OPS, NULL);
-
-  size = rte_mempool_op_calc_mem_size_default (mp, num_elts, 21,
-					       &min_chunk_size, &align);
-
-  if ((error = vlib_physmem_shared_map_create (vm, (char *) pool_name, size,
-					       0, numa, map_index)))
+  while (n >= batch_size)
     {
-      rte_mempool_free (mp);
-      return error;
+      vlib_get_buffer_indices_with_offset (vm, (void **) obj_table, bufs,
+					   batch_size,
+					   sizeof (struct rte_mbuf));
+      vlib_buffer_pool_put (vm, buffer_pool_index, bufs, batch_size);
+      n -= batch_size;
+      obj_table += batch_size;
     }
-  pm = vlib_physmem_get_map (vm, *map_index);
-
-  /* Call the mempool priv initializer */
-  priv.mbp_priv.mbuf_data_room_size = VLIB_BUFFER_PRE_DATA_SIZE +
-    VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE;
-  priv.mbp_priv.mbuf_priv_size = VLIB_BUFFER_HDR_SIZE;
-  rte_pktmbuf_pool_init (mp, &priv);
 
-  if (rte_eth_dev_count_avail () == 0)
-    map_dma = 0;
-
-  iova_mode = rte_eal_iova_mode ();
-  for (i = 0; i < pm->n_pages; i++)
+  if (n)
     {
-      size_t page_sz = 1ULL << pm->log2_page_size;
-      char *va = ((char *) pm->base) + i * page_sz;
-      uword pa = iova_mode == RTE_IOVA_VA ?
-	pointer_to_uword (va) : pm->page_table[i];
-      ret = rte_mempool_populate_iova (mp, va, pa, page_sz, 0, 0);
-      if (ret < 0)
-	{
-	  rte_mempool_free (mp);
-	  return clib_error_return (0, "failed to populate %s", pool_name);
-	}
-      /* -1 likely means there is no PCI devices assigned to vfio
-         container or noiommu mode is used  so we stop trying */
-      if (map_dma && rte_vfio_dma_map (pointer_to_uword (va), pa, page_sz))
-	map_dma = 0;
+      vlib_get_buffer_indices_with_offset (vm, (void **) obj_table, bufs,
+					   n, sizeof (struct rte_mbuf));
+      vlib_buffer_pool_put (vm, buffer_pool_index, bufs, batch_size);
     }
 
-  _mp[0] = mp;
-
   return 0;
 }
 
-clib_error_t *
-dpdk_buffer_pool_create (vlib_main_t * vm, unsigned num_mbufs,
-			 unsigned socket_id)
-{
-  dpdk_main_t *dm = &dpdk_main;
-  struct rte_mempool *rmp;
-  clib_error_t *error = 0;
-  u8 *pool_name;
-  u32 elt_size, i;
-  u32 map_index;
+CLIB_MARCH_FN_REGISTRATION (dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue);
 
-  vec_validate_aligned (dm->pktmbuf_pools, socket_id, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-
-  /* pool already exists, nothing to do */
-  if (dm->pktmbuf_pools[socket_id])
-    return 0;
-
-  pool_name = format (0, "dpdk_mbuf_pool_socket%u%c", socket_id, 0);
-
-  elt_size = sizeof (struct rte_mbuf) +
-    VLIB_BUFFER_HDR_SIZE /* priv size */  +
-    VLIB_BUFFER_PRE_DATA_SIZE + VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE;	/*data room size */
-
-  error = dpdk_pool_create (vm, pool_name, elt_size, num_mbufs,
-			    sizeof (dpdk_mempool_private_t), 512, socket_id,
-			    &rmp, &map_index);
-
-  vec_free (pool_name);
+static_always_inline void
+dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_no_cache_one (vlib_main_t * vm, struct rte_mempool *old,
+				   struct rte_mempool *new, void *obj,
+				   vlib_buffer_t * bt)
+{
+  struct rte_mbuf *mb = obj;
+  vlib_buffer_t *b = vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf (mb);
 
-  if (!error)
+  if (clib_atomic_sub_fetch (&b->ref_count, 1) == 0)
     {
-      /* call the object initializers */
-      rte_mempool_obj_iter (rmp, rte_pktmbuf_init, 0);
-
-      dpdk_mempool_private_t *privp = rte_mempool_get_priv (rmp);
-      privp->buffer_pool_index =
-	vlib_buffer_register_physmem_map (vm, map_index);
+      u32 bi = vlib_get_buffer_index (vm, b);
+      mb->pool = new;
+      vlib_buffer_copy_template (b, bt);
+      vlib_buffer_pool_put (vm, bt->buffer_pool_index, &bi, 1);
+      return;
+    }
+}
 
-      dm->pktmbuf_pools[socket_id] = rmp;
+int
+CLIB_MULTIARCH_FN (dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_no_cache) (struct rte_mempool * cmp,
+						   void *const *obj_table,
+						   unsigned n)
+{
+  vlib_main_t *vm = vlib_get_main ();
+  vlib_buffer_t bt;
+  dpdk_mempool_private_t *privp = rte_mempool_get_priv (cmp);
+  struct rte_mempool *mp;
+  mp = dpdk_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index[privp->buffer_pool_index];
+  u8 buffer_pool_index = privp->buffer_pool_index;
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp = vlib_get_buffer_pool (vm, buffer_pool_index);
+  vlib_buffer_copy_template (&bt, &bp->buffer_template);
 
-      return 0;
+  while (n >= 4)
+    {
+      dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_no_cache_one (vm, cmp, mp, obj_table[0], &bt);
+      dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_no_cache_one (vm, cmp, mp, obj_table[1], &bt);
+      dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_no_cache_one (vm, cmp, mp, obj_table[2], &bt);
+      dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_no_cache_one (vm, cmp, mp, obj_table[3], &bt);
+      obj_table += 4;
+      n -= 4;
     }
 
-  clib_error_report (error);
-
-  /* no usable pool for this socket, try to use pool from another one */
-  for (i = 0; i < vec_len (dm->pktmbuf_pools); i++)
+  while (n)
     {
-      if (dm->pktmbuf_pools[i])
-	{
-	  clib_warning ("WARNING: Failed to allocate mempool for CPU socket "
-			"%u. Threads running on socket %u will use socket %u "
-			"mempool.", socket_id, socket_id, i);
-	  dm->pktmbuf_pools[socket_id] = dm->pktmbuf_pools[i];
-	  return 0;
-	}
+      dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_no_cache_one (vm, cmp, mp, obj_table[0], &bt);
+      obj_table += 1;
+      n -= 1;
     }
 
-  return clib_error_return (0, "failed to allocate mempool on socket %u",
-			    socket_id);
+  return 0;
 }
 
-#if CLIB_DEBUG > 0
+CLIB_MARCH_FN_REGISTRATION (dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_no_cache);
 
-u32 *vlib_buffer_state_validation_lock;
-uword *vlib_buffer_state_validation_hash;
-void *vlib_buffer_state_heap;
-
-static clib_error_t *
-buffer_state_validation_init (vlib_main_t * vm)
+int
+CLIB_MULTIARCH_FN (dpdk_ops_vpp_dequeue) (struct rte_mempool * mp,
+					  void **obj_table, unsigned n)
 {
-  void *oldheap;
-
-  vlib_buffer_state_heap =
-    mheap_alloc_with_lock (0, 10 << 20, 0 /* locked */ );
-  oldheap = clib_mem_set_heap (vlib_buffer_state_heap);
+  const int batch_size = 32;
+  vlib_main_t *vm = vlib_get_main ();
+  u32 bufs[batch_size], total = 0, n_alloc = 0;
+  dpdk_mempool_private_t *privp = rte_mempool_get_priv (mp);
+  u8 buffer_pool_index = privp->buffer_pool_index;
+  void **obj = obj_table;
+
+  while (n >= batch_size)
+    {
+      n_alloc = vlib_buffer_alloc_from_pool (vm, bufs, batch_size,
+					     buffer_pool_index);
+      if (n_alloc != batch_size)
+	goto alloc_fail;
+
+      vlib_get_buffers_with_offset (vm, bufs, obj, batch_size,
+				    -(i32) sizeof (struct rte_mbuf));
+      total += batch_size;
+      obj += batch_size;
+      n -= batch_size;
+    }
 
-  vlib_buffer_state_validation_hash = hash_create (0, sizeof (uword));
-  vec_validate_aligned (vlib_buffer_state_validation_lock, 0,
-			CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-  clib_mem_set_heap (oldheap);
-  return 0;
-}
+  if (n)
+    {
+      n_alloc = vlib_buffer_alloc_from_pool (vm, bufs, n, buffer_pool_index);
 
-VLIB_INIT_FUNCTION (buffer_state_validation_init);
-#endif
+      if (n_alloc != n)
+	goto alloc_fail;
 
-#if CLI_DEBUG
-struct dpdk_validate_buf_result
-{
-  u32 invalid;
-  u32 uninitialized;
-};
+      vlib_get_buffers_with_offset (vm, bufs, obj, n,
+				    -(i32) sizeof (struct rte_mbuf));
+    }
 
-#define DPDK_TRAJECTORY_POISON 31
+  return 0;
 
-static void
-dpdk_buffer_validate_trajectory (struct rte_mempool *mp, void *opaque,
-				 void *obj, unsigned obj_idx)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_t *b;
-  struct dpdk_validate_buf_result *counter = opaque;
-  b = vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf ((struct rte_mbuf *) obj);
-  if (b->pre_data[0] != 0)
+alloc_fail:
+  /* dpdk doesn't support partial alloc, so we need to return what we
+     already got */
+  if (n_alloc)
+    vlib_buffer_pool_put (vm, buffer_pool_index, bufs, n_alloc);
+  obj = obj_table;
+  while (total)
     {
-      if (b->pre_data[0] == DPDK_TRAJECTORY_POISON)
-	counter->uninitialized++;
-      else
-	counter->invalid++;
+      vlib_get_buffer_indices_with_offset (vm, obj, bufs, batch_size,
+					   sizeof (struct rte_mbuf));
+      vlib_buffer_pool_put (vm, buffer_pool_index, bufs, batch_size);
+
+      obj += batch_size;
+      total -= batch_size;
     }
+  return -ENOENT;
 }
 
-int
-dpdk_buffer_validate_trajectory_all (u32 * uninitialized)
+CLIB_MARCH_FN_REGISTRATION (dpdk_ops_vpp_dequeue);
+
+#ifndef CLIB_MARCH_VARIANT
+
+static int
+dpdk_ops_vpp_dequeue_no_cache (struct rte_mempool *mp, void **obj_table,
+			       unsigned n)
 {
-  dpdk_main_t *dm = &dpdk_main;
-  struct dpdk_validate_buf_result counter = { 0 };
-  int i;
-
-  for (i = 0; i < vec_len (dm->pktmbuf_pools); i++)
-    rte_mempool_obj_iter (dm->pktmbuf_pools[i],
-			  dpdk_buffer_validate_trajectory, &counter);
-  if (uninitialized)
-    *uninitialized = counter.uninitialized;
-  return counter.invalid;
+  clib_error ("bug");
+  return 0;
 }
 
-static void
-dpdk_buffer_poison_trajectory (struct rte_mempool *mp, void *opaque,
-			       void *obj, unsigned obj_idx)
+static unsigned
+dpdk_ops_vpp_get_count (const struct rte_mempool *mp)
 {
-  vlib_buffer_t *b;
-  b = vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf ((struct rte_mbuf *) obj);
-  b->pre_data[0] = DPDK_TRAJECTORY_POISON;
+  clib_warning ("");
+  return 0;
 }
 
-void
-dpdk_buffer_poison_trajectory_all (void)
+static unsigned
+dpdk_ops_vpp_get_count_no_cache (const struct rte_mempool *mp)
 {
-  dpdk_main_t *dm = &dpdk_main;
-  int i;
-
-  for (i = 0; i < vec_len (dm->pktmbuf_pools); i++)
-    rte_mempool_obj_iter (dm->pktmbuf_pools[i], dpdk_buffer_poison_trajectory,
-			  0);
+  dpdk_mempool_private_t *privp;
+  struct rte_mempool *cmp;
+  privp = rte_mempool_get_priv ((struct rte_mempool *) mp);
+  cmp = dpdk_no_cache_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index[privp->buffer_pool_index];
+  return dpdk_ops_vpp_get_count (cmp);
 }
-#endif
 
-static clib_error_t *
-dpdk_buffer_init (vlib_main_t * vm)
+clib_error_t *
+dpdk_buffer_pools_create (vlib_main_t * vm)
 {
-  dpdk_buffer_main_t *dbm = &dpdk_buffer_main;
-  vlib_thread_main_t *tm = vlib_get_thread_main ();
-
-  vec_validate_aligned (dbm->ptd, tm->n_vlib_mains - 1,
-			CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-
-  dbm->vfio_container_fd = -1;
-
+  clib_error_t *err;
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp;
+
+  struct rte_mempool_ops ops = { };
+
+  strncpy (ops.name, "vpp", 4);
+  ops.alloc = dpdk_ops_vpp_alloc;
+  ops.free = dpdk_ops_vpp_free;
+  ops.get_count = dpdk_ops_vpp_get_count;
+  ops.enqueue = CLIB_MARCH_FN_POINTER (dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue);
+  ops.dequeue = CLIB_MARCH_FN_POINTER (dpdk_ops_vpp_dequeue);
+  rte_mempool_register_ops (&ops);
+
+  strncpy (ops.name, "vpp-no-cache", 13);
+  ops.get_count = dpdk_ops_vpp_get_count_no_cache;
+  ops.enqueue = CLIB_MARCH_FN_POINTER (dpdk_ops_vpp_enqueue_no_cache);
+  ops.dequeue = dpdk_ops_vpp_dequeue_no_cache;
+  rte_mempool_register_ops (&ops);
+
+  /* *INDENT-OFF* */
+  vec_foreach (bp, vm->buffer_main->buffer_pools)
+    if (bp->start && (err = dpdk_buffer_pool_init (vm, bp)))
+      return err;
+  /* *INDENT-ON* */
   return 0;
 }
 
