Mellanox – Oprogramowanie

Mellanox’s Messaging Accelerator (VMA) boosts performance for message-based and streaming applications such as those found in financial services market data environments and Web2.0 clusters. The result is a reduction in latency by as much as 300% and an increase in application throughput by as much as 200% per server as compared to applications running on standard Ethernet or InfiniBand interconnect networks.

This solution lowers latency and increases transactions per second for a wide-array of applications including medical online Web Services, imaging, radar and other data acquisition systems. VMA Open Source can improve performance of any application that makes heavy use of Multicast, UDP unicast and TCP streaming and requires high packet-per-second rates, low data distribution latency, low CPU utilization or increased application scalability.

License
VMA Open Source is made available under a dual license: GPLv2 and commercial. The software can be downloaded for free from Google Code at https://github.com/Mellanox/libvma/.

Fabric Visibility & Control

UFM includes an advanced granular monitoring engine that provides real time access to health and performance, switch and host data, enabling:

• Real-time identification of fabric-related errors and failures
• Insight into fabric performance and potential bottlenecks
• Preventive maintenance via granular threshold-based alerts
• SNMP traps and scriptable actions
• Correlation of monitored data to application/ service level enabling quick and effective fabric analysis

Solve Traffic Bottlenecks

Fabric congestion is difficult to detect when using traditional management tools, resulting in unnoticed congestion and fabric under utilization. UFM’s unique congestion tracking feature quickly identifies traffic bottlenecks and congestion events spreading over the fabric. This feature enables accurate problem identification and quick resolution of performance issues:

• Quickly identifies traffic issues, topology inefficiencies or non-optimal node placement
• Allows the administrator to improve fabric topology and configuration
• Enables increased performance and higher fabric utilization

Ease Fabric Deployment and Operations

UFM’s central management console reduces the effort and complexity involved with bring-up and the day-by-day fabric maintenance tasks. This significantly reduces downtime and makes UFM the ultimate management tool for the most demanding data center environments.

• UFM’s advanced Fabric Health diagnostic tools enable the user to get a clear picture of fabric and link health across the fabric, eases deployment and shortens maintenance windows
• UFM’s asset management capabilities enable effective tracking of fabric devices and ports, from the smallest to the largest 10Ks node clusters
• Group operations such as switch firmware updates are enabled via a single mouse click
• Failovers are handled seamlessly and are transparent to both the user and the applications running on the fabric

The SDN Approach

While other tools are device-oriented and involve local device logic, UFM uses an SDN architecture together with a service oriented approach to manage the fabric.

• UFM’s intelligent end-to-end fabric policy engine correlates application defined needs to the underlying physical infrastructure and enables programmable configuration of routing policy, connectivity, and QoS across the fabric
• UFM uses Mellanox advanced silicon capabilities to effectively control “managed” as well as “externally managed” devices in a central, programmable manner
• UFM’s monitoring engine enables correlation of the monitored data and fabric events to the logical layer, providing the end-user valuable business-oriented information about the fabric in an easy to consume way

UFM’s SDN Model advantages:

• Detaching of the fabric logic from the local device logic – enabling high flexibility in device deployment
• Quick policy changes and quick remediation
• Easy integration in cloud and dynamic environments which require service oriented logic
• High level of SLA tracking and alerting

Integration with Existing Data Center Management Tools

UFM provides an open and extensible object model to describe data center infrastructure and conduct all relevant management actions. UFM’s API enables integration with leading job schedulers, cloud and cluster managers.

Mellanox NEO™ is a powerful platform for managing scale-out computing networks. Mellanox NEO™ enables data center operators to efficiently provision, monitor and operate the modern data center fabric.

Mellanox NEO™ serves as interface to the fabric, thus extending existing tools capabilities into monitoring and provisioning the data center network. Mellanox NEO™ uses an extensive set of REST APIs to allow access to fabric-related data and provisioning activities.

Mellanox NEO™ eliminates the complexity of fabric management. It automates the configuration of devices, provides deep visibility into traffic and health, and provides early detection of errors and failures.

Integrated switch management solution

FabricIT™ is a switch based comprehensive management software solution that provides optimal performance for cluster computing, enterprise data centers, and cloud computing over Mellanox IS5000 Switch family. The fabric management capabilities ensures the highest fabric performance while the chassis management ensures easy provisioning and the longest switch up time. With FabricIT EFM running on InfiniScale® IV powered fabrics, IT managers will see a higher return on their compute, storage and networking infrastructure investment through higher CPU productivity, efficiency and availability.

Switch Chassis Management

FabricIT- Chassis management software is included with every IS5000 series managed switch, enabling Network Administrators to monitor and diagnose the switch hardware. With local and remote configuration and management capabilities, chassis management provides critical system information including port status with event and error logs, CPU resources, and internal temperature with alarms. The chassis manager enables easy switch maintenance and high network availability.

Fabric Management

FabricIT EFM fabric management provides and intuitive, reliable and scalable management solution for cluster and data center fabrics. Its modular design integrates the subnet manager (SM) with advanced features simplifying cluster bring up and node initialization through automatic discovery and configuration. Performance monitors measure the fabric characteristics to ensure the highest effective throughput.

Mellanox Advantage

Mellanox Technologies is a leading supplier of end-to-end servers and storage connectivity solutions to optimize data center performance and efficiency. Mellanox InfiniBand adapters, switches, and software are powering Fortune 500 data centers and the world’s most powerful supercomputers. For the best in server and storage performance and scalability with the lowest TCO, Mellanox interconnect products are the solution.

