On Wed, 2006-06-28 at 14:29 +1000, Herbert Xu wrote: > On Wed, Jun 28, 2006 at 12:18:25AM -0400, Jeff Garzik wrote: > > > > A PCI device that presents itself as a SCSI controller, but under the > > hood is really iSCSI-over-TCP smells like TOE. Running a virtualized > > Linux guest on top of a proprietary stack [which provides networking > > services to guests] also smells like TOE. :) > > Agreed. However, when they start adding hooks to the ARP table, the > routing table, and PMTU management, it begs the question what more is > there to add for TOE (well, user-space driven TOE at least)? > > > Unfortunately I don't have more details, so you just get a generalized > > rant :) > > OK, the patch under discussion here adds hooks to all the stuff in the > previous paragraph for the purpose of RDMA over TCP (well I must say > that the exact RDMA application/hardware has never been clearly given > but this is what I can gather from the previous posts).
There are Ammasso and Chelsio RDMA/Ethernet drivers in the openib.org svn iwarp branch today. The goal is to submit them for review and inclusion into linux. The Ammasso driver has been through 3 review cycles on lkml and netdev. There are other vendors with drivers, but they're currently not disclosing any information to me about their status. Applications: kernel: NFS-RDMA, iSER, RDP. user: MPI, uDAPL (both middle ware). The Ammasso driver is a different model. It actually has a full TCP/ARP/ICMP stack and doesn't require these hooks. But the RDMA/TCP model defined and implemented, I think, by most vendors is a model where the HW is doing a limited TCP offload, relying on the native stack for L2 and L3 integration (as described in the netevent patch). > Put it another way, I think the dividing line between TOE and iSCSI or > virtualisation is exactly the interface between them and the Linux kernel. > If the interface is an existing one such as SCSI or standard IP then it's > OK. However, when it starts poking in the guts of the Linux stack I'd say > that it has crossed the line. > Don't these netevent hooks have utility for other purposes? IE: Should we really shoot changes to linux _just because_ they might possibly enable TOE? Steve. - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe netdev" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