-VLIB_INIT_FUNCTION (dpdk_buffer_init);
-
-/* *INDENT-OFF* */
-VLIB_BUFFER_REGISTER_CALLBACKS (dpdk, static) = {
-  .vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_cb = &dpdk_buffer_fill_free_list,
-  .vlib_buffer_free_cb = &dpdk_buffer_free,
-  .vlib_buffer_free_no_next_cb = &dpdk_buffer_free_no_next,
-};
-/* *INDENT-ON* */
-
-#if __x86_64__
-vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_cb_t __clib_weak dpdk_buffer_fill_free_list_avx512;
-vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_cb_t __clib_weak dpdk_buffer_fill_free_list_avx2;
-vlib_buffer_free_cb_t __clib_weak dpdk_buffer_free_avx512;
-vlib_buffer_free_cb_t __clib_weak dpdk_buffer_free_avx2;
-vlib_buffer_free_no_next_cb_t __clib_weak dpdk_buffer_free_no_next_avx512;
-vlib_buffer_free_no_next_cb_t __clib_weak dpdk_buffer_free_no_next_avx2;
-
-static void __clib_constructor
-dpdk_input_multiarch_select (void)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_callbacks_t *cb = &__dpdk_buffer_callbacks;
-  if (dpdk_buffer_fill_free_list_avx512 && clib_cpu_supports_avx512f ())
-    {
-      cb->vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_cb = dpdk_buffer_fill_free_list_avx512;
-      cb->vlib_buffer_free_cb = dpdk_buffer_free_avx512;
-      cb->vlib_buffer_free_no_next_cb = dpdk_buffer_free_no_next_avx512;
-    }
-  else if (dpdk_buffer_fill_free_list_avx2 && clib_cpu_supports_avx2 ())
-    {
-      cb->vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_cb = dpdk_buffer_fill_free_list_avx2;
-      cb->vlib_buffer_free_cb = dpdk_buffer_free_avx2;
-      cb->vlib_buffer_free_no_next_cb = dpdk_buffer_free_no_next_avx2;
-    }
-}
-#endif
+VLIB_BUFFER_SET_EXT_HDR_SIZE (sizeof (struct rte_mempool_objhdr) +
+			      sizeof (struct rte_mbuf));
+
 #endif
 
 /** @endcond */
diff --git a/src/plugins/dpdk/buffer.h b/src/plugins/dpdk/buffer.h
index 56bf4fff3e6..2c2579e9803 100644
--- a/src/plugins/dpdk/buffer.h
+++ b/src/plugins/dpdk/buffer.h
@@ -19,8 +19,10 @@
 #define rte_mbuf_from_vlib_buffer(x) (((struct rte_mbuf *)x) - 1)
 #define vlib_buffer_from_rte_mbuf(x) ((vlib_buffer_t *)(x+1))
 
-clib_error_t *dpdk_buffer_pool_create (vlib_main_t * vm, unsigned num_mbufs,
-				       unsigned socket_id);
+extern struct rte_mempool **dpdk_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index;
+extern struct rte_mempool **dpdk_no_cache_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index;
+
+clib_error_t *dpdk_buffer_pools_create (vlib_main_t * vm);
 
 #endif /* include_dpdk_buffer_h */
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/cli.c b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/cli.c
index bbe367f7ec5..209f4ed51ed 100644
--- a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/cli.c
+++ b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/cli.c
@@ -382,27 +382,27 @@ static clib_error_t *
 show_dpdk_buffer (vlib_main_t * vm, unformat_input_t * input,
 		  vlib_cli_command_t * cmd)
 {
-  struct rte_mempool *rmp;
-  int i;
+  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp;
 
-  for (i = 0; i < vec_len (dpdk_main.pktmbuf_pools); i++)
-    {
-      rmp = dpdk_main.pktmbuf_pools[i];
-      if (rmp)
-	{
-	  unsigned count = rte_mempool_avail_count (rmp);
-	  unsigned free_count = rte_mempool_in_use_count (rmp);
+  vec_foreach (bp, bm->buffer_pools)
+  {
+    struct rte_mempool *rmp = dpdk_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index[bp->index];
+    if (rmp)
+      {
+	unsigned count = rte_mempool_avail_count (rmp);
+	unsigned free_count = rte_mempool_in_use_count (rmp);
 
-	  vlib_cli_output (vm,
-			   "name=\"%s\"  available = %7d allocated = %7d total = %7d\n",
-			   rmp->name, (u32) count, (u32) free_count,
-			   (u32) (count + free_count));
-	}
-      else
-	{
-	  vlib_cli_output (vm, "rte_mempool is NULL (!)\n");
-	}
-    }
+	vlib_cli_output (vm,
+			 "name=\"%s\"  available = %7d allocated = %7d total = %7d\n",
+			 rmp->name, (u32) count, (u32) free_count,
+			 (u32) (count + free_count));
+      }
+    else
+      {
+	vlib_cli_output (vm, "rte_mempool is NULL (!)\n");
+      }
+  }
   return 0;
 }
 
@@ -2018,59 +2018,6 @@ VLIB_CLI_COMMAND (show_vpe_version_command, static) = {
 };
 /* *INDENT-ON* */
 
-#if CLI_DEBUG
-
-static clib_error_t *
-dpdk_validate_buffers_fn (vlib_main_t * vm, unformat_input_t * input,
-			  vlib_cli_command_t * cmd_arg)
-{
-  u32 n_invalid_bufs = 0, uninitialized = 0;
-  u32 is_poison = 0, is_test = 0;
-  while (unformat_check_input (input) != UNFORMAT_END_OF_INPUT)
-    {
-      if (unformat (input, "poison"))
-	is_poison = 1;
-      else if (unformat (input, "trajectory"))
-	is_test = 1;
-      else
-	return clib_error_return (0, "unknown input `%U'",
-				  format_unformat_error, input);
-    }
-
-  if (VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY == 0)
-    {
-      vlib_cli_output (vm, "Trajectory not enabled. Recompile with "
-		       "VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY 1");
-      return 0;
-    }
-  if (is_poison)
-    {
-      dpdk_buffer_poison_trajectory_all ();
-    }
-  if (is_test)
-    {
-      n_invalid_bufs = dpdk_buffer_validate_trajectory_all (&uninitialized);
-      if (!n_invalid_bufs)
-	vlib_cli_output (vm, "All buffers are valid %d uninitialized",
-			 uninitialized);
-      else
-	vlib_cli_output (vm, "Found %d invalid buffers and %d uninitialized",
-			 n_invalid_bufs, uninitialized);
-    }
-  return 0;
-}
-
-/* *INDENT-OFF* */
-VLIB_CLI_COMMAND (test_dpdk_buffers_command, static) =
-{
-  .path = "test dpdk buffers",
-  .short_help = "test dpdk buffers [poison] [trajectory]",
-  .function = dpdk_validate_buffers_fn,
-};
-/* *INDENT-ON* */
-
-#endif
-
 clib_error_t *
 dpdk_cli_init (vlib_main_t * vm)
 {
diff --git a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/common.c b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/common.c
index 25d5802899f..b239616b7d9 100644
--- a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/common.c
+++ b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/common.c
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ void
 dpdk_device_setup (dpdk_device_t * xd)
 {
   dpdk_main_t *dm = &dpdk_main;
+  vlib_main_t *vm = vlib_get_main ();
   vnet_main_t *vnm = vnet_get_main ();
   vnet_sw_interface_t *sw = vnet_get_sw_interface (vnm, xd->sw_if_index);
   vnet_hw_interface_t *hi = vnet_get_hw_interface (vnm, xd->hw_if_index);
@@ -116,26 +117,23 @@ dpdk_device_setup (dpdk_device_t * xd)
 			CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
   for (j = 0; j < xd->rx_q_used; j++)
     {
-      dpdk_mempool_private_t *privp;
       uword tidx = vnet_get_device_input_thread_index (dm->vnet_main,
 						       xd->hw_if_index, j);
       unsigned lcore = vlib_worker_threads[tidx].cpu_id;
       u16 socket_id = rte_lcore_to_socket_id (lcore);
+      u8 bpidx = vlib_buffer_pool_get_default_for_numa (vm, socket_id);
+      vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp = vlib_get_buffer_pool (vm, bpidx);
+      struct rte_mempool *mp = dpdk_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index[bpidx];
 
-      rv =
-	rte_eth_rx_queue_setup (xd->port_id, j, xd->nb_rx_desc,
-				xd->cpu_socket, 0,
-				dm->pktmbuf_pools[socket_id]);
+      rv = rte_eth_rx_queue_setup (xd->port_id, j, xd->nb_rx_desc,
+				   xd->cpu_socket, 0, mp);
 
       /* retry with any other CPU socket */
       if (rv < 0)
-	rv =
-	  rte_eth_rx_queue_setup (xd->port_id, j,
-				  xd->nb_rx_desc, SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0,
-				  dm->pktmbuf_pools[socket_id]);
+	rv = rte_eth_rx_queue_setup (xd->port_id, j, xd->nb_rx_desc,
+				     SOCKET_ID_ANY, 0, mp);
 
-      privp = rte_mempool_get_priv (dm->pktmbuf_pools[socket_id]);
-      xd->buffer_pool_for_queue[j] = privp->buffer_pool_index;
+      xd->buffer_pool_for_queue[j] = bp->index;
 
       if (rv < 0)
 	dpdk_device_error (xd, "rte_eth_rx_queue_setup", rv);
diff --git a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/device.c b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/device.c
index 86b9a50f41b..e3520fc720e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/device.c
+++ b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/device.c
@@ -127,11 +127,9 @@ dpdk_validate_rte_mbuf (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_buffer_t * b,
       mb->pkt_len = b->current_length;
       mb->data_off = VLIB_BUFFER_PRE_DATA_SIZE + b->current_data;
       first_mb->nb_segs++;
-      if (PREDICT_FALSE (b->n_add_refs))
-	{
-	  rte_mbuf_refcnt_update (mb, b->n_add_refs);
-	  b->n_add_refs = 0;
-	}
+      if (PREDICT_FALSE (b->ref_count > 1))
+	mb->pool =
+	  dpdk_no_cache_mempool_by_buffer_pool_index[b->buffer_pool_index];
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/dpdk.h b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/dpdk.h
index 425cf265873..14630967ea5 100644
--- a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/dpdk.h
+++ b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/dpdk.h
@@ -56,8 +56,6 @@
 #include <vlib/pci/pci.h>
 #include <vnet/flow/flow.h>
 
-#define NB_MBUF   (16<<10)
-
 extern vnet_device_class_t dpdk_device_class;
 extern vlib_node_registration_t dpdk_input_node;
 extern vlib_node_registration_t admin_up_down_process_node;
@@ -364,7 +362,7 @@ typedef struct
   u8 nchannels_set_manually;
   u32 coremask;
   u32 nchannels;
-  u32 num_mbufs;
+  u32 num_crypto_mbufs;
 
   /*
    * format interface names ala xxxEthernet%d/%d/%d instead of
@@ -443,9 +441,6 @@ typedef struct
   vnet_main_t *vnet_main;
   dpdk_config_main_t *conf;
 
-  /* mempool */
-  struct rte_mempool **pktmbuf_pools;
-
   /* API message ID base */
   u16 msg_id_base;
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/dpdk_priv.h b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/dpdk_priv.h
index 1956cca19c3..e0e06826935 100644
--- a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/dpdk_priv.h
+++ b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/dpdk_priv.h
@@ -49,14 +49,6 @@ _(file-prefix)                                  \
 _(vdev)                                         \
 _(log-level)
 
-typedef struct
-{
-  /* must be first */
-  struct rte_pktmbuf_pool_private mbp_priv;
-  u8 buffer_pool_index;
-} dpdk_mempool_private_t;
-
-
 static inline void
 dpdk_get_xstats (dpdk_device_t * xd)
 {
diff --git a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/init.c b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/init.c
index dcff0e52293..fa3b691fca4 100644
--- a/src/plugins/dpdk/device/init.c
+++ b/src/plugins/dpdk/device/init.c
@@ -151,60 +151,6 @@ dpdk_device_lock_init (dpdk_device_t * xd)
     }
 }
 
-static struct rte_mempool_ops *
-get_ops_by_name (char *ops_name)
-{
-  u32 i;
-
-  for (i = 0; i < rte_mempool_ops_table.num_ops; i++)
-    {
-      if (!strcmp (ops_name, rte_mempool_ops_table.ops[i].name))
-	return &rte_mempool_ops_table.ops[i];
-    }
-
-  return 0;
-}
-
-static int
-dpdk_ring_alloc (struct rte_mempool *mp)
-{
-  u32 rg_flags = 0, count;
-  i32 ret;
-  char rg_name[RTE_RING_NAMESIZE];
-  struct rte_ring *r;
-
-  ret = snprintf (rg_name, sizeof (rg_name), RTE_MEMPOOL_MZ_FORMAT, mp->name);
-  if (ret < 0 || ret >= (i32) sizeof (rg_name))
-    return -ENAMETOOLONG;
-
-  /* ring flags */
-  if (mp->flags & MEMPOOL_F_SP_PUT)
-    rg_flags |= RING_F_SP_ENQ;
-  if (mp->flags & MEMPOOL_F_SC_GET)
-    rg_flags |= RING_F_SC_DEQ;
-
-  count = rte_align32pow2 (mp->size + 1);
-  /*
-   * Allocate the ring that will be used to store objects.
-   * Ring functions will return appropriate errors if we are
-   * running as a secondary process etc., so no checks made
-   * in this function for that condition.
-   */
-  /* XXX can we get memory from the right socket? */
-  r = clib_mem_alloc_aligned (rte_ring_get_memsize (count),
-			      CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-
-  /* XXX rte_ring_lookup will not work */
-
-  ret = rte_ring_init (r, rg_name, count, rg_flags);
-  if (ret)
-    return ret;
-
-  mp->pool_data = r;
-
-  return 0;
-}
-
 static int
 dpdk_port_crc_strip_enabled (dpdk_device_t * xd)
 {
@@ -220,7 +166,6 @@ dpdk_lib_init (dpdk_main_t * dm)
 {
   u32 nports;
   u32 mtu, max_rx_frame;
-  u32 nb_desc = 0;
   int i;
   clib_error_t *error;
   vlib_main_t *vm = vlib_get_main ();
@@ -631,9 +576,6 @@ dpdk_lib_init (dpdk_main_t * dm)
 	  dq->queue_id = 0;
 	}
 
