Provide a simple documentation that defines the main userspace verbs interfaces and the differences between them.
Signed-off-by: Sean Hefty <[email protected]> --- trunk/docs/interfaces.txt | 40 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-) create mode 100755 trunk/docs/interfaces.txt diff --git a/trunk/docs/interfaces.txt b/trunk/docs/interfaces.txt new file mode 100755 index 0000000..66a80ec --- /dev/null +++ b/trunk/docs/interfaces.txt @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ +WinOF provides several userspace interfaces. The main application +interfaces are given below, along with a brief description of each. + + +libibverbs +OFA interface available on windows and linux + This is the only linux verbs interface, which was ported to + windows to support portability. This sits over winverbs. + It provides low abstraction to the hardware, but does not + expose windows specific features, like overlapped operations + for asynchronous control. This is a good choice for low-level + access, with portability between windows and linux. + +WinVerbs +OFA windows interface + Lowest level windows verbs interface for applications. Most + of the other interfaces sit over this interface. This provides + the lowest abstraction to the hardware, while also exposing + windows specific features. This is a good choice for + low-level access on windows. + +DAPL (Direct Access Programming Library) +Industry standard RDMA interface for multiple OS's + Hardware providers may support this interface, even if not + part of OFA. This sits over libibverbs and ibal. This provides a + higher level of abstraction, but provides the most portability. + +Network Direct (ND) +Microsoft defined interface for windows + Hardware providers may support this interface, even if not + part of OFA. This sits over winverbs and ibal. This provides + a higher level of abstraction, but may provide access to the + most hardware on Windows platforms. + +IBAL (InfiniBand Access Layer) +OFA windows interface + Older windows interface. This is currently a peer to winverbs, + with a longer term goal of moving it over winverbs. The + interface will be supported going forward. This provides low + level abstraction, but does not expose windows specific features. _______________________________________________ ofw mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openfabrics.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ofw
