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QLogic launches automated InfiniBand fabric optimization
Cost-effective, scalable modeling is enabling scientists and engineers to increase the accuracy of their simulations. Clusters are becoming larger and more complex while user expectations of stability, reliability and usability continue to grow. As a result, design challenges around scaling efficiency, manageability, and usability have compounded today. Chasing the ideal cost/performance balance has led to demand for varied fabric topologies. Topologies supporting well-balanced network performance require advanced system management capabilities.
As additional cores are added to the cluster, the communications burden diminishes their effectiveness.
Leveraging its unique, system-level understanding of communications fabrics, QLogic has released InfiniBand Fabric Suite 6.0 (IFSV6), a new version of its fabric management software package that enables users to obtain the highest fabric performance, the highest communications efficiency, and the lowest management costs for clusters of any size.
Specifically designed for customers interested in spending more time doing real science and less time managing clusters, IFSV6 transcends the barriers of existing IB network management software from Mellanox Technologies.
IFSV6 incorporates Virtual Fabrics configurations with application-specific Class-of-Service (CoS), Adaptive Routing and Dispersive Routing, performance-enhanced versions of vendor-specific MPI libraries, and support for torus and mesh network topologies. The result is a comprehensive suite of advanced features that network managers can use to maximize throughput, eliminate the effects of path congestion, and automate QoS on a per-application basis, and, unlike other fabric managers on the market, IFS 6.0’s unique Adaptive and Dispersive Routing capabilities actually increase network routing intelligence as the number of nodes and switches scales. "It's a capability that shifts network traffic from over utilized links to less utilized links," said Steve Zivanic, QLogic.
IFSV6 offers the following key features:
QLogic Virtual Fabrics
Administrator Controlled ProvisioningAs additional cores are added to the cluster, the communications burden diminishes their effectiveness.
Leveraging its unique, system-level understanding of communications fabrics, QLogic has released InfiniBand Fabric Suite 6.0 (IFSV6), a new version of its fabric management software package that enables users to obtain the highest fabric performance, the highest communications efficiency, and the lowest management costs for clusters of any size.
Specifically designed for customers interested in spending more time doing real science and less time managing clusters, IFSV6 transcends the barriers of existing IB network management software from Mellanox Technologies.
IFSV6 incorporates Virtual Fabrics configurations with application-specific Class-of-Service (CoS), Adaptive Routing and Dispersive Routing, performance-enhanced versions of vendor-specific MPI libraries, and support for torus and mesh network topologies. The result is a comprehensive suite of advanced features that network managers can use to maximize throughput, eliminate the effects of path congestion, and automate QoS on a per-application basis, and, unlike other fabric managers on the market, IFS 6.0’s unique Adaptive and Dispersive Routing capabilities actually increase network routing intelligence as the number of nodes and switches scales. "It's a capability that shifts network traffic from over utilized links to less utilized links," said Steve Zivanic, QLogic.
IFSV6 offers the following key features:
QLogic Virtual Fabrics
- Enables network managers to assign each application within the fabric to the desired class of service level
- Ensures each application is provisioned the desired bandwidth
- Eliminates manual provisioning of application services across the fabric, significantly reducing management time and costs
QLogic Adaptive Routing
Selecting the Optimum Path
- Continually monitors application messaging patterns
- Dynamically selects the optimum path for each traffic flow
- Eliminates slowdowns caused by pathway bottlenecks
- Each QLogic IB switch continually interacts with other QLogic IB switches
- Determines which paths are congested and which are not
- Routing performance scales as more switches are added
- Mellanox doesn't offer this level of scale or performance
QLogic Dispersive Routing
Packets Arrive In Minimum Time
- Load-balances traffic among multiple pathways
- Uses QLogic PSM to automatically ensure packets arrive at their destination for rapid processing
- Leverages the entire fabric to ensure maximum communications performance for all jobs
- Even in the presence of other messaging-intensive applications
- Excellent solution for random message environments
QLogic MPI Library Support
Maximizing MPI App Performance
- Accelerated performance enabled for the most widely available MPI libraries
- Designed from the ground up to support message passing semantics
- Provides fast path to QLogic TrueScale ASIC with stateless, connectionless approach
- Fully functional vFabric support is enabled natively for all MPI libraries
- Support for multiple traffic classes to address QoS objectives
Advanced Topology Support
Matching the Topology to the Problem
- Enables robust, high performance deployments of Torus and Mesh topologies for appropriate application environments
- Minimizes packet latency between end points when primary path is functional
- Inevitable large-scale fabric disruptions are handled with technical efficiency by routing around problem areas
- Maintains network quality-of-service policies
Competitive Analysis
Only QLogic Provides Three Separate Tools for Optimizing Network Efficiency
- Virtual Fabrics ensures applications receive the desired quality-of-service
- Adaptive Routing minimizes packet latency and maximizes link utilization scalability for pseudo-static traffic pattern environments
- Alternative approaches do not scale as the cluster grows
- Dispersive Routing minimizes packet latency and maximizes link utilization for random traffic pattern environments
Only QLogic Offers Message Optimized Host Interface Option
- Excellent semantic match to message passing requirements enables dramatically improved scaling
- Mellanox does not optimize for these libraries at all
Only QLogic Adds Advanced Topology Support for All MPIs
- Lowest latency for non-disrupted paths
- Delivery of packets even in disrupted paths
- Supported for all MPI libraries
- Mellanox has limited MPI library support for Torus/Mesh
QLogic IFSV6 is a major step towards helping customers eliminate the significant network barriers of scaling clusters. Customers no longer have to grapple with inferior technologies from Mellanox.
QLogic delivers InfiniBand fabric software breakthroughs to enhance its supercomputing class-leading InfiniBand QDR Portfolio of switches, pass-thru modules and HCAs.
IFSV6 will be available from Dell.
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