-      /* count the number of descriptors used for this device */
-      nb_desc += xd->nb_rx_desc + xd->nb_tx_desc * xd->tx_q_used;
-
       error = ethernet_register_interface
 	(dm->vnet_main, dpdk_device_class.index, xd->device_index,
 	 /* ethernet address */ addr,
@@ -811,10 +753,6 @@ dpdk_lib_init (dpdk_main_t * dm)
     }
   /* *INDENT-ON* */
 
-  if (nb_desc > dm->conf->num_mbufs)
-    dpdk_log_err ("%d mbufs allocated but total rx/tx ring size is %d\n",
-		  dm->conf->num_mbufs, nb_desc);
-
   return 0;
 }
 
@@ -1209,7 +1147,8 @@ dpdk_config (vlib_main_t * vm, unformat_input_t * input)
 	}
       else if (unformat (input, "num-mem-channels %d", &conf->nchannels))
 	conf->nchannels_set_manually = 0;
-      else if (unformat (input, "num-mbufs %d", &conf->num_mbufs))
+      else if (unformat (input, "num-crypto-mbufs %d",
+			 &conf->num_crypto_mbufs))
 	;
       else if (unformat (input, "uio-driver %s", &conf->uio_driver_name))
 	;
@@ -1452,36 +1391,10 @@ dpdk_config (vlib_main_t * vm, unformat_input_t * input)
   if (ret < 0)
     return clib_error_return (0, "rte_eal_init returned %d", ret);
 
-  /* set custom ring memory allocator */
-  {
-    struct rte_mempool_ops *ops = NULL;
-
-    ops = get_ops_by_name ("ring_sp_sc");
-    ops->alloc = dpdk_ring_alloc;
-
-    ops = get_ops_by_name ("ring_mp_sc");
-    ops->alloc = dpdk_ring_alloc;
-
-    ops = get_ops_by_name ("ring_sp_mc");
-    ops->alloc = dpdk_ring_alloc;
-
-    ops = get_ops_by_name ("ring_mp_mc");
-    ops->alloc = dpdk_ring_alloc;
-  }
-
   /* main thread 1st */
-  error = dpdk_buffer_pool_create (vm, conf->num_mbufs, rte_socket_id ());
-  if (error)
+  if ((error = dpdk_buffer_pools_create (vm)))
     return error;
 
-  for (i = 0; i < RTE_MAX_LCORE; i++)
-    {
-      error = dpdk_buffer_pool_create (vm, conf->num_mbufs,
-				       rte_lcore_to_socket_id (i));
-      if (error)
-	return error;
-    }
-
 done:
   return error;
 }
@@ -1768,7 +1681,6 @@ dpdk_init (vlib_main_t * vm)
   dm->conf = &dpdk_config_main;
 
   dm->conf->nchannels = 4;
-  dm->conf->num_mbufs = dm->conf->num_mbufs ? dm->conf->num_mbufs : NB_MBUF;
   vec_add1 (dm->conf->eal_init_args, (u8 *) "vnet");
   vec_add1 (dm->conf->eal_init_args, (u8 *) "--in-memory");
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/dpdk/ipsec/ipsec.c b/src/plugins/dpdk/ipsec/ipsec.c
index ade454f22cc..dd64f6db568 100644
--- a/src/plugins/dpdk/ipsec/ipsec.c
+++ b/src/plugins/dpdk/ipsec/ipsec.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 dpdk_crypto_main_t dpdk_crypto_main;
 
 #define EMPTY_STRUCT {0}
+#define NUM_CRYPTO_MBUFS 16384
 
 static void
 algos_init (u32 n_mains)
@@ -835,11 +836,12 @@ crypto_create_crypto_op_pool (vlib_main_t * vm, u8 numa)
 
   pool_name = format (0, "crypto_pool_numa%u%c", numa, 0);
 
-  mp =
-    rte_mempool_create ((char *) pool_name,
-			conf->num_mbufs,
-			crypto_op_len (), 512, pool_priv_size, NULL, NULL,
-			crypto_op_init, NULL, numa, 0);
+  if (conf->num_crypto_mbufs == 0)
+    conf->num_crypto_mbufs = NUM_CRYPTO_MBUFS;
+
+  mp = rte_mempool_create ((char *) pool_name, conf->num_crypto_mbufs,
+			   crypto_op_len (), 512, pool_priv_size, NULL, NULL,
+			   crypto_op_init, NULL, numa, 0);
 
   vec_free (pool_name);
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/memif/memif.c b/src/plugins/memif/memif.c
index 6e45b573f2c..7f29f4d7f87 100644
--- a/src/plugins/memif/memif.c
+++ b/src/plugins/memif/memif.c
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ memif_int_fd_read_ready (clib_file_t * uf)
 clib_error_t *
 memif_connect (memif_if_t * mif)
 {
+  vlib_main_t *vm = vlib_get_main ();
   vnet_main_t *vnm = vnet_get_main ();
   clib_file_t template = { 0 };
   memif_region_t *mr;
@@ -235,6 +236,7 @@ memif_connect (memif_if_t * mif)
   vec_foreach_index (i, mif->rx_queues)
     {
       memif_queue_t *mq = vec_elt_at_index (mif->rx_queues, i);
+      u32 ti;
       int rv;
 
       mq->ring = mif->regions[mq->region].shm + mq->offset;
@@ -254,6 +256,9 @@ memif_connect (memif_if_t * mif)
 	  memif_file_add (&mq->int_clib_file_index, &template);
 	}
       vnet_hw_interface_assign_rx_thread (vnm, mif->hw_if_index, i, ~0);
+      ti = vnet_get_device_input_thread_index (vnm, mif->hw_if_index, i);
+      mq->buffer_pool_index =
+	vlib_buffer_pool_get_default_for_numa (vm, vlib_mains[ti]->numa_node);
       rv = vnet_hw_interface_set_rx_mode (vnm, mif->hw_if_index, i,
 					  VNET_HW_INTERFACE_RX_MODE_DEFAULT);
       if (rv)
diff --git a/src/plugins/memif/node.c b/src/plugins/memif/node.c
index 490c60356db..347112892be 100644
--- a/src/plugins/memif/node.c
+++ b/src/plugins/memif/node.c
@@ -280,7 +280,8 @@ memif_device_input_inline (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_node_runtime_t * node,
 
   /* allocate free buffers */
   vec_validate_aligned (ptd->buffers, n_buffers - 1, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-  n_alloc = vlib_buffer_alloc (vm, ptd->buffers, n_buffers);
+  n_alloc = vlib_buffer_alloc_from_pool (vm, ptd->buffers, n_buffers,
+					 mq->buffer_pool_index);
   if (PREDICT_FALSE (n_alloc != n_buffers))
     {
       if (n_alloc)
@@ -343,6 +344,7 @@ memif_device_input_inline (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_node_runtime_t * node,
   vnet_buffer (&ptd->buffer_template)->feature_arc_index = 0;
   ptd->buffer_template.current_data = start_offset;
   ptd->buffer_template.current_config_index = 0;
+  ptd->buffer_template.buffer_pool_index = mq->buffer_pool_index;
 
   if (mode == MEMIF_INTERFACE_MODE_ETHERNET)
     {
@@ -783,8 +785,9 @@ refill:
   clib_memset (dt, 0, sizeof (memif_desc_t));
   dt->length = buffer_length;
 
-  n_alloc = vlib_buffer_alloc_to_ring (vm, mq->buffers, head & mask,
-				       ring_size, n_slots);
+  n_alloc = vlib_buffer_alloc_to_ring_from_pool (vm, mq->buffers, head & mask,
+						 ring_size, n_slots,
+						 mq->buffer_pool_index);
 
   if (PREDICT_FALSE (n_alloc != n_slots))
     {
diff --git a/src/plugins/memif/private.h b/src/plugins/memif/private.h
index a938b85e7da..2aa1f5a0cdc 100644
--- a/src/plugins/memif/private.h
+++ b/src/plugins/memif/private.h
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ typedef struct
   u16 last_head;
   u16 last_tail;
   u32 *buffers;
+  u8 buffer_pool_index;
 
   /* interrupts */
   int int_fd;
diff --git a/src/vlib/buffer.c b/src/vlib/buffer.c
index 643f2c50342..3e194113675 100644
--- a/src/vlib/buffer.c
+++ b/src/vlib/buffer.c
@@ -43,18 +43,24 @@
  * Allocate/free network buffers.
  */
 
+#include <vppinfra/linux/sysfs.h>
 #include <vlib/vlib.h>
 #include <vlib/unix/unix.h>
 
-vlib_buffer_callbacks_t *vlib_buffer_callbacks = 0;
+#define VLIB_BUFFER_DEFAULT_BUFFERS_PER_NUMA 16384
+#define VLIB_BUFFER_DEFAULT_BUFFERS_PER_NUMA_UNPRIV 8192
 
-/* when running unpriviledged we are limited by RLIMIT_MEMLOCK which is
-   typically set to 16MB so setting default size for buffer memory to 14MB
-   */
-static u32 vlib_buffer_physmem_sz = 14 << 20;
+#ifdef CLIB_HAVE_VEC128
+/* Assumptions by vlib_buffer_free_inline: */
+STATIC_ASSERT_FITS_IN (vlib_buffer_t, flags, 16);
+STATIC_ASSERT_FITS_IN (vlib_buffer_t, ref_count, 16);
+STATIC_ASSERT_FITS_IN (vlib_buffer_t, buffer_pool_index, 16);
+#endif
 
-/* logging */
-static vlib_log_class_t buffer_log_default;
+/* Make sure that buffer template size is not accidentally changed */
+STATIC_ASSERT_OFFSET_OF (vlib_buffer_t, template_end, 64);
+
+u16 __vlib_buffer_external_hdr_size = 0;
 
 uword
 vlib_buffer_length_in_chain_slow_path (vlib_main_t * vm,
@@ -86,8 +92,8 @@ format_vlib_buffer (u8 * s, va_list * args)
   foreach_vlib_buffer_flag
 #undef _
     s = format (s, "current data %d, length %d, buffer-pool %d, "
-		"clone-count %u", b->current_data, b->current_length,
-		b->buffer_pool_index, b->n_add_refs);
+		"ref-count %u", b->current_data, b->current_length,
+		b->buffer_pool_index, b->ref_count);
 
   if (b->flags & VLIB_BUFFER_TOTAL_LENGTH_VALID)
     s = format (s, ", totlen-nifb %d",
@@ -107,9 +113,9 @@ format_vlib_buffer (u8 * s, va_list * args)
       b = vlib_get_buffer (vm, next_buffer);
 
       s =
-	format (s, "\n%Unext-buffer 0x%x, segment length %d, clone-count %u",
+	format (s, "\n%Unext-buffer 0x%x, segment length %d, ref-count %u",
 		format_white_space, indent, next_buffer, b->current_length,
-		b->n_add_refs);
+		b->ref_count);
     }
 
   return s;
@@ -177,14 +183,18 @@ vlib_validate_buffer_helper (vlib_main_t * vm,
 			     u32 bi,
 			     uword follow_buffer_next, uword ** unique_hash)
 {
+  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
   vlib_buffer_t *b = vlib_get_buffer (vm, bi);
 
+  if (vec_len (bm->buffer_pools) <= b->buffer_pool_index)
+    return format (0, "unknown buffer pool 0x%x", b->buffer_pool_index);
+
   if ((signed) b->current_data < (signed) -VLIB_BUFFER_PRE_DATA_SIZE)
     return format (0, "current data %d before pre-data", b->current_data);
 
   if (b->current_data + b->current_length > VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE)
-    return format (0, "%d-%d beyond end of buffer %d",
-		   b->current_data, b->current_length, VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE);
+    return format (0, "%d-%d beyond end of buffer %d", b->current_data,
+		   b->current_length, VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE);
 
   if (follow_buffer_next && (b->flags & VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT))
     {
@@ -306,15 +316,13 @@ vlib_buffer_validate_alloc_free (vlib_main_t * vm,
 				 uword n_buffers,
 				 vlib_buffer_known_state_t expected_state)
 {
+  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
   u32 *b;
   uword i, bi, is_free;
 
   if (CLIB_DEBUG == 0)
     return;
 
-  if (vlib_buffer_callbacks)
-    return;
-
   is_free = expected_state == VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_ALLOCATED;
   b = buffers;
   for (i = 0; i < n_buffers; i++)
@@ -324,287 +332,26 @@ vlib_buffer_validate_alloc_free (vlib_main_t * vm,
       bi = b[0];
       b += 1;
       known = vlib_buffer_is_known (vm, bi);
+
+      if (known == VLIB_BUFFER_UNKNOWN &&
+	  expected_state == VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_FREE)
+	known = VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_FREE;
+
       if (known != expected_state)
 	{
-	  ASSERT (0);
 	  vlib_panic_with_msg
 	    (vm, "%s %U buffer 0x%x",
 	     is_free ? "freeing" : "allocating",
 	     format_vlib_buffer_known_state, known, bi);
 	}
 
