OK, thanks Carl. So you think it would be a better idea, instead of using an Infiniband HBA to directly connect the two machines, to in fact directly connect the 2 machines via two 10Gbe NICs, and not using a 10GbE switch -- like the old way of directly connecting two 10Mbps NICs using a crossover cable?
Is there a crossover cable for 10GbE or is it not needed these days? I think I recall seeing even in the 1GbE switch I have here that it seems to have auto-MDX/MDIX support, which I assume is relevant here. Thanks for the tip of avoiding the cost of an unnecessary expensive 10GbE switch for this setup! Cheers, Simon 2008/11/25 Carl Hensler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Simon, > > Since you propose to connect one DAS server to one editing station, you can > connect back-to-back without a switch. The switches are the most expensive > 10 GbE components. While I am a long-time IB enthusiast, I think you will > find 10 GbE the easiest way to get an order of magnitude BW improvement with > standard networking interfaces. Somebody can tell you which 10 GbE NICs are > supported on Solaris and then you can shop for price. > > Carl > > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [networking-discuss] Infiniband DAS: Solaris/ZFS over Infiniband > Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:56:33 -0800 (PST) > From: Simon Breden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [email protected] > > Don't know if this is the right place for this question, but here goes. If > not right place, where should I post it instead? > > I was wondering about the practicalities of building a DAS box running > Solaris with ZFS, attached to a video editing workstation (Mac Pro) via an > Infiniband adapter, as these seem about the fastest forms of connection > available (certainly a lot faster than gigabit ethernet). I know 10GbE is > around but I think it's not quite here for the masses yet (perhaps I'm > mistaken, but it's my impression). > > I was thinking of building my own Solaris box, chucking in something like 8 > x 1TB drives in a RAID-Z1 formation, and I was thinking that with the > Infiniband connection I should be able to get fast transfer speeds between > the boxes, so assuming ZFS was fast enough, this should give a speedy video > editing storage server setup (something like this, but with ZFS: > http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/enhance/e8/) > > So my question really is does Infiniband work well on Solaris, and if so, > which is the preferred HBA to use? (most solid/well-supported driver, I > suppose) > > Does anyone see any show-stoppers preventing something like this working or > does it look doable? In fact are there any people who've built a working > setup like this that they have documented? > > I was thinking of something like the HighPoint RocketRaid 2322 HBA ( > http://www.highpoint-tech.com/USA/rr2322.htm) running in JBOD mode to keep > ZFS happy. Oh dear, seems like it supports Mac OS X but not Solaris :( > > Thanks, > Simon > -- > This message posted from opensolaris.org > _______________________________________________ > networking-discuss mailing list > [email protected] > >
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