A new processing architecture is described in which a data processing unit (DPU) is utilized within a device. Unlike conventional compute models that are centered around a central processing unit (CPU), example implementations described herein leverage a DPU that is specially designed and optimized for a data-centric computing model in which the data processing tasks are centered around, and the primary responsibility of, the DPU. For example, various data processing tasks, such as networking, security, and storage, as well as related work acceleration, distribution and scheduling, and other such tasks are the domain of the DPU. The DPU may be viewed as a highly programmable, high-performance input/output (I/O) and data-processing hub designed to aggregate and process network and storage I/O to and from multiple other components and/or devices. This frees resources of the CPU, if present, for computing-intensive tasks.