[libfabric-users] GPU buffers

[Hefty, Sean]

> Do any libfabric providers support moving data to/from GPU buffers? Or
> is it generally intended that libfabric would sit alongside another
> library providing GPU support (e.g., OpenMPI's CUDA support)?

No existing providers support data transfers to/from GPU buffers.  However, we hope to have this support by a wishy-washy maybe 1.8 or 1.9 release.

I would like libfabric to support middleware efficiently that is GPU aware (e.g. OpenMPI) as well as middleware that is not (e.g. MPICH).  In some cases, it is simply a matter of where the checks are for determining if a buffer is a GPU or host buffer.  In other cases, the user already knows and can provide that data in order to avoid the checks.

Still further out is support for buffers referenced by a virtual address to migrate between the host and GPUs, which would allow the libraries to do nothing.

- Sean