[openib-general] Newbie Questions Regarding How To Start

[Uncle Fester]

I am interested in getting my hands messy with Infiniband--and perhaps  in eventually contributing in some small way to its progress.  I  have done very rudimentary research, but would like to confirm my  assumptions with the experts here so that I don't spend my money  unwisely.
  
  I would like to add infiniband capability to two amd64 systems in my  lab.  These have PCI-X Tyan S2882 motherboards. I'm running linux  on these systems.
  
  Can infiniband function properly in a physical point to point  topology?  I would prefer to not invest in switches if it's not  entirely necessary.  The documentation I've glanced at so far  seems to indicate that infiniband is logically point-to-point.   But the diagrams representing physical topology all seem to have  switches.  Other than obviously not being able to communicate  across a fabric, is there functionality missing from a point-to-point  topology?  Does it even work?
  
  What's the best HCA card for me?  I'm drawn to Mellanox  MT23108-based systems because OpenIB seems to support them well  (https://openib.org/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=MellanoxHcaFirmware).   I'm considering purchasing two HP NC570C cards  (http://h30094.www3.hp.com/product.asp?sku=2603660&), which are  based on that Mellanox chip.  Does anybody know if those cards  would be functional in non-hp gear?  In other words, does HP have  their own proprietary goodies in the cards that would cause them to  break in generic systems such as what I have?  Are there better  cards for me?
  
  Thank you very much for your time and advice.
  
  Sincerely,
  Mark Travis
  
  
  
		
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