Could I enable ROCE v2 on both MCX623106AN-CDAT 100GbE NIC cards and connect each other without any switch?

[s5814108]

Hi sir,

Since I do not have ROCE v2 supported switch, and I am planning to connect two MCX623106AN-CDAT 100GbE NIC cards each other from two different server systems, the OS I plan to use is Windows Server 2022, so, I’d like to understand if it is possible to run ROCE v2 feature without switch by direct connect between two NIC cards?

BTW, is there any guidance that I can referred to for configuring ROCE v2 on both MCX623106AN-CDAT NIC cards and without a switch?

Thank you!
Jacky

[s5814108]

Hi sir,

I have googled and seems the Connect-X 6 Dx datasheet shows the card does not support ECN and PFC, does that mean I really need a supported switch to have the Flow Control for lossless network?

Thanks,

Jacky

[yanivserlin]

ConnectX-6 Dx supports ECN and PFC. It does have a mode “Zero-touch RoCE” which does not require ECN and PFC.
There should not be any issue connecting the servers back to back without a switch.
Regards,
Yaniv

[vikiz]

Hi Jacky, in which