-      vlib_buffer_set_known_state (vm, bi, is_free ? VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_FREE :
-				   VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_ALLOCATED);
-    }
-}
-
-/* Add buffer free list. */
-static vlib_buffer_free_list_index_t
-vlib_buffer_create_free_list_helper (vlib_main_t * vm,
-				     u32 n_data_bytes,
-				     u32 is_public, u32 is_default, u8 * name)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
-  vlib_buffer_free_list_t *f;
-  int i;
-
-  ASSERT (vlib_get_thread_index () == 0);
-
-  if (!is_default && pool_elts (vm->buffer_free_list_pool) == 0)
-    {
-      vlib_buffer_free_list_index_t default_free_free_list_index;
-
-      /* *INDENT-OFF* */
-      default_free_free_list_index =
-        vlib_buffer_create_free_list_helper
-        (vm,
-         /* default buffer size */ VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE,
-         /* is_public */ 1,
-         /* is_default */ 1,
-         (u8 *) "default");
-      /* *INDENT-ON* */
-      ASSERT (default_free_free_list_index ==
-	      VLIB_BUFFER_DEFAULT_FREE_LIST_INDEX);
-
-      if (n_data_bytes == VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE && is_public)
-	return default_free_free_list_index;
-    }
-
-  pool_get_aligned (vm->buffer_free_list_pool, f, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-
-  clib_memset (f, 0, sizeof (f[0]));
-  f->index = f - vm->buffer_free_list_pool;
-  vec_validate (f->buffers, 0);
-  vec_reset_length (f->buffers);
-  f->min_n_buffers_each_alloc = VLIB_FRAME_SIZE;
-  f->buffer_pool_index = 0;
-  f->name = clib_mem_is_vec (name) ? name : format (0, "%s", name);
-
-  /* Setup free buffer template. */
-  f->buffer_init_template.n_add_refs = 0;
-
-  if (is_public)
-    {
-      uword *p = hash_get (bm->free_list_by_size, VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE);
-      if (!p)
-	hash_set (bm->free_list_by_size, VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE, f->index);
-    }
-
-  for (i = 1; i < vec_len (vlib_mains); i++)
-    {
-      vlib_main_t *wvm = vlib_mains[i];
-      vlib_buffer_free_list_t *wf;
-      pool_get_aligned (wvm->buffer_free_list_pool,
-			wf, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-      ASSERT (f - vm->buffer_free_list_pool ==
-	      wf - wvm->buffer_free_list_pool);
-      wf[0] = f[0];
-      wf->buffers = 0;
-      vec_validate (wf->buffers, 0);
-      vec_reset_length (wf->buffers);
-      wf->n_alloc = 0;
-    }
-
-  return f->index;
-}
-
-vlib_buffer_free_list_index_t
-vlib_buffer_create_free_list (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 n_data_bytes,
-			      char *fmt, ...)
-{
-  va_list va;
-  u8 *name;
-
-  va_start (va, fmt);
-  name = va_format (0, fmt, &va);
-  va_end (va);
-
-  return vlib_buffer_create_free_list_helper (vm, n_data_bytes,
-					      /* is_public */ 0,
-					      /* is_default */ 0,
-					      name);
-}
-
-static_always_inline void *
-vlib_buffer_pool_get_buffer (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_buffer_pool_t * bp)
-{
-  return vlib_physmem_alloc_from_map (vm, bp->physmem_map_index,
-				      bp->buffer_size, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-}
-
-/* Make sure free list has at least given number of free buffers. */
-static uword
-vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_internal (vlib_main_t * vm,
-				     vlib_buffer_free_list_t * fl,
-				     uword min_free_buffers)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_t *b;
-  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp = vlib_buffer_pool_get (vm, fl->buffer_pool_index);
-  int n;
-  u32 *bi;
-  u32 n_alloc = 0;
-
-  /* Already have enough free buffers on free list? */
-  n = min_free_buffers - vec_len (fl->buffers);
-  if (n <= 0)
-    return min_free_buffers;
-
-  if (vec_len (bp->buffers) > 0)
-    {
-      int n_copy, n_left;
-      clib_spinlock_lock (&bp->lock);
-      n_copy = clib_min (vec_len (bp->buffers), n);
-      n_left = vec_len (bp->buffers) - n_copy;
-      vec_add_aligned (fl->buffers, bp->buffers + n_left, n_copy,
-		       CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-      _vec_len (bp->buffers) = n_left;
-      clib_spinlock_unlock (&bp->lock);
-      n = min_free_buffers - vec_len (fl->buffers);
-      if (n <= 0)
-	return min_free_buffers;
-    }
-
-  /* Always allocate round number of buffers. */
-  n = round_pow2 (n, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES / sizeof (u32));
-
-  /* Always allocate new buffers in reasonably large sized chunks. */
-  n = clib_max (n, fl->min_n_buffers_each_alloc);
-
-  clib_spinlock_lock (&bp->lock);
-  while (n_alloc < n)
-    {
-      if ((b = vlib_buffer_pool_get_buffer (vm, bp)) == 0)
-	goto done;
-
-      n_alloc += 1;
-
-      vec_add2_aligned (fl->buffers, bi, 1, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-      bi[0] = vlib_get_buffer_index (vm, b);
-
-      if (CLIB_DEBUG > 0)
-	vlib_buffer_set_known_state (vm, bi[0], VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_FREE);
-
-      clib_memset (b, 0, sizeof (vlib_buffer_t));
-
-      if (fl->buffer_init_function)
-	fl->buffer_init_function (vm, fl, bi, 1);
-    }
-
-done:
-  clib_spinlock_unlock (&bp->lock);
-  fl->n_alloc += n_alloc;
-  return n_alloc;
-}
-
-void *
-vlib_set_buffer_free_callback (vlib_main_t * vm, void *fp)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
-  void *rv = bm->buffer_free_callback;
-
-  bm->buffer_free_callback = fp;
-  return rv;
-}
-
-static_always_inline void
-recycle_or_free (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_buffer_main_t * bm, u32 bi,
-		 vlib_buffer_t * b, u32 follow_buffer_next)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_free_list_t *fl;
-  u32 flags, next;
-
-  fl = pool_elt_at_index (vm->buffer_free_list_pool,
-			  VLIB_BUFFER_DEFAULT_FREE_LIST_INDEX);
-
-  do
-    {
-      vlib_buffer_t *nb = vlib_get_buffer (vm, bi);
-      flags = nb->flags;
-      next = nb->next_buffer;
-      if (nb->n_add_refs)
-	nb->n_add_refs--;
-      else
-	{
-	  vlib_buffer_validate_alloc_free (vm, &bi, 1,
-					   VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_ALLOCATED);
-	  vlib_buffer_add_to_free_list (vm, fl, bi, 1);
-	}
-      bi = next;
-    }
-  while (follow_buffer_next && (flags & VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT));
-}
-
-static_always_inline void
-vlib_buffer_free_inline (vlib_main_t * vm,
-			 u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers, u32 follow_buffer_next)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
-  vlib_buffer_t *p, *b0, *b1, *b2, *b3;
-  int i = 0;
-  u32 (*cb) (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers,
-	     u32 follow_buffer_next);
-
-  cb = bm->buffer_free_callback;
-
-  if (PREDICT_FALSE (cb != 0))
-    n_buffers = (*cb) (vm, buffers, n_buffers, follow_buffer_next);
-
-  if (!n_buffers)
-    return;
-
-  while (i + 11 < n_buffers)
-    {
-      p = vlib_get_buffer (vm, buffers[i + 8]);
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (p, LOAD);
-      p = vlib_get_buffer (vm, buffers[i + 9]);
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (p, LOAD);
-      p = vlib_get_buffer (vm, buffers[i + 10]);
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (p, LOAD);
-      p = vlib_get_buffer (vm, buffers[i + 11]);
-      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (p, LOAD);
-
-      b0 = vlib_get_buffer (vm, buffers[i]);
-      b1 = vlib_get_buffer (vm, buffers[i + 1]);
-      b2 = vlib_get_buffer (vm, buffers[i + 2]);
-      b3 = vlib_get_buffer (vm, buffers[i + 3]);
-
-      VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b0);
-      VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b1);
-      VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b2);
-      VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b3);
-
-      recycle_or_free (vm, bm, buffers[i], b0, follow_buffer_next);
-      recycle_or_free (vm, bm, buffers[i + 1], b1, follow_buffer_next);
-      recycle_or_free (vm, bm, buffers[i + 2], b2, follow_buffer_next);
-      recycle_or_free (vm, bm, buffers[i + 3], b3, follow_buffer_next);
-
-      i += 4;
-    }
-
-  while (i < n_buffers)
-    {
-      b0 = vlib_get_buffer (vm, buffers[i]);
-      VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b0);
-      recycle_or_free (vm, bm, buffers[i], b0, follow_buffer_next);
-      i++;
+      clib_spinlock_lock (&bm->buffer_known_hash_lockp);
+      hash_set (bm->buffer_known_hash, bi, is_free ? VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_FREE :
+		VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_ALLOCATED);
+      clib_spinlock_unlock (&bm->buffer_known_hash_lockp);
     }
 }
 
-static void
-vlib_buffer_free_internal (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_free_inline (vm, buffers, n_buffers,	/* follow_buffer_next */
-			   1);
-}
-
-static void
-vlib_buffer_free_no_next_internal (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffers,
-				   u32 n_buffers)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_free_inline (vm, buffers, n_buffers,	/* follow_buffer_next */
-			   0);
-}
-
 void
 vlib_packet_template_init (vlib_main_t * vm,
 			   vlib_packet_template_t * t,
@@ -624,7 +371,6 @@ vlib_packet_template_init (vlib_main_t * vm,
 
   vec_add (t->packet_data, packet_data, n_packet_data_bytes);
   t->min_n_buffers_each_alloc = min_n_buffers_each_alloc;
-
   vlib_worker_thread_barrier_release (vm);
 }
 
@@ -706,8 +452,6 @@ out_of_buffers:
 
 u16
 vlib_buffer_chain_append_data_with_alloc (vlib_main_t * vm,
-					  vlib_buffer_free_list_index_t
-					  free_list_index,
 					  vlib_buffer_t * first,
 					  vlib_buffer_t ** last, void *data,
 					  u16 data_len)
@@ -721,9 +465,8 @@ vlib_buffer_chain_append_data_with_alloc (vlib_main_t * vm,
       u16 max = n_buffer_bytes - l->current_length - l->current_data;
       if (max == 0)
 	{
-	  if (1 !=
-	      vlib_buffer_alloc_from_free_list (vm, &l->next_buffer, 1,
-						free_list_index))
+	  if (1 != vlib_buffer_alloc_from_pool (vm, &l->next_buffer, 1,
+						first->buffer_pool_index))
 	    return copied;
 	  *last = l = vlib_buffer_chain_buffer (vm, l, l->next_buffer);
 	  max = n_buffer_bytes - l->current_length - l->current_data;
@@ -739,14 +482,26 @@ vlib_buffer_chain_append_data_with_alloc (vlib_main_t * vm,
   return copied;
 }
 
-u8
-vlib_buffer_register_physmem_map (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 physmem_map_index)
+clib_error_t *
+vlib_buffer_pool_create (vlib_main_t * vm, u8 index, char *name,
+			 u32 data_size, u32 physmem_map_index)
 {
   vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
-  vlib_buffer_pool_t *p;
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp;
   vlib_physmem_map_t *m = vlib_physmem_get_map (vm, physmem_map_index);
   uword start = pointer_to_uword (m->base);
   uword size = (uword) m->n_pages << m->log2_page_size;
+  u32 alloc_size, n_alloc_per_page;;
+
+  vec_validate_aligned (bm->buffer_pools, index, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
+  bp = vec_elt_at_index (bm->buffer_pools, index);
+
+  if (bp->start)
+    return clib_error_return (0, "buffer with index %u already exists",
+			      index);
+
+  if (index >= 255)
+    return clib_error_return (0, "buffer index must be < 255", index);
 
   if (bm->buffer_mem_size == 0)
     {
@@ -773,36 +528,77 @@ vlib_buffer_register_physmem_map (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 physmem_map_index)
       clib_panic ("buffer memory size out of range!");
     }
 
-  vec_add2 (bm->buffer_pools, p, 1);
-  p->start = start;
-  p->size = size;
-  p->physmem_map_index = physmem_map_index;
+  bp->start = start;
+  bp->size = size;
+  bp->index = bp - bm->buffer_pools;
+  bp->buffer_template.buffer_pool_index = bp->index;
+  bp->buffer_template.ref_count = 1;
+  bp->physmem_map_index = physmem_map_index;
+  bp->name = format (0, "%s%c", name, 0);
+  bp->data_size = data_size;
+  bp->numa_node = m->numa_node;
 
-  ASSERT (p - bm->buffer_pools < 256);
-  return p - bm->buffer_pools;
-}
+  vec_validate_aligned (bp->threads, vec_len (vlib_mains) - 1,
+			CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
 
-static u8 *
-format_vlib_buffer_free_list (u8 * s, va_list * va)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_free_list_t *f = va_arg (*va, vlib_buffer_free_list_t *);
-  u32 threadnum = va_arg (*va, u32);
-  uword bytes_alloc, bytes_free, n_free, size;
+  alloc_size = data_size + sizeof (vlib_buffer_t) + bm->ext_hdr_size;
+  n_alloc_per_page = (1ULL << m->log2_page_size) / alloc_size;
+
+  /* preallocate buffer indices memory */
+  vec_validate_aligned (bp->buffers, m->n_pages * n_alloc_per_page,
+			CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
+  vec_reset_length (bp->buffers);
+
+  clib_spinlock_init (&bp->lock);
+
+  while (1)
+    {
+      u8 *p;
+      u32 bi;
+
+      p = vlib_physmem_alloc_from_map (vm, bp->physmem_map_index, alloc_size,
+				       CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
+
+      if (p == 0)
+	break;
+
+      p += bm->ext_hdr_size;
+
+      vlib_buffer_copy_template ((vlib_buffer_t *) p, &bp->buffer_template);
 
