HP InfiniBand Options for HP BladeSystems c-Class

HP supports InfiniBand products that include Host Channel Adapters (HCA), switch modules and cables for HP BladeSystem c-Class.
For details on the InfiniBand support for HP ProLiant and Integrity servers, as well as supported InfiniBand cables, please refer to the HP InfiniBand for HP ProLiant and Integrity servers QuickSpecs at: http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13078_div/13078_div.html

HP supports the following InfiniBand mezzanine HCAs and switch modules for HP BladeSystem c-Class server blades

• HP 4X DDR IB Dual-port Mezzanine HCA for HP BladeSystem c-Class
  
• HP 4X DDR IB Mezzanine HCA for HP BladeSystem c-Class (single-port)
  
• HP 4X DDR IB Switch Module for HP BladeSystem c-Class
  
• HP BLc 4X DDR IB G2 Switch for HP BladeSystem c-Class
  

The HP 4X DDR IB Dual-port Mezzanine HCA for HP BladeSystem c-Class is based on the ConnectX IB technology from Mellanox. The IB Dual-port Mezz HCA cards deliver low-latency and high-bandwidth for performance-driven server and storage clustering applications in High-Performance Computing (HPC) and enterprise data centers. Parallel or distributed applications running on multi-processor multi-core servers will benefit from the reliable transport connections and advanced multicast support offered by ConnectX IB. End-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) enables partitioning and guaranteed service levels while hardware-based congestion control prevents hot spots from degrading the effective throughput. The HP 4X DDR IB Dual-port Mezzanine HCA cards can be plugged into PCE-Express connectors on HP BladeSystem c-Class server blades. To obtain the best performance, it is recommended to plug the IB Mezzanine HCA into the x8 PCI-Express connector on the server blade. The IB Dual-port Mezzanine HCA is connected to the HP IB switch module in the enclosure switch bays via the NonStop midplane.

The HP 4X DDR IB Mezzanine HCA for HP BladeSystem c-Class is a single-port 4X DDR InfiniBand PCI-Express Mezzanine card for HP c-Class server blades. The HP 4X DDR IB Mezzanine HCA cards can be plugged into PCI-Express connectors on HP BladeSystem c-Class server blades. To obtain the best performance, it is recommended to plug the IB Mezzanine HCA into the x8 PCI-Express connector on the server blade. The IB Mezzanine HCA is connected to the HP IB switch module in the c-Class switch bay via the NonStop mid-plane. Multiple single-port HCAs can be plugged into available PCI-Express mezzanine connectors per server blade and be connected to switch modules in the switch bays.

InfiniBand host stack software (driver) is required for using the InfiniBand networking. HP supports Voltaire GridStack and Cisco OFED driver.

Voltaire GridStack is a comprehensive set of drivers and user level protocols (ULPs) that enable applications to utilize the RDMA features in the hardware. GridStack allows both HPC and enterprise applications to take advantage of bandwidth and latency benefits of DDR InfiniBand. The TCP/IP emulation software incorporated into GridStack makes InfiniBand appear to the user as a standard IP network with IP addressing, TCP/IP protocols, and IP management for easy deployment and maintenance. Supported protocols include MPI, IPoIB and IPoIB bonding, SDP, iSER, RDS, and DAPL. The Voltaire GridStack is supported on Linux for all HCAs and is supported on the Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 (CCS) for the HP IB 4X DDR PCI-e Dual-part HCA and the Dual-port memory free HCA. For the latest information on supported configurations, please refer to InfiniBand product documents at: http://docs.hp.com. A right-to-use license is required for the Voltaire GridStack. Use Voltaire switches when running Voltaire GridStack software and fabric managers.

The Cisco OFED InfiniBand driver is supported on Linux. It includes performance optimization, high availability, driver security, gateway translation, management and troubleshooting utilities. The Cisco InfiniBand drivers include the Linux Open Fabrics Enterprise Distribution (OFED). Supported protocols on Linux include IPoIB, MPI, SRP, SDP, and uDAPL. For the latest information on supported configurations, please refer to InfiniBand product documents at: http://docs.hp.com. A right-to-use license is required for the Cisco InfiniBand drivers. Use Cisco switches when running Cisco InfiniBand software and fabric managers.

HP-MPI is supported on the Voltaire GridStack and Cisco IB drivers. HP-MPI is a high performance and production quality implementation of the Message-Passing Interface (MPI) standard for HP servers, blades and workstations. HP-MPI uses enhancements whenever appropriate to provide low latency and high bandwidth point-to-point and collective communication routines. It supports multi-protocol execution of MPI applications on clusters of shared-memory servers so that applications can take advantage of the shared memory for intra-node communications.

The HP 4X DDR IB Switch Module for HP BladeSystem c-Class is a double wide switch module for the c-Class enclosure. It is based on the Mellanox InfiniScale III 4X DDR InfiniBand switch chip. The HP 4X DDR IB Switch Module for HP BladeSystem c-Class provides 24 InfiniBand 4X DDR ports with 20 Gbps port-to-port connectivity. The ports are arranged as 16 downlinks to connect up to 16 blade servers in the enclosure, and 8 uplinks to connect to the external InfiniBand switches to build an InfiniBand fabric. All links conform to InfiniBand Trade Association (IBTA) specifications.

The HP BLc 4X DDR IB Gen 2 Switch is a 2nd generation InfiniBand switch module for HP BladeSystem c-Class based on the Mellanox InfiniScale IV technology. It is a double wide switch module with 16 downlinks connected to server blades via the midplane, and 16 QSFP uplinks for the fabric connectivity. All ports are capable of supporting 20 Gbps DDR bandwidth.

A subnet manager is required to manage and control an InfiniBand fabric. The subnet manager functionality can be provided by either a rack-mount InfiniBand switch with an embedded fabric manager (also known as internally managed switch) or host-based subnet manager software on a server. HP supports Voltaire Grid Switch family products with embedded fabric manager, Cisco SFS 7000D 24-port switch with embedded subnet manager, and host-based subnet managers the Voltaire GridVision BladeFM and the Cisco High Performance Subnet Manager (HSM) for the subnet management service. The Voltaire GridVision BladeFM and the Cisco High-Performance Subnet Manager run on Linux servers.

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