---
title: 'OpenVPN Data Channel Offload: Unleashing Superior VPN Performance'
canonical: https://openvpn.net/as-docs/openvpn-dco/
product: Access Server Docs
description: Welcome to the future of VPN technology with OpenVPN Data Channel Offload in the Linux kernel (ovpn-dco), available for Access Server.
---

# OpenVPN Data Channel Offload: Unleashing Superior VPN Performance

OpenVPN Data Channel Offload (DCO) is a Linux kernel module that significantly improves VPN performance by moving data channel processing from user space into the kernel. By reducing context switching and leveraging kernel-level networking and multi-threading, DCO enables:

- Higher throughput.
- Lower latency.
- More efficient CPU usage.

## Enhancing Access Server

With OpenVPN DCO, Access Server can deliver improved performance by offloading data plane operations to the Linux kernel. This reduces overhead from kernel-to-user space transitions and allows the system to handle VPN traffic more efficiently.

## DCO in Access Server 3.x

In Access Server 3.x, DCO is enabled by default.

- The installation script automatically installs and configures DCO.
- When using a package manager, the DCO module may still need to be installed manually.
- Access Server 3.2.0 introduces an updated DCO implementation based on upstream Linux kernel 6.16+.

These changes improve compatibility with modern Linux kernels and align DCO with upstream OpenVPN development.

## Explore More

- [OpenVPN DCO In-Depth](https://openvpn.net/as-docs/openvpn-data-channel-offload.md) — Technical details and architecture.
- [Turn On OpenVPN DCO](https://openvpn.net/as-docs/tutorials/tutorial--turn-on-openvpn-dco.md) — Configure and enable DCO.
- [Upgrade the OpenVPN DCO module](https://openvpn.net/as-docs/tutorials/tutorial--upgrade-openvpn-dco.md) — Keep your DCO module up to date.
- [ovpn-dco](https://github.com/OpenVPN/ovpn-dco) — OpenVPN DCO GitHub repository.

## In this section:

- [OpenVPN Data Channel Offload (DCO)](https://openvpn.net/as-docs/openvpn-data-channel-offload.md)

---

Prev: [Site-to-Site Routing](https://openvpn.net/as-docs/site-to-site-routing.md)
Next: [OpenVPN Data Channel Offload (DCO)](https://openvpn.net/as-docs/openvpn-data-channel-offload.md)
Index: https://openvpn.net/as-docs/llms.txt