[Ofa_boardplus] XWG meeting minutes 11/29

[Paul Grun]

My mistake.  I read Woody's email too fast and saw the expression "OFI" and mentally substituted 'verbs provider' for 'sockets provider'.  I guess I've had 'verbs provider' on the brain lately.

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Hefty, Sean [mailto:sean.hefty at intel.com]
>Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2018 2:20 PM
>To: Paul Grun <grun at cray.com>; Woodruff, Robert J
><robert.j.woodruff at intel.com>; Jim Ryan <jimdryan at gmail.com>
>Cc: ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org, <ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org>
>Subject: RE: [Ofa_boardplus] XWG meeting minutes 11/29
>
>Woody wasn't referring to the verbs provider.  He was talking about using sockets
>over tcp.
>
>RDMA != VERBS   !!!!!
>
>If OFA still can't get this right, then, yes, there's no way anyone outside of the
>field is ever going to understand it.
>
>OFA has already made the investment.  It's harmless, been available for years,
>and is free.
>
>
>> You’re quite right Woody; I hadn’t thought of using libfabric with the
>> verbs provider running over Ethernet.
>>
>>
>>
>> Another approach is the ‘cluster on a laptop’ that I described.  That
>> one uses KVM and standard enet virtual switches to create a ‘cluster
>> in a box’.
>>
>>
>>
>> In either case, Doug’s point was that the OFA is in a position to make
>> it easier for people to get exposed to RDMA in a harmless and zero
>> cost way.  I think that’s something in which the OFA should invest.
>> Fastest way I can imagine to accelerate the adoption of high
>> performance networks.
>>
>> -Paul
>>
>>
>>
>> From: Woodruff, Robert J [mailto:robert.j.woodruff at intel.com]
>> Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2018 1:59 PM
>> To: Paul Grun <grun at cray.com>; Jim Ryan <jimdryan at gmail.com>
>> Cc: ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org,
>> <ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org>
>> Subject: RE: [Ofa_boardplus] XWG meeting minutes 11/29
>>
>>
>>
>> >There’s no easy way to experiment with RDMA and learn about it,
>> without buying h/w.
>>
>>
>>
>> This is not exactly true. With OFI, it supports RDMA and we have a
>> sockets provider that people can use with any off the shelf Ethernet
>> NIC to experiment and learn about RDMA.
>>
>> In fact, we have a lot of development internally that uses the OFI
>> sockets provider for initial development and then later test and tune
>> it on hardware accelerated RDMA NICs.
>>
>>
>>
>> Woody
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> From: Ofa_boardplus [mailto:ofa_boardplus-
>> bounces at lists.openfabrics.org] On Behalf Of Paul Grun
>> Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2018 1:24 PM
>> To: Jim Ryan <jimdryan at gmail.com <mailto:jimdryan at gmail.com> >
>> Cc: ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org
>> <mailto:ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org> ,
>> <ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org
>> <mailto:ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org> >
>> Subject: Re: [Ofa_boardplus] XWG meeting minutes 11/29
>>
>>
>>
>> A tiny nit – the second to approve the minutes was Christoph.
>>
>>
>>
>> Another small-ish nit - People are dismayed at how hard it is to test
>> things RDMA-related especially by newbies, complicated by the need to
>> buy HW.
>>
>> I think it’s a little more than just testing.  There’s no easy way to
>> experiment with RDMA and learn about it, without buying h/w.
>>
>>
>>
>> Not-so-small nit - Gilad explained openRDMA doesn’t compete with the
>> OFA. Rather it provides help for those wanting to use RDMA. They are
>> not doing new development.
>>
>> Rather, Gilad asserted that OpenRDMA doesn’t compete with the OFA
>> because it is not doing new development. This is incorrect because the
>> OFA’s mission is not limited to development.  Our mission is to
>> accelerate the development and adoption of (e.g. RDMA).  No good
>> argument was offered for why OpenRDMA should not be hosted by the OFA
>> under the auspices of the existing OFVWG (which was originally
>> requested by MLNX and is currently chaired by MLNX).
>>
>>
>>
>> The OFA was originally formed specifically to foster the development,
>> support, and adoption of RDMA and stands ready to continue doing so.
>> Nothing about that has changed in our mission.
>>
>>
>>
>> -Paul
>>
>>
>>
>> From: Ofa_boardplus [mailto:ofa_boardplus-
>> bounces at lists.openfabrics.org] On Behalf Of Jim Ryan
>> Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2018 12:30 PM
>> To: ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org
>> <mailto:ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org> ,
>> <ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org
>> <mailto:ofa_boardplus at lists.openfabrics.org> >
>> Subject: [Ofa_boardplus] XWG meeting minutes 11/29
>>
>>
>>
>> A very complex meeting, I hope I got it right
>>
>>
>>
>> Jim