-  if (!f)
-    return format (s, "%=7s%=30s%=12s%=12s%=12s%=12s%=12s%=12s",
-		   "Thread", "Name", "Index", "Size", "Alloc", "Free",
-		   "#Alloc", "#Free");
+      bi = vlib_get_buffer_index (vm, (vlib_buffer_t *) p);
 
-  size = sizeof (vlib_buffer_t) + VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE;
-  n_free = vec_len (f->buffers);
-  bytes_alloc = size * f->n_alloc;
-  bytes_free = size * n_free;
+      vec_add1_aligned (bp->buffers, bi, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
+
+      bp->n_buffers += 1;
+    }
+
+  return 0;
+}
 
-  s = format (s, "%7d%30v%12d%12d%=12U%=12U%=12d%=12d", threadnum,
-	      f->name, f->index, VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE,
-	      format_memory_size, bytes_alloc,
-	      format_memory_size, bytes_free, f->n_alloc, n_free);
+static u8 *
+format_vlib_buffer_pool (u8 * s, va_list * va)
+{
+  vlib_main_t *vm = va_arg (*va, vlib_main_t *);
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp = va_arg (*va, vlib_buffer_pool_t *);
+  vlib_buffer_pool_thread_t *bpt;
+  u32 cached = 0;
+
+  if (!bp)
+    return format (s, "%-20s%=6s%=6s%=6s%=11s%=6s%=8s%=8s%=8s",
+		   "Pool Name", "Index", "NUMA", "Size", "Data Size",
+		   "Total", "Avail", "Cached", "Used");
+
+  /* *INDENT-OFF* */
+  vec_foreach (bpt, bp->threads)
+    cached += vec_len (bpt->cached_buffers);
+  /* *INDENT-ON* */
+
+  s = format (s, "%-20s%=6d%=6d%=6u%=11u%=6u%=8u%=8u%=8u",
+	      bp->name, bp->index, bp->numa_node, bp->data_size +
+	      sizeof (vlib_buffer_t) + vm->buffer_main->ext_hdr_size,
+	      bp->data_size, bp->n_buffers, vec_len (bp->buffers), cached,
+	      bp->n_buffers - vec_len (bp->buffers) - cached);
 
   return s;
 }
@@ -811,25 +607,15 @@ static clib_error_t *
 show_buffers (vlib_main_t * vm,
 	      unformat_input_t * input, vlib_cli_command_t * cmd)
 {
-  vlib_buffer_free_list_t *f;
-  vlib_main_t *curr_vm;
-  u32 vm_index = 0;
-
-  vlib_cli_output (vm, "%U", format_vlib_buffer_free_list, 0, 0);
-
-  do
-    {
-      curr_vm = vlib_mains[vm_index];
+  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp;
 
-    /* *INDENT-OFF* */
-    pool_foreach (f, curr_vm->buffer_free_list_pool, ({
-      vlib_cli_output (vm, "%U", format_vlib_buffer_free_list, f, vm_index);
-    }));
-    /* *INDENT-ON* */
+  vlib_cli_output (vm, "%U", format_vlib_buffer_pool, vm, 0);
 
-      vm_index++;
-    }
-  while (vm_index < vec_len (vlib_mains));
+  /* *INDENT-OFF* */
+  vec_foreach (bp, bm->buffer_pools)
+    vlib_cli_output (vm, "%U", format_vlib_buffer_pool, vm, bp);
+  /* *INDENT-ON* */
 
   return 0;
 }
@@ -843,71 +629,134 @@ VLIB_CLI_COMMAND (show_buffers_command, static) = {
 /* *INDENT-ON* */
 
 clib_error_t *
-vlib_buffer_main_init (struct vlib_main_t * vm)
+vlib_buffer_worker_init (vlib_main_t * vm)
 {
-  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm;
-  clib_error_t *error;
-  u32 physmem_map_index;
-  u8 pool_index;
-  int log2_page_size = 0;
-
-  buffer_log_default = vlib_log_register_class ("buffer", 0);
-
-  bm = vm->buffer_main = clib_mem_alloc (sizeof (bm[0]));
-  clib_memset (bm, 0, sizeof (bm[0]));
+  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp;
 
-  if (vlib_buffer_callbacks)
+  /* *INDENT-OFF* */
+  vec_foreach (bp, bm->buffer_pools)
     {
-      /* external plugin has registered own buffer callbacks
-         so we just copy them  and quit */
-      clib_memcpy_fast (&bm->cb, vlib_buffer_callbacks,
-			sizeof (vlib_buffer_callbacks_t));
-      bm->callbacks_registered = 1;
-      return 0;
+      clib_spinlock_lock (&bp->lock);
+      vec_validate_aligned (bp->threads, vec_len (vlib_mains) - 1,
+			    CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
+      clib_spinlock_unlock (&bp->lock);
     }
+  /* *INDENT-ON* */
 
-  bm->cb.vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_cb = &vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_internal;
-  bm->cb.vlib_buffer_free_cb = &vlib_buffer_free_internal;
-  bm->cb.vlib_buffer_free_no_next_cb = &vlib_buffer_free_no_next_internal;
-  clib_spinlock_init (&bm->buffer_known_hash_lockp);
+  return 0;
+}
+
+VLIB_WORKER_INIT_FUNCTION (vlib_buffer_worker_init);
+
+static clib_error_t *
+vlib_buffer_main_init_numa_node (struct vlib_main_t *vm, u32 numa_node)
+{
+  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
+  clib_error_t *error;
+  u32 physmem_map_index;
+  uword n_pages, pagesize;
+  u32 buffers_per_numa;
+  u32 buffer_size = CLIB_CACHE_LINE_ROUND (bm->ext_hdr_size +
+					   sizeof (vlib_buffer_t) +
+					   VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE);
+  u8 *name;
+
+  pagesize = clib_mem_get_default_hugepage_size ();
+  name = format (0, "buffers-numa-%d%c", numa_node, 0);
+
+  buffers_per_numa = bm->buffers_per_numa ? bm->buffers_per_numa :
+    VLIB_BUFFER_DEFAULT_BUFFERS_PER_NUMA;
 
 retry:
-  error = vlib_physmem_shared_map_create (vm, "buffers",
-					  vlib_buffer_physmem_sz,
-					  log2_page_size,
-					  CLIB_PMALLOC_NUMA_LOCAL,
+  n_pages = (buffers_per_numa - 1) / (pagesize / buffer_size) + 1;
+  error = vlib_physmem_shared_map_create (vm, (char *) name,
+					  n_pages * pagesize,
+					  min_log2 (pagesize), numa_node,
 					  &physmem_map_index);
 
-  if (error && log2_page_size == 0)
+  if (error && pagesize != clib_mem_get_page_size ())
     {
-      vlib_log_warn (buffer_log_default, "%U", format_clib_error, error);
+      vlib_log_warn (bm->log_default, "%U", format_clib_error, error);
       clib_error_free (error);
-      vlib_log_warn (buffer_log_default, "falling back to non-hugepage "
+      vlib_log_warn (bm->log_default, "falling back to non-hugepage "
 		     "backed buffer pool");
-      log2_page_size = min_log2 (clib_mem_get_page_size ());
+      pagesize = clib_mem_get_page_size ();
+      buffers_per_numa = bm->buffers_per_numa ? bm->buffers_per_numa :
+	VLIB_BUFFER_DEFAULT_BUFFERS_PER_NUMA_UNPRIV;
       goto retry;
     }
 
   if (error)
     return error;
 
-  pool_index = vlib_buffer_register_physmem_map (vm, physmem_map_index);
-  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp = vlib_buffer_pool_get (vm, pool_index);
-  clib_spinlock_init (&bp->lock);
-  bp->buffer_size = VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE + sizeof (vlib_buffer_t);
+  vec_reset_length (name);
+  name = format (name, "default-numa-%d%c", numa_node, 0);
 
-  return 0;
+  return vlib_buffer_pool_create (vm, numa_node, (char *) name,
+				  VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE, physmem_map_index);
+}
+
+clib_error_t *
+vlib_buffer_main_init (struct vlib_main_t *vm)
+{
+  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm;
+  clib_error_t *err;
+  clib_bitmap_t *bmp = 0;
+  u32 numa_node;
+
+  if (vm->buffer_main == 0)
+    {
+      vm->buffer_main = clib_mem_alloc (sizeof (bm[0]));
+      clib_memset (vm->buffer_main, 0, sizeof (bm[0]));
+    }
+
+  bm = vm->buffer_main;
+  bm->log_default = vlib_log_register_class ("buffer", 0);
+  bm->ext_hdr_size = __vlib_buffer_external_hdr_size;
+
+  clib_spinlock_init (&bm->buffer_known_hash_lockp);
+
+  err = clib_sysfs_read ("/sys/devices/system/node/possible", "%U",
+			 unformat_bitmap_list, &bmp);
+  if (err)
+    {
+      /* no info from sysfs, assuming that only numa 0 exists */
+      clib_error_free (err);
+      bmp = clib_bitmap_set (bmp, 0, 1);
+    }
+
+  /* *INDENT-OFF* */
+  clib_bitmap_foreach (numa_node, bmp, {
+      if ((err = vlib_buffer_main_init_numa_node(vm, numa_node)))
+	  goto done;
+    });
+  /* *INDENT-ON* */
+
+  bm->n_numa_nodes = clib_bitmap_last_set (bmp) + 1;
+
+done:
+  vec_free (bmp);
+  return err;
 }
 
 static clib_error_t *
 vlib_buffers_configure (vlib_main_t * vm, unformat_input_t * input)
 {
-  u32 size_in_mb;
+  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm;
+
+  if (vm->buffer_main == 0)
+    {
+      vm->buffer_main = clib_mem_alloc (sizeof (bm[0]));
+      clib_memset (vm->buffer_main, 0, sizeof (bm[0]));
+    }
+
+  bm = vm->buffer_main;
 
   while (unformat_check_input (input) != UNFORMAT_END_OF_INPUT)
     {
-      if (unformat (input, "memory-size-in-mb %d", &size_in_mb))
-	vlib_buffer_physmem_sz = size_in_mb << 20;
+      if (unformat (input, "buffers-per-numa %u", &bm->buffers_per_numa))
+	;
       else
 	return unformat_parse_error (input);
     }
diff --git a/src/vlib/buffer.h b/src/vlib/buffer.h
index f7fdf208a83..1adde73d4ee 100644
--- a/src/vlib/buffer.h
+++ b/src/vlib/buffer.h
@@ -59,8 +59,6 @@
 /* Amount of head buffer data copied to each replica head buffer */
 #define VLIB_BUFFER_CLONE_HEAD_SIZE (256)
 
-typedef u8 vlib_buffer_free_list_index_t;
-
 /** \file
     vlib buffer structure definition and a few select
     access methods. This structure and the buffer allocation
@@ -127,8 +125,8 @@ typedef union
     /** Generic flow identifier */
     u32 flow_id;
 
-    /** Number of additional references to this buffer. */
-    u8 n_add_refs;
+    /** Reference count for this buffer. */
+    volatile u8 ref_count;
 
     /** index of buffer pool this buffer belongs. */
     u8 buffer_pool_index;
@@ -367,66 +365,32 @@ vlib_buffer_pull (vlib_buffer_t * b, u8 size)
 /* Forward declaration. */
 struct vlib_main_t;
 
-typedef struct vlib_buffer_free_list_t
-{
-  /* Template buffer used to initialize first 16 bytes of buffers
-     allocated on this free list. */
-  vlib_buffer_t buffer_init_template;
-
-  /* Our index into vlib_main_t's buffer_free_list_pool. */
-  vlib_buffer_free_list_index_t index;
-
-  /* Number of buffers to allocate when we need to allocate new buffers */
-  u32 min_n_buffers_each_alloc;
-
-  /* Total number of buffers allocated from this free list. */
-  u32 n_alloc;
-
-  /* Vector of free buffers.  Each element is a byte offset into I/O heap. */
-  u32 *buffers;
-
-  /* index of buffer pool used to get / put buffers */
-  u8 buffer_pool_index;
-
-  /* Free list name. */
-  u8 *name;
-
-  /* Callback functions to initialize newly allocated buffers.
-     If null buffers are zeroed. */
-  void (*buffer_init_function) (struct vlib_main_t * vm,
-				struct vlib_buffer_free_list_t * fl,
-				u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers);
-
-  uword buffer_init_function_opaque;
-} __attribute__ ((aligned (16))) vlib_buffer_free_list_t;
-
-typedef uword (vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_cb_t) (struct vlib_main_t * vm,
-						 vlib_buffer_free_list_t * fl,
-						 uword min_free_buffers);
-typedef void (vlib_buffer_free_cb_t) (struct vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffers,
-				      u32 n_buffers);
-typedef void (vlib_buffer_free_no_next_cb_t) (struct vlib_main_t * vm,
-					      u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers);
-
 typedef struct
 {
-  vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_cb_t *vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_cb;
-  vlib_buffer_free_cb_t *vlib_buffer_free_cb;
-  vlib_buffer_free_no_next_cb_t *vlib_buffer_free_no_next_cb;
-} vlib_buffer_callbacks_t;
-
-extern vlib_buffer_callbacks_t *vlib_buffer_callbacks;
-
+  CLIB_CACHE_LINE_ALIGN_MARK (cacheline0);
+  u32 *cached_buffers;
+  u32 n_alloc;
+} vlib_buffer_pool_thread_t;
 typedef struct
 {
   CLIB_CACHE_LINE_ALIGN_MARK (cacheline0);
   uword start;
   uword size;
   uword log2_page_size;
+  u8 index;
+  u32 numa_node;
   u32 physmem_map_index;
-  u32 buffer_size;
+  u32 data_size;
+  u32 n_buffers;
   u32 *buffers;
+  u8 *name;
   clib_spinlock_t lock;
+
+  /* per-thread data */
+  vlib_buffer_pool_thread_t *threads;
+
+  /* buffer metadata template */
+  vlib_buffer_t buffer_template;
 } vlib_buffer_pool_t;
 
 typedef struct
@@ -438,36 +402,24 @@ typedef struct
   uword buffer_mem_size;
   vlib_buffer_pool_t *buffer_pools;
 