Integrated Switch Management Solution

MLNX-OS is a comprehensive management software solution that provides optimal performance for cluster computing, enterprise data centers, and cloud computing over Mellanox SwitchX™ Switch family. The fabric management capabilities ensure the highest fabric performance while the chassis management ensures the longest switch up time. With MLNX-OS IT managers will see a higher return on their compute as well as infrastructure investment through higher CPU productivity due to higher network throughput and availability.

Virtual Protocol Interconnect^® (VPI)

VPI flexibility enables any standard networking, clustering, storage, and management protocol to seamlessly operate over any converged network leveraging a consolidated software stack. Each port can operate on InfiniBand, Ethernet, Data Center Bridging (DCB) fabrics and RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE). VPI simplifies I/O system design and makes it easier for IT managers to deploy infrastructure that meets the challenges of a dynamic data center.

Complete Ethernet Stack

MLNX-OS introduces a complete Ethernet L2 and L3 protocol stack with unicast and multicast switching and routing capabilities complemented with SDN attributes for maximizing the network’s administrator control over the network resource.

Switch Chassis Management

Embedded subnet Manager (SM) and chassis management software is included with every managed switch, enabling Network Administrators to monitor and diagnose the switch hardware. With local and remote configuration and management capabilities, chassis management provides parameter information including port status with event and error logs, CPU resources, and internal temperature with alarms. The chassis manager ensures low switch maintenance and high network availability.

Ease of Management

MLNX-OS management software communication interfaces includes: CLI, GUI, SNMP and XML gateway. Licensed features can be activated via keys to enable the plug-ins.

Plug-In fabric diagnostics solution

Fabric Inspector is a switch based software Plug-In that enhances Mellanox’s Operating System (MLNX-OS™) management software with fabric diagnostic capabilities to ensure fabric health. Cluster management software must provide tools to help a Network Administrator bring up the network and optimize performance. Fabric Inspector includes a complete set of tools for fabric wide diagnostics to check node-node and node-switch connectivity and to verify routes within the fabric.

Simplicity and Ease of Management

Fabric Inspector is a plug & play software module within Mellanox Operating System (MLNX-OS) displaying and filtering all identified systems and nodes within the fabric (adapters, switches). The display can be done according to activity status, port type (HCA, switch or management) or port rate (link speed or link width). Moreover, Fabric Inspector helps assigning meaningful names to GUID’s enabling externally managed systems management.

Mellanox Advantage

Mellanox Technologies is a leading supplier of end-to-end server and storage connectivity solutions to optimize data center performance and efficiency. Mellanox InfiniBand adapters, switches, and software are powering Fortune 500 data centers and the world’s most powerful supercomputers. The company offers innovative solutions that address a wide range of markets including HPC, enterprise data centers, cloud computing, Internet and Web 2.0.

Efficient Management of Virtual I/O for InfiniBand in the Data Centers

Virtualization and cloud computing require a new class of on-demand I/O service where traditional I/O with multiple storage and networking cards on a single server is not efficient or cost effective. BridgeX® gateway improves data center efficiency by enabling network consolidation with Virtual I/O using ConnectX® InfiniBand adapters, allowing a server with a single physical adapter over a single cable to connect to Ethernet LAN. IT Managers can repurpose their server(s) dynamically with a single ConnectX InfiniBand card to create multiple virtual NICs (vNIC) based on user demand. Flexibility to dynamically repurpose servers is achieved using FabricIT BridgeX Manager (BXM) fabric management software.

FabricIT BXM is robust management software running on BridgeX gateways to manage I/O consolidation for cluster, cloud, and virtual environments. It simplifies connectivity from an efficient InfiniBand network to Ethernet LAN. Supported key features include discovery of network virtualization hardware, creation, addition, and deletion of Virtual I/O, association of each Virtual I/O connection to network or storage, flexibility to repurpose the LAN ports on the gateway, security, I/O isolation and redundancy. Standard CLI and Web GUI interface allows users the flexibility to manage, provision, and orchestrate network virtualization for the entire fabric with no changes to the physical servers, switches, and storage targets.

• Multiple transport support including RC, DC and UD
• Proper management of HCA resources and memory structures
• Efficient memory registration
• One-sided communication semantics
• Connection management
• Receive side tag matching
• Intra-node shared memory communication

These enhancements significantly increase the scalability and performance of message communications in the network, alleviating bottlenecks within the parallel communication libraries

SHMEM (SHared MEMory), uses the PGAS model to allow processes to globally share variables by allowing each process to see the same variable name, but each process keeps its own copy of the variable. Modification to another process address space is then accomplished using put/get (or write/read) semantics. The ability of put/get operations, or one-sided communication, is one of the major differences between SHMEM and MPI (Message Passing Interface) which only uses two-sided, send/ receive semantics.

Mellanox HPC-X™ UPC is based on the Berkeley Unified Parallel C project. Berkeley UPC library includes an underlying communication conduit called GASNET, which works over the OpenFabrics RDMA for Linux stack (OFED™). Mellanox has optimized this GASNET layer with the inclusion of their Mellanox Messaging libraries (MXM) as well as Mellanox Fabric Collective Accelerations (FCA), providing an unprecedented level of scalability for UPC programs running over InfiniBand.

The Mellanox Windows distribution includes software for database clustering, Cloud, High Performance Computing, communications, and storage applications for servers and clients running different versions of Windows OS. This collection consists of drivers, protocols, and management in simple ready-to-install MSIs.
More detailed information on each package is provided in the documentation package available in the Related Documents section.

For ConnectX-3 and ConnectX-3 Pro drivers download WinOF.

For ConnectX-4 drivers download WinOF-2.