WSL 2 virtiofs gets dedicated DMA pools, removing last major file I/O bottleneck
By
Hayden Barnes
8h ago· 4 min readenNews
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Summary
WSL 2 has received a performance improvement for cross-OS file access (virtiofs) by giving each virtio device its own dedicated DMA pool. This change, landed in May 2026, removes the last major contention point on the virtiofs path, continuing a lineage of improvements from DrvFs in WSL 1 through Plan 9 to the current virtiofs implementation. The update significantly benefits workflows that frequently cross the Windows/Linux file system boundary.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledA change landed in WSL 2 in May 2026 that removes one of the last remaining bottlenecks on the virtiofs path.
From DrvFs in WSL 1 to Plan 9 to virtiofs, cross-OS file access in WSL 2 has improved with each generation.
A new change gives each virtio device its own dedicated DMA pool, removing the last major contention point on the virtiofs path.
From DrvFs in WSL 1 to Plan 9 to virtiofs, cross-OS file access in WSL 2 has improved with each generation. A new change gives each virtio device its own dedicated DMA pool, removing the last major contention point on the virtiofs path.
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