-  /* Buffer free callback, for subversive activities */
-    u32 (*buffer_free_callback) (struct vlib_main_t * vm,
-				 u32 * buffers,
-				 u32 n_buffers, u32 follow_buffer_next);
-#define VLIB_BUFFER_DEFAULT_FREE_LIST_INDEX (0)
-
-  /* Hash table mapping buffer size (rounded to next unit of
-     sizeof (vlib_buffer_t)) to free list index. */
-  uword *free_list_by_size;
-
   /* Hash table mapping buffer index into number
      0 => allocated but free, 1 => allocated and not-free.
      If buffer index is not in hash table then this buffer
      has never been allocated. */
   uword *buffer_known_hash;
   clib_spinlock_t buffer_known_hash_lockp;
+  u32 n_numa_nodes;
 
-  /* Callbacks */
-  vlib_buffer_callbacks_t cb;
-  int callbacks_registered;
-} vlib_buffer_main_t;
+  /* config */
+  u32 buffers_per_numa;
+  u16 ext_hdr_size;
 
-u8 vlib_buffer_register_physmem_map (struct vlib_main_t *vm,
-				     u32 physmem_map_index);
+  /* logging */
+  vlib_log_class_t log_default;
+} vlib_buffer_main_t;
 
 clib_error_t *vlib_buffer_main_init (struct vlib_main_t *vm);
 
-
-void *vlib_set_buffer_free_callback (struct vlib_main_t *vm, void *fp);
-
 /*
  */
 
@@ -488,23 +440,17 @@ extern void vlib_buffer_trace_trajectory_init (vlib_buffer_t * b);
 #define VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT(b)
 #endif /* VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY */
 
-#endif /* included_vlib_buffer_h */
+extern u16 __vlib_buffer_external_hdr_size;
+#define VLIB_BUFFER_SET_EXT_HDR_SIZE(x) \
+static void __clib_constructor \
+vnet_buffer_set_ext_hdr_size() \
+{ \
+  if (__vlib_buffer_external_hdr_size) \
+    clib_error ("buffer external header space already set"); \
+  __vlib_buffer_external_hdr_size = CLIB_CACHE_LINE_ROUND (x); \
+}
 
-#define VLIB_BUFFER_REGISTER_CALLBACKS(x,...)                           \
-    __VA_ARGS__ vlib_buffer_callbacks_t __##x##_buffer_callbacks;       \
-static void __vlib_add_buffer_callbacks_t_##x (void)                    \
-    __attribute__((__constructor__)) ;                                  \
-static void __vlib_add_buffer_callbacks_t_##x (void)                    \
-{                                                                       \
-    if (vlib_buffer_callbacks)                                          \
-      clib_panic ("vlib buffer callbacks already registered");          \
-    vlib_buffer_callbacks = &__##x##_buffer_callbacks;                  \
-}                                                                       \
-static void __vlib_rm_buffer_callbacks_t_##x (void)                     \
-    __attribute__((__destructor__)) ;                                   \
-static void __vlib_rm_buffer_callbacks_t_##x (void)                     \
-{ vlib_buffer_callbacks = 0; }                                          \
-__VA_ARGS__ vlib_buffer_callbacks_t __##x##_buffer_callbacks
+#endif /* included_vlib_buffer_h */
 
 /*
  * fd.io coding-style-patch-verification: ON
diff --git a/src/vlib/buffer_funcs.h b/src/vlib/buffer_funcs.h
index cedd7d02646..ce8d1ef9078 100644
--- a/src/vlib/buffer_funcs.h
+++ b/src/vlib/buffer_funcs.h
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ vlib_buffer_copy_template (vlib_buffer_t * b, vlib_buffer_t * bt)
 #endif
 }
 
+always_inline u8
+vlib_buffer_pool_get_default_for_numa (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 numa_node)
+{
+  ASSERT (numa_node < vm->buffer_main->n_numa_nodes);
+  return numa_node;
+}
+
 /** \brief Translate array of buffer indices into buffer pointers with offset
 
     @param vm - (vlib_main_t *) vlib main data structure pointer
@@ -394,29 +401,48 @@ vlib_buffer_is_known (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 buffer_index)
   return p ? p[0] : VLIB_BUFFER_UNKNOWN;
 }
 
-always_inline void
-vlib_buffer_set_known_state (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 buffer_index,
-			     vlib_buffer_known_state_t state)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
-
-  clib_spinlock_lock (&bm->buffer_known_hash_lockp);
-  hash_set (bm->buffer_known_hash, buffer_index, state);
-  clib_spinlock_unlock (&bm->buffer_known_hash_lockp);
-}
-
 /* Validates sanity of a single buffer.
    Returns format'ed vector with error message if any. */
 u8 *vlib_validate_buffer (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 buffer_index,
 			  uword follow_chain);
 
-always_inline u32
-vlib_buffer_round_size (u32 size)
+static_always_inline vlib_buffer_pool_t *
+vlib_get_buffer_pool (vlib_main_t * vm, u8 buffer_pool_index)
 {
-  return round_pow2 (size, sizeof (vlib_buffer_t));
+  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
+  return vec_elt_at_index (bm->buffer_pools, buffer_pool_index);
 }
 
-/** \brief Allocate buffers from specific freelist into supplied array
+static_always_inline uword
+vlib_buffer_pool_get (vlib_main_t * vm, u8 buffer_pool_index, u32 * buffers,
+		      u32 n_buffers)
+{
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp = vlib_get_buffer_pool (vm, buffer_pool_index);
+  u32 len;
+
+  ASSERT (bp->buffers);
+
+  clib_spinlock_lock (&bp->lock);
+  len = vec_len (bp->buffers);
+  if (PREDICT_TRUE (n_buffers < len))
+    {
+      len -= n_buffers;
+      vlib_buffer_copy_indices (buffers, bp->buffers + len, n_buffers);
+      _vec_len (bp->buffers) = len;
+      clib_spinlock_unlock (&bp->lock);
+      return n_buffers;
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      vlib_buffer_copy_indices (buffers, bp->buffers, len);
+      _vec_len (bp->buffers) = 0;
+      clib_spinlock_unlock (&bp->lock);
+      return len;
+    }
+}
+
+
+/** \brief Allocate buffers from specific pool into supplied array
 
     @param vm - (vlib_main_t *) vlib main data structure pointer
     @param buffers - (u32 * ) buffer index array
@@ -424,57 +450,87 @@ vlib_buffer_round_size (u32 size)
     @return - (u32) number of buffers actually allocated, may be
     less than the number requested or zero
 */
+
 always_inline u32
-vlib_buffer_alloc_from_free_list (vlib_main_t * vm,
-				  u32 * buffers,
-				  u32 n_buffers,
-				  vlib_buffer_free_list_index_t index)
+vlib_buffer_alloc_from_pool (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers,
+			     u8 buffer_pool_index)
 {
-  vlib_buffer_free_list_t *fl;
   vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
-  u32 *src;
-  uword len;
-
-  ASSERT (bm->cb.vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_cb);
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp;
+  vlib_buffer_pool_thread_t *bpt;
+  u32 *src, *dst, len, n_left;
 
-  fl = pool_elt_at_index (vm->buffer_free_list_pool, index);
+  bp = vec_elt_at_index (bm->buffer_pools, buffer_pool_index);
+  bpt = vec_elt_at_index (bp->threads, vm->thread_index);
 
-  len = vec_len (fl->buffers);
+  dst = buffers;
+  n_left = n_buffers;
+  len = vec_len (bpt->cached_buffers);
 
-  if (PREDICT_FALSE (len < n_buffers))
+  /* per-thread cache contains enough buffers */
+  if (len >= n_buffers)
     {
-      bm->cb.vlib_buffer_fill_free_list_cb (vm, fl, n_buffers);
-      if (PREDICT_FALSE ((len = vec_len (fl->buffers)) == 0))
-	return 0;
+      src = bpt->cached_buffers + len - n_buffers;
+      vlib_buffer_copy_indices (dst, src, n_buffers);
+      _vec_len (bpt->cached_buffers) -= n_buffers;
 
-      /* even if fill free list didn't manage to refill free list
-         we should give what we have */
-      n_buffers = clib_min (len, n_buffers);
+      if (CLIB_DEBUG > 0)
+	vlib_buffer_validate_alloc_free (vm, buffers, n_buffers,
+					 VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_FREE);
+      return n_buffers;
+    }
 
-      /* following code is intentionaly duplicated to allow compiler
-         to optimize fast path when n_buffers is constant value */
-      src = fl->buffers + len - n_buffers;
-      vlib_buffer_copy_indices (buffers, src, n_buffers);
-      _vec_len (fl->buffers) -= n_buffers;
+  /* take everything available in the cache */
+  if (len)
+    {
+      vlib_buffer_copy_indices (dst, bpt->cached_buffers, len);
+      _vec_len (bpt->cached_buffers) = 0;
+      dst += len;
+      n_left -= len;
+    }
 
-      /* Verify that buffers are known free. */
-      vlib_buffer_validate_alloc_free (vm, buffers, n_buffers,
-				       VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_FREE);
+  len = round_pow2 (n_left, 32);
+  vec_validate_aligned (bpt->cached_buffers, len - 1, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
+  len = vlib_buffer_pool_get (vm, buffer_pool_index, bpt->cached_buffers,
+			      len);
+  _vec_len (bpt->cached_buffers) = len;
 
-      return n_buffers;
+  if (len)
+    {
+      u32 n_copy = clib_min (len, n_left);
+      src = bpt->cached_buffers + len - n_copy;
+      vlib_buffer_copy_indices (dst, src, n_copy);
+      _vec_len (bpt->cached_buffers) -= n_copy;
+      n_left -= n_copy;
     }
 
-  src = fl->buffers + len - n_buffers;
-  vlib_buffer_copy_indices (buffers, src, n_buffers);
-  _vec_len (fl->buffers) -= n_buffers;
+  n_buffers -= n_left;
 
   /* Verify that buffers are known free. */
-  vlib_buffer_validate_alloc_free (vm, buffers, n_buffers,
-				   VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_FREE);
+  if (CLIB_DEBUG > 0)
+    vlib_buffer_validate_alloc_free (vm, buffers, n_buffers,
+				     VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_FREE);
 
   return n_buffers;
 }
 
+/** \brief Allocate buffers from specific numa node into supplied array
+
+    @param vm - (vlib_main_t *) vlib main data structure pointer
+    @param buffers - (u32 * ) buffer index array
+    @param n_buffers - (u32) number of buffers requested
+    @param numa_node - (u32) numa node
+    @return - (u32) number of buffers actually allocated, may be
+    less than the number requested or zero
+*/
+always_inline u32
+vlib_buffer_alloc_on_numa (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers,
+			   u32 numa_node)
+{
+  u8 index = vlib_buffer_pool_get_default_for_numa (vm, numa_node);
+  return vlib_buffer_alloc_from_pool (vm, buffers, n_buffers, index);
+}
+
 /** \brief Allocate buffers into supplied array
 
     @param vm - (vlib_main_t *) vlib main data structure pointer
@@ -483,11 +539,11 @@ vlib_buffer_alloc_from_free_list (vlib_main_t * vm,
     @return - (u32) number of buffers actually allocated, may be
     less than the number requested or zero
 */
+
 always_inline u32
 vlib_buffer_alloc (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers)
 {
-  return vlib_buffer_alloc_from_free_list (vm, buffers, n_buffers,
-					   VLIB_BUFFER_DEFAULT_FREE_LIST_INDEX);
+  return vlib_buffer_alloc_on_numa (vm, buffers, n_buffers, vm->numa_node);
 }
 
 /** \brief Allocate buffers into ring
@@ -519,6 +575,215 @@ vlib_buffer_alloc_to_ring (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * ring, u32 start,
   return n_alloc;
 }
 
