1. A network device driver architecture for enabling access between operating system kernel space and a network interface controller (NIC) as well as between user space and said NIC, comprising: a kernel-space device driver adapted for enabling access between kernel space and user space via a kernel-space-user-space interface; and user-space device driver functionality adapted for enabling direct access between user space and said NIC via a user-space-NIC interface, and said user-space device driver functionality adapted for interconnecting said kernel-space-user-space interface and said user-space-NIC interface to enable integrated kernel-space access and user-space access to said NIC.