diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/spdk/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/spdk/default.nix
index 862547043ed8..e4884b85b4ae 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/spdk/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/spdk/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 { lib, stdenv
-, fetchurl
+, fetchpatch
 , fetchFromGitHub
 , ncurses
 , python3
@@ -14,19 +14,25 @@
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "spdk";
-  version = "21.07";
+  version = "21.10";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "spdk";
     repo = "spdk";
     rev = "v${version}";
-    sha256 = "sha256-/hynuYVdzIfiHUUfuuOY8SBJ18DqJr2Fos2JjQQVvbg=";
+    sha256 = "sha256-pFynTbbSF1g58VD9bOhe3c4oCozeqE+35kECTQwDBDM=";
   };
 
   patches = [
     # Backport of upstream patch for ncurses-6.3 support.
     # Will be in next release after 21.10.
     ./ncurses-6.3.patch
+
+    # DPDK 21.11 compatibility.
+    (fetchpatch {
+      url = "https://github.com/spdk/spdk/commit/f72cab94dd35d7b45ec5a4f35967adf3184ca616.patch";
+      sha256 = "sha256-sSetvyNjlM/hSOUsUO3/dmPzAliVcteNDvy34yM5d4A=";
+    })
   ];
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/dpdk/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/dpdk/default.nix
index ca8905e62402..7592be483f53 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/dpdk/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/dpdk/default.nix
@@ -2,21 +2,21 @@
 , kernel
 , fetchurl
 , pkg-config, meson, ninja
-, libbsd, numactl, libbpf, zlib, libelf, jansson, openssl, libpcap
+, libbsd, numactl, libbpf, zlib, libelf, jansson, openssl, libpcap, rdma-core
 , doxygen, python3
 , withExamples ? []
 , shared ? false }:
 
 let
   mod = kernel != null;
-  dpdkVersion = "21.05";
+  dpdkVersion = "21.11";
 in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "dpdk";
   version = "${dpdkVersion}" + lib.optionalString mod "-${kernel.version}";
 
   src = fetchurl {
     url = "https://fast.dpdk.org/rel/dpdk-${dpdkVersion}.tar.xz";
-    sha256 = "sha256-HhJJm0xfzbV8g+X+GE6mvs3ffPCSiTwsXvLvsO7BLws=";
+    sha256 = "sha256-Mkbj7WjuKzaaXYviwGzxCKZp4Vf01Bxby7sha/Wr06E=";
   };
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     zlib
   ] ++ lib.optionals mod kernel.moduleBuildDependencies;
 
+  # Propagated to support current DPDK users in nixpkgs which statically link
+  # with the framework (e.g. odp-dpdk).
+  propagatedBuildInputs = [
+    rdma-core
+  ];
+
   postPatch = ''
     patchShebangs config/arm buildtools
   '';
@@ -52,6 +58,7 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   ++ lib.optional (mod && kernel.kernelOlder "5.11") "-Ddisable_drivers=kni"
   ++ lib.optional (!shared) "-Ddefault_library=static"
   ++ lib.optional stdenv.isx86_64 "-Dmachine=nehalem"
+  ++ lib.optional stdenv.isAarch64 "-Dmachine=generic"
   ++ lib.optional mod "-Dkernel_dir=${placeholder "kmod"}/lib/modules/${kernel.modDirVersion}"
   ++ lib.optional (withExamples != []) "-Dexamples=${builtins.concatStringsSep "," withExamples}";
 
@@ -67,7 +74,11 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     rm -f $kmod/lib/modules/${kernel.modDirVersion}/build
   '';
 
-  postInstall = lib.optionalString (withExamples != []) ''
+  postInstall = ''
+    # Remove Sphinx cache files. Not only are they not useful, but they also
+    # contain store paths causing spurious dependencies.
+    rm -rf $out/share/doc/dpdk/html/.doctrees
+  '' + lib.optionalString (withExamples != []) ''
     find examples -type f -executable -exec install {} $out/bin \;
   '';
 
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pktgen/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pktgen/default.nix
index 5a1a56ab6919..36dea8ed6e0e 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pktgen/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pktgen/default.nix
@@ -5,13 +5,13 @@
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "pktgen";
-  version = "21.05.0";
+  version = "21.11.0";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "pktgen";
     repo = "Pktgen-DPDK";
     rev = "pktgen-${version}";
-    sha256 = "sha256-7lLDtbd14olEHO+1BuI6KTEUNRM/zAyRXau/OZbYbGA=";
+    sha256 = "sha256-3z5DSkggHTwjzsRzRG5zzZTcNsn/5YankJT8CKSN8b4=";
   };
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ meson ninja pkg-config ];
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   RTE_SDK = dpdk;
   GUI = lib.optionalString withGtk "true";
 
-  NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = "-msse3";
   # requires symbols from this file
   NIX_LDFLAGS = "-lrte_net_bond";
 
@@ -43,7 +42,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     description = "Traffic generator powered by DPDK";
     homepage = "http://dpdk.org/";
     license = licenses.bsdOriginal;
-    platforms =  [ "x86_64-linux" ];
+    platforms =  platforms.linux;
     maintainers = [ maintainers.abuibrahim ];
   };
 }