+/** \brief Allocate buffers into ring from specific buffer pool
+
+    @param vm - (vlib_main_t *) vlib main data structure pointer
+    @param buffers - (u32 * ) buffer index ring
+    @param start - (u32) first slot in the ring
+    @param ring_size - (u32) ring size
+    @param n_buffers - (u32) number of buffers requested
+    @return - (u32) number of buffers actually allocated, may be
+    less than the number requested or zero
+*/
+always_inline u32
+vlib_buffer_alloc_to_ring_from_pool (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * ring, u32 start,
+				     u32 ring_size, u32 n_buffers,
+				     u8 buffer_pool_index)
+{
+  u32 n_alloc;
+
+  ASSERT (n_buffers <= ring_size);
+
+  if (PREDICT_TRUE (start + n_buffers <= ring_size))
+    return vlib_buffer_alloc_from_pool (vm, ring + start, n_buffers,
+					buffer_pool_index);
+
+  n_alloc = vlib_buffer_alloc_from_pool (vm, ring + start, ring_size - start,
+					 buffer_pool_index);
+
+  if (PREDICT_TRUE (n_alloc == ring_size - start))
+    n_alloc += vlib_buffer_alloc_from_pool (vm, ring, n_buffers - n_alloc,
+					    buffer_pool_index);
+
+  return n_alloc;
+}
+
+static void
+vlib_buffer_pool_put (vlib_main_t * vm, u8 buffer_pool_index,
+		      u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers)
+{
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp = vlib_get_buffer_pool (vm, buffer_pool_index);
+  vlib_buffer_pool_thread_t *bpt =
+    vec_elt_at_index (bp->threads, vm->thread_index);
+
+  vec_add_aligned (bpt->cached_buffers, buffers, n_buffers,
+		   CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
+
+  if (vec_len (bpt->cached_buffers) > 4 * VLIB_FRAME_SIZE)
+    {
+      clib_spinlock_lock (&bp->lock);
+      /* keep last stored buffers, as they are more likely hot in the cache */
+      vec_add_aligned (bp->buffers, bpt->cached_buffers, VLIB_FRAME_SIZE,
+		       CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
+      vec_delete (bpt->cached_buffers, VLIB_FRAME_SIZE, 0);
+      bpt->n_alloc -= VLIB_FRAME_SIZE;
+      clib_spinlock_unlock (&bp->lock);
+    }
+}
+
+static_always_inline void
+vlib_buffer_free_inline (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffers, u32 n_buffers,
+			 int maybe_next)
+{
+  const int queue_size = 128;
+  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp = 0;
+  u8 buffer_pool_index = ~0;
+  u32 n_queue = 0, queue[queue_size + 4];
+  vlib_buffer_t bt = { };
+#if defined(CLIB_HAVE_VEC128) && !__aarch64__
+  vlib_buffer_t bpi_mask = {.buffer_pool_index = ~0 };
+  vlib_buffer_t bpi_vec = {.buffer_pool_index = ~0 };
+  vlib_buffer_t flags_refs_mask = {
+    .flags = VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT,
+    .ref_count = ~0
+  };
+#endif
+
+  while (n_buffers)
+    {
+      vlib_buffer_t *b[8];
+      u32 bi, sum = 0, flags, next;
+
+      if (n_buffers < 12)
+	goto one_by_one;
+
+      vlib_get_buffers (vm, buffers, b, 4);
+      vlib_get_buffers (vm, buffers + 8, b + 4, 4);
+
+      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (b[4], LOAD);
+      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (b[5], LOAD);
+      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (b[6], LOAD);
+      vlib_prefetch_buffer_header (b[7], LOAD);
+
+#if defined(CLIB_HAVE_VEC128) && !__aarch64__
+      u8x16 p0, p1, p2, p3, r;
+      p0 = u8x16_load_unaligned (b[0]);
+      p1 = u8x16_load_unaligned (b[1]);
+      p2 = u8x16_load_unaligned (b[2]);
+      p3 = u8x16_load_unaligned (b[3]);
+
+      r = p0 ^ bpi_vec.as_u8x16[0];
+      r |= p1 ^ bpi_vec.as_u8x16[0];
+      r |= p2 ^ bpi_vec.as_u8x16[0];
+      r |= p3 ^ bpi_vec.as_u8x16[0];
+      r &= bpi_mask.as_u8x16[0];
+      r |= (p0 | p1 | p2 | p3) & flags_refs_mask.as_u8x16[0];
+
+      sum = !u8x16_is_all_zero (r);
+#else
+      sum |= b[0]->flags;
+      sum |= b[1]->flags;
+      sum |= b[2]->flags;
+      sum |= b[3]->flags;
+      sum &= VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT;
+      sum += b[0]->ref_count - 1;
+      sum += b[1]->ref_count - 1;
+      sum += b[2]->ref_count - 1;
+      sum += b[3]->ref_count - 1;
+      sum |= b[0]->buffer_pool_index ^ buffer_pool_index;
+      sum |= b[1]->buffer_pool_index ^ buffer_pool_index;
+      sum |= b[2]->buffer_pool_index ^ buffer_pool_index;
+      sum |= b[3]->buffer_pool_index ^ buffer_pool_index;
+#endif
+
+      if (sum)
+	goto one_by_one;
+
+      vlib_buffer_copy_indices (queue + n_queue, buffers, 4);
+      vlib_buffer_copy_template (b[0], &bt);
+      vlib_buffer_copy_template (b[1], &bt);
+      vlib_buffer_copy_template (b[2], &bt);
+      vlib_buffer_copy_template (b[3], &bt);
+      n_queue += 4;
+
+      if (CLIB_DEBUG > 0)
+	vlib_buffer_validate_alloc_free (vm, buffers, 4,
+					 VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_ALLOCATED);
+
+      VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b[0]);
+      VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b[1]);
+      VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b[2]);
+      VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b[3]);
+
+      if (n_queue >= queue_size)
+	{
+	  vlib_buffer_pool_put (vm, buffer_pool_index, queue, n_queue);
+	  n_queue = 0;
+	}
+      buffers += 4;
+      n_buffers -= 4;
+      continue;
+
+    one_by_one:
+      bi = buffers[0];
+
+    next_in_chain:
+      b[0] = vlib_get_buffer (vm, bi);
+      flags = b[0]->flags;
+      next = b[0]->next_buffer;
+
+      if (PREDICT_FALSE (buffer_pool_index != b[0]->buffer_pool_index))
+	{
+	  buffer_pool_index = b[0]->buffer_pool_index;
+#if defined(CLIB_HAVE_VEC128) && !__aarch64__
+	  bpi_vec.buffer_pool_index = buffer_pool_index;
+#endif
+	  bp = vlib_get_buffer_pool (vm, buffer_pool_index);
+	  vlib_buffer_copy_template (&bt, &bp->buffer_template);
+
+	  if (n_queue)
+	    {
+	      vlib_buffer_pool_put (vm, buffer_pool_index, queue, n_queue);
+	      n_queue = 0;
+	    }
+	}
+
+      ASSERT (pointer_to_uword (b[0]) >= bp->start &&
+	      pointer_to_uword (b[0]) <
+	      bp->start + bp->size - (bp->data_size + sizeof (*b[0])));
+
+      VLIB_BUFFER_TRACE_TRAJECTORY_INIT (b[0]);
+
+      if (clib_atomic_sub_fetch (&b[0]->ref_count, 1) == 0)
+	{
+	  if (CLIB_DEBUG > 0)
+	    vlib_buffer_validate_alloc_free (vm, &bi, 1,
+					     VLIB_BUFFER_KNOWN_ALLOCATED);
+	  vlib_buffer_copy_template (b[0], &bt);
+	  queue[n_queue++] = bi;
+	}
+
+      if (n_queue == queue_size)
+	{
+	  vlib_buffer_pool_put (vm, buffer_pool_index, queue, queue_size);
+	  n_queue = 0;
+	}
+
+      if (flags & VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT)
+	{
+	  bi = next;
+	  goto next_in_chain;
+	}
+
+      buffers++;
+      n_buffers--;
+    }
+
+  if (n_queue)
+    vlib_buffer_pool_put (vm, buffer_pool_index, queue, n_queue);
+}
+
+
 /** \brief Free buffers
     Frees the entire buffer chain for each buffer
 
@@ -534,11 +799,7 @@ vlib_buffer_free (vlib_main_t * vm,
 		  /* number of buffers to free */
 		  u32 n_buffers)
 {
-  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
-
-  ASSERT (bm->cb.vlib_buffer_free_cb);
-
-  return bm->cb.vlib_buffer_free_cb (vm, buffers, n_buffers);
+  vlib_buffer_free_inline (vm, buffers, n_buffers, /* maybe next */ 1);
 }
 
 /** \brief Free buffers, does not free the buffer chain for each buffer
@@ -555,11 +816,7 @@ vlib_buffer_free_no_next (vlib_main_t * vm,
 			  /* number of buffers to free */
 			  u32 n_buffers)
 {
-  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
-
-  ASSERT (bm->cb.vlib_buffer_free_no_next_cb);
-
-  return bm->cb.vlib_buffer_free_no_next_cb (vm, buffers, n_buffers);
+  vlib_buffer_free_inline (vm, buffers, n_buffers, /* maybe next */ 0);
 }
 
 /** \brief Free one buffer
@@ -571,7 +828,7 @@ vlib_buffer_free_no_next (vlib_main_t * vm,
 always_inline void
 vlib_buffer_free_one (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 buffer_index)
 {
-  vlib_buffer_free (vm, &buffer_index, /* n_buffers */ 1);
+  vlib_buffer_free_inline (vm, &buffer_index, 1, /* maybe next */ 1);
 }
 
 /** \brief Free buffers from ring
@@ -624,11 +881,6 @@ vlib_buffer_free_from_ring_no_next (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * ring, u32 start,
     }
 }
 
-/* Add/delete buffer free lists. */
-vlib_buffer_free_list_index_t vlib_buffer_create_free_list (vlib_main_t * vm,
-							    u32 n_data_bytes,
-							    char *fmt, ...);
-
 /* Append given data to end of buffer, possibly allocating new buffers. */
 int vlib_buffer_add_data (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 * buffer_index, void *data,
 			  u32 n_data_bytes);
@@ -710,7 +962,7 @@ vlib_buffer_clone_256 (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 src_buffer, u32 * buffers,
   u16 i;
   vlib_buffer_t *s = vlib_get_buffer (vm, src_buffer);
 
-  ASSERT (s->n_add_refs == 0);
+  ASSERT (s->ref_count == 1);
   ASSERT (n_buffers);
   ASSERT (n_buffers <= 256);
 
@@ -735,13 +987,16 @@ vlib_buffer_clone_256 (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 src_buffer, u32 * buffers,
       return 1;
     }
 
-  n_buffers = vlib_buffer_alloc (vm, buffers, n_buffers);
+  n_buffers = vlib_buffer_alloc_from_pool (vm, buffers, n_buffers,
+					   s->buffer_pool_index);
 
   for (i = 0; i < n_buffers; i++)
     {
       vlib_buffer_t *d = vlib_get_buffer (vm, buffers[i]);
       d->current_data = s->current_data;
       d->current_length = head_end_offset;
+      ASSERT (d->buffer_pool_index == s->buffer_pool_index);
+
       d->total_length_not_including_first_buffer = s->current_length -
 	head_end_offset;
       if (PREDICT_FALSE (s->flags & VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT))
@@ -758,11 +1013,11 @@ vlib_buffer_clone_256 (vlib_main_t * vm, u32 src_buffer, u32 * buffers,
       d->next_buffer = src_buffer;
     }
   vlib_buffer_advance (s, head_end_offset);
-  s->n_add_refs = n_buffers - 1;
+  s->ref_count = n_buffers;
   while (s->flags & VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT)
     {
       s = vlib_get_buffer (vm, s->next_buffer);
-      s->n_add_refs = n_buffers - 1;
+      s->ref_count = n_buffers;
     }
 
   return n_buffers;
@@ -816,6 +1071,7 @@ vlib_buffer_attach_clone (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_buffer_t * head,
 			  vlib_buffer_t * tail)
 {
   ASSERT ((head->flags & VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT) == 0);
+  ASSERT (head->buffer_pool_index == tail->buffer_pool_index);
 
   head->flags |= VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT;
   head->flags &= ~VLIB_BUFFER_TOTAL_LENGTH_VALID;
@@ -826,7 +1082,7 @@ vlib_buffer_attach_clone (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_buffer_t * head,
     tail->total_length_not_including_first_buffer;
 
 next_segment:
-  clib_atomic_add_fetch (&tail->n_add_refs, 1);
+  clib_atomic_add_fetch (&tail->ref_count, 1);
 
   if (tail->flags & VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT)
     {
@@ -875,7 +1131,6 @@ vlib_buffer_chain_increase_length (vlib_buffer_t * first,
  * Returns the number of copied bytes. */
 always_inline u16
 vlib_buffer_chain_append_data (vlib_main_t * vm,
-			       vlib_buffer_free_list_index_t free_list_index,
 			       vlib_buffer_t * first,
 			       vlib_buffer_t * last, void *data, u16 data_len)
 {
@@ -897,8 +1152,6 @@ vlib_buffer_chain_append_data (vlib_main_t * vm,
  * chained and points to the last buffer in the chain. */
 u16
 vlib_buffer_chain_append_data_with_alloc (vlib_main_t * vm,
-					  vlib_buffer_free_list_index_t
-					  free_list_index,
 					  vlib_buffer_t * first,
 					  vlib_buffer_t ** last, void *data,
 					  u16 data_len);
@@ -915,17 +1168,9 @@ typedef struct
   /* Number of buffers to allocate in each call to allocator. */
   u32 min_n_buffers_each_alloc;
 
-  /* Buffer free list for this template. */
-  vlib_buffer_free_list_index_t free_list_index;
-
-  u32 *free_buffers;
-
   u8 *name;
 } vlib_packet_template_t;
 
-void vlib_packet_template_get_packet_helper (vlib_main_t * vm,
-					     vlib_packet_template_t * t);
-
 void vlib_packet_template_init (vlib_main_t * vm,
 				vlib_packet_template_t * t,
 				void *packet_data,
@@ -943,112 +1188,9 @@ vlib_packet_template_free (vlib_main_t * vm, vlib_packet_template_t * t)
   vec_free (t->packet_data);
 }
 
