[ofw] Which API to use for IB project

[Thomas Peiselt]

Hello,

I'm new to InfiniBand (and this list), and I'm not sure if the topic
is adequate on this list. If not, don't kill me, show me the right way
instead :-).

My task: given two shiny new workstations w/ Mellanox IB HCAs (the
cheap InfniHost  Lx cards), adapt the companies internal communication
library to work over IB - as seamless as possible, as fast as
possible... um yeah, you know, I guess .

I am lost in what a InfiniBand newbie might consider an API / library
jungle: there's ND, WSD, SDP, IPoIB, uDAPL, and WinVerbs. I'm not sure
where to start. I understand that some APIs take zero or almost zero
porting effort (IPoIB, WSD), but do not seem to take full advantage of
all the IB features (zero copy, cpu-bypass).

My question: what approach to chose for an application where packet
size is relatively small (less than 1024 bytes) with the following
priorities:
1. latency
2. cpu load
3. low porting effort to linux compute nodes
4. implementation effort

Latency is crucial, porting / implementation effort is just nice to have.

thanks for any suggestions,

Thomas