> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:openib-general- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rimmer, Todd > Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 5:46 PM > To: Scott Weitzenkamp (sweitzen); Kuchimanchi, Ramachandra; Roland Dreier > (rdreier) > Cc: openib-General > Subject: Re: [openib-general] [PATCH 0/10] [RFC] Support for SilverStorm > Virtual Ethernet I/O controller (VEx) > > > From: Scott Weitzenkamp (sweitzen) > > Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 4:22 PM > > To: Kuchimanchi, Ramachandra; Roland Dreier (rdreier) > > Cc: openib-General > > Subject: Re: [openib-general] [PATCH 0/10] [RFC] Support for > SilverStorm > > Virtual Ethernet I/O controller (VEx) > > > > Is this communication protocols documented anywhere? How does this > > feature compare to IPoIB and SDP? > > > This protocol is distinct from IPoIB and SDP. > > In brief: > > IPoIB treats an IB fabric as a LAN. As such it has UD semantics. > > SDP essentially treats the HCA as a TOE and leverages IB's RC semantics > to emulate TCP/IP SOCK_STREAM sockets. > > This protocol implements the interface to communicate to the SilverStorm > VEx Ethernet Virtual IO Controllers. The VEx card presents a true > Ethernet NIC to the host and essentially treats IB as an IO bus to allow > a host CPU to use the VEx card as its NIC. > > Todd Rimmer >
Todd, I'm trying to figure out why this protocol makes sense As far as I understand, IPoIB can provide a Virtual NIC functionality just as well (maybe even better), with two restrictions: 1. Lack of support for Jumbo Frames 2. Doesn't support protocols other than IP (e.g. IPX, ..) 1 can easily be addressed using IPoIB RC, and the question is if 2 is really a problem (how many people use IPX or apple talk .. these days) And if 2 is a problem why isn't it in a greater scope of supporting Ethernet emulation even between any IB nodes, and not just from a host to a gateway device. If this is a real requirement, why haven't SilverStorm worked with the industry and standardization bodies such as IBTA or IETF to come with a standard and interoperable way to address it, and not just try and push a proprietary driver and a point solution to the kernel. I believe we should first see if such a driver is needed and if IPoIB UD/RC cannot be leveraged for that, maybe the Ethernet emulation can just be an extension to IPoIB RC, hitting 3 birds in one stone (same infrastructure, jumbo frames for IPoIB, and Ethernet emulation for all nodes not just Gateways) Yaron > > _______________________________________________ > openib-general mailing list > [email protected] > http://openib.org/mailman/listinfo/openib-general > > To unsubscribe, please visit http://openib.org/mailman/listinfo/openib- > general _______________________________________________ openib-general mailing list [email protected] http://openib.org/mailman/listinfo/openib-general To unsubscribe, please visit http://openib.org/mailman/listinfo/openib-general