-static_always_inline vlib_buffer_pool_t *
-vlib_buffer_pool_get (vlib_main_t * vm, u8 buffer_pool_index)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_main_t *bm = vm->buffer_main;
-  return vec_elt_at_index (bm->buffer_pools, buffer_pool_index);
-}
-
-always_inline void
-vlib_buffer_add_to_free_list (vlib_main_t * vm,
-			      vlib_buffer_free_list_t * f,
-			      u32 buffer_index, u8 do_init)
-{
-  vlib_buffer_pool_t *bp = vlib_buffer_pool_get (vm, f->buffer_pool_index);
-  vlib_buffer_t *b;
-  b = vlib_get_buffer (vm, buffer_index);
-  if (PREDICT_TRUE (do_init))
-    clib_memset (b, 0, STRUCT_OFFSET_OF (vlib_buffer_t, template_end));
-  vec_add1_aligned (f->buffers, buffer_index, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-
-  if (vec_len (f->buffers) > 4 * VLIB_FRAME_SIZE)
-    {
-      clib_spinlock_lock (&bp->lock);
-      /* keep last stored buffers, as they are more likely hot in the cache */
-      vec_add_aligned (bp->buffers, f->buffers, VLIB_FRAME_SIZE,
-		       CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-      vec_delete (f->buffers, VLIB_FRAME_SIZE, 0);
-      f->n_alloc -= VLIB_FRAME_SIZE;
-      clib_spinlock_unlock (&bp->lock);
-    }
-}
-
-#if CLIB_DEBUG > 0
-extern u32 *vlib_buffer_state_validation_lock;
-extern uword *vlib_buffer_state_validation_hash;
-extern void *vlib_buffer_state_heap;
-#endif
-
-static inline void
-vlib_validate_buffer_in_use (vlib_buffer_t * b, u32 expected)
-{
-#if CLIB_DEBUG > 0
-  uword *p;
-  void *oldheap;
-
-  oldheap = clib_mem_set_heap (vlib_buffer_state_heap);
-
-  while (clib_atomic_test_and_set (vlib_buffer_state_validation_lock))
-    ;
-
-  p = hash_get (vlib_buffer_state_validation_hash, b);
-
-  /* If we don't know about b, declare it to be in the expected state */
-  if (!p)
-    {
-      hash_set (vlib_buffer_state_validation_hash, b, expected);
-      goto out;
-    }
-
-  if (p[0] != expected)
-    {
-      void cj_stop (void);
-      u32 bi;
-      vlib_main_t *vm = &vlib_global_main;
-
-      cj_stop ();
-
-      bi = vlib_get_buffer_index (vm, b);
-
-      clib_mem_set_heap (oldheap);
-      clib_warning ("%.6f buffer %llx (%d): %s, not %s",
-		    vlib_time_now (vm), bi,
-		    p[0] ? "busy" : "free", expected ? "busy" : "free");
-      os_panic ();
-    }
-out:
-  CLIB_MEMORY_BARRIER ();
-  *vlib_buffer_state_validation_lock = 0;
-  clib_mem_set_heap (oldheap);
-#endif
-}
-
-static inline void
-vlib_validate_buffer_set_in_use (vlib_buffer_t * b, u32 expected)
-{
-#if CLIB_DEBUG > 0
-  void *oldheap;
-
-  oldheap = clib_mem_set_heap (vlib_buffer_state_heap);
-
-  while (clib_atomic_test_and_set (vlib_buffer_state_validation_lock))
-    ;
-
-  hash_set (vlib_buffer_state_validation_hash, b, expected);
-
-  CLIB_MEMORY_BARRIER ();
-  *vlib_buffer_state_validation_lock = 0;
-  clib_mem_set_heap (oldheap);
-#endif
-}
-
-/** minimum data size of first buffer in a buffer chain */
-#define VLIB_BUFFER_CHAIN_MIN_FIRST_DATA_SIZE (256)
-
 /**
  * @brief compress buffer chain in a way where the first buffer is at least
- * VLIB_BUFFER_CHAIN_MIN_FIRST_DATA_SIZE long
+ * VLIB_BUFFER_CLONE_HEAD_SIZE long
  *
  * @param[in] vm - vlib_main
  * @param[in,out] first - first buffer in chain
@@ -1059,14 +1201,14 @@ always_inline void
 vlib_buffer_chain_compress (vlib_main_t * vm,
 			    vlib_buffer_t * first, u32 ** discard_vector)
 {
-  if (first->current_length >= VLIB_BUFFER_CHAIN_MIN_FIRST_DATA_SIZE ||
+  if (first->current_length >= VLIB_BUFFER_CLONE_HEAD_SIZE ||
       !(first->flags & VLIB_BUFFER_NEXT_PRESENT))
     {
       /* this is already big enough or not a chain */
       return;
     }
 
-  u32 want_first_size = clib_min (VLIB_BUFFER_CHAIN_MIN_FIRST_DATA_SIZE,
+  u32 want_first_size = clib_min (VLIB_BUFFER_CLONE_HEAD_SIZE,
 				  VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE -
 				  first->current_data);
   do
diff --git a/src/vlib/log.h b/src/vlib/log.h
index d21bca9f195..9b285429b9a 100644
--- a/src/vlib/log.h
+++ b/src/vlib/log.h
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@
 
 #include <vppinfra/types.h>
 
-typedef u32 vlib_log_class_t;
-
 #define foreach_vlib_log_level \
   _(0, EMERG, emerg) \
   _(1, ALERT, alert) \
diff --git a/src/vlib/main.c b/src/vlib/main.c
index a64a991d438..c0ab8e129b9 100644
--- a/src/vlib/main.c
+++ b/src/vlib/main.c
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ vlib_put_next_frame (vlib_main_t * vm,
   vlib_frame_t *f;
   u32 n_vectors_in_frame;
 
-  if (vm->buffer_main->callbacks_registered == 0 && CLIB_DEBUG > 0)
+  if (CLIB_DEBUG > 0)
     vlib_put_next_frame_validate (vm, r, next_index, n_vectors_left);
 
   nf = vlib_node_runtime_get_next_frame (vm, r, next_index);
@@ -987,8 +987,8 @@ format_buffer_metadata (u8 * s, va_list * args)
 	      (i32) (b->current_data), (i32) (b->current_length));
   s = format (s, "current_config_index: %d, flow_id: %x, next_buffer: %x\n",
 	      b->current_config_index, b->flow_id, b->next_buffer);
-  s = format (s, "error: %d, n_add_refs: %d, buffer_pool_index: %d\n",
-	      (u32) (b->error), (u32) (b->n_add_refs),
+  s = format (s, "error: %d, ref_count: %d, buffer_pool_index: %d\n",
+	      (u32) (b->error), (u32) (b->ref_count),
 	      (u32) (b->buffer_pool_index));
   s = format (s,
 	      "trace_index: %d, len_not_first_buf: %d\n",
@@ -1993,9 +1993,6 @@ vlib_main (vlib_main_t * volatile vm, unformat_input_t * input)
   if ((error = vlib_call_all_init_functions (vm)))
     goto done;
 
-  /* Create default buffer free list. */
-  vlib_buffer_create_free_list (vm, VLIB_BUFFER_DATA_SIZE, "default");
-
   nm->timing_wheel = clib_mem_alloc_aligned (sizeof (TWT (tw_timer_wheel)),
 					     CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
 
diff --git a/src/vlib/main.h b/src/vlib/main.h
index c6786d8f788..920e5f3f95a 100644
--- a/src/vlib/main.h
+++ b/src/vlib/main.h
@@ -115,9 +115,6 @@ typedef struct vlib_main_t
   /* Size of the heap */
   uword heap_size;
 
-  /* Pool of buffer free lists. */
-  vlib_buffer_free_list_t *buffer_free_list_pool;
-
   /* buffer main structure. */
   vlib_buffer_main_t *buffer_main;
 
diff --git a/src/vlib/threads.c b/src/vlib/threads.c
index ed1ba61a0cc..cdb4eb082b5 100644
--- a/src/vlib/threads.c
+++ b/src/vlib/threads.c
@@ -719,8 +719,6 @@ start_workers (vlib_main_t * vm)
       for (i = 0; i < vec_len (tm->registrations); i++)
 	{
 	  vlib_node_main_t *nm, *nm_clone;
-	  vlib_buffer_free_list_t *fl_clone, *fl_orig;
-	  vlib_buffer_free_list_t *orig_freelist_pool;
 	  int k;
 
 	  tr = tm->registrations[i];
@@ -883,26 +881,6 @@ start_workers (vlib_main_t * vm)
 		(vlib_mains[0]->error_main.counters_last_clear,
 		 CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
 
-	      /* Fork the vlib_buffer_main_t free lists, etc. */
-	      orig_freelist_pool = vm_clone->buffer_free_list_pool;
-	      vm_clone->buffer_free_list_pool = 0;
-
-            /* *INDENT-OFF* */
-            pool_foreach (fl_orig, orig_freelist_pool,
-                          ({
-                            pool_get_aligned (vm_clone->buffer_free_list_pool,
-                                              fl_clone, CLIB_CACHE_LINE_BYTES);
-                            ASSERT (fl_orig - orig_freelist_pool
-                                    == fl_clone - vm_clone->buffer_free_list_pool);
-
-                            fl_clone[0] = fl_orig[0];
-                            fl_clone->buffers = 0;
-                            vec_validate(fl_clone->buffers, 0);
-                            vec_reset_length(fl_clone->buffers);
-                            fl_clone->n_alloc = 0;
-                          }));
-/* *INDENT-ON* */
-
 	      worker_thread_index++;
 	    }
 	}
diff --git a/src/vlib/vlib.h b/src/vlib/vlib.h
index 49bb51bfbe3..2149c4763ab 100644
--- a/src/vlib/vlib.h
+++ b/src/vlib/vlib.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 
 /* Forward declarations of structs to avoid circular dependencies. */
 struct vlib_main_t;
+typedef u32 vlib_log_class_t;
 
 /* All includes in alphabetical order. */
 #include <vlib/physmem.h>
diff --git a/src/vpp/conf/startup.conf b/src/vpp/conf/startup.conf
index 7b4f69d51c7..73e9d2cfc1b 100644
--- a/src/vpp/conf/startup.conf
+++ b/src/vpp/conf/startup.conf
@@ -69,6 +69,13 @@ cpu {
 	# scheduler-priority 50
 }
 
+# buffers {
+	## Increase number of buffers allocated, needed only in scenarios with
+	## large number of interfaces and worker threads. Value is per numa node.
+	## Default is 16384 (8192 if running unpriviledged)
+	# buffers-per-numa 128000
+# }
+
 # dpdk {
 	## Change default settings for all interfaces
 	# dev default {
@@ -127,11 +134,6 @@ cpu {
 	## disables Jumbo MTU support
 	# no-multi-seg
 
-	## Increase number of buffers allocated, needed only in scenarios with
-	## large number of interfaces and worker threads. Value is per CPU socket.
-	## Default is 16384
-	# num-mbufs 128000
-
 	## Change hugepages allocation per-socket, needed only if there is need for
 	## larger number of mbufs. Default is 256M on each detected CPU socket
 	# socket-mem 2048,2048
diff --git a/src/vppinfra/cpu.h b/src/vppinfra/cpu.h
index 97e0144be60..7f0d6ad2e34 100644
--- a/src/vppinfra/cpu.h
+++ b/src/vppinfra/cpu.h
@@ -62,6 +62,62 @@
 
 #define CLIB_MARCH_SFX CLIB_MULTIARCH_FN
 
+typedef struct _clib_march_fn_registration
+{
+  void *function;
+  int priority;
+  struct _clib_march_fn_registration *next;
+  char *name;
+} clib_march_fn_registration;
+
+static_always_inline void *
+clib_march_select_fn_ptr (clib_march_fn_registration * r)
+{
+  void *rv = 0;
+  int last_prio = -1;
+
+  while (r)
+    {
+      if (last_prio < r->priority)
+	{
+	  last_prio = r->priority;
+	  rv = r->function;
+	}
+      r = r->next;
+    }
+  return rv;
+}
+
+#define CLIB_MARCH_FN_POINTER(fn) \
+  clib_march_select_fn_ptr (fn##_march_fn_registrations);
+
+#define _CLIB_MARCH_FN_REGISTRATION(fn) \
+static clib_march_fn_registration \
+CLIB_MARCH_SFX(fn##_march_fn_registration) = \
+{ \
+  .name = CLIB_MARCH_VARIANT_STR \
+}; \
+\
+static void __clib_constructor \
+fn##_march_register () \
+{ \
+  clib_march_fn_registration *r; \
+  r = & CLIB_MARCH_SFX (fn##_march_fn_registration); \
+  r->priority = CLIB_MARCH_FN_PRIORITY(); \
+  r->next = fn##_march_fn_registrations; \
+  r->function = CLIB_MARCH_SFX (fn); \
+  fn##_march_fn_registrations = r; \
+}
+
+#ifdef CLIB_MARCH_VARIANT
+#define CLIB_MARCH_FN_REGISTRATION(fn) \
+extern clib_march_fn_registration *fn##_march_fn_registrations; \
+_CLIB_MARCH_FN_REGISTRATION(fn)
+#else
+#define CLIB_MARCH_FN_REGISTRATION(fn) \
+clib_march_fn_registration *fn##_march_fn_registrations = 0; \
+_CLIB_MARCH_FN_REGISTRATION(fn)
+#endif
 #define foreach_x86_64_flags \
 _ (sse3,     1, ecx, 0)   \
 _ (ssse3,    1, ecx, 9)   \
diff --git a/src/vppinfra/error_bootstrap.h b/src/vppinfra/error_bootstrap.h
index 248d389d0f2..18d2176812d 100644
--- a/src/vppinfra/error_bootstrap.h
+++ b/src/vppinfra/error_bootstrap.h
@@ -91,6 +91,10 @@ do {							\
 #define STATIC_ASSERT_OFFSET_OF(s, e, o) \
   STATIC_ASSERT (STRUCT_OFFSET_OF(s,e) == o, "Offset of " #s "." #e " must be " # o)
 
+#define STATIC_ASSERT_FITS_IN(s, e, o) \
+  STATIC_ASSERT (STRUCT_OFFSET_OF(s,e) <= (o - sizeof(((s *)0)->e)), \
+  #s "." #e " does not fit into " # o " bytes")
+
 /* Assert without allocating memory. */
 #define ASSERT_AND_PANIC(truth)			\
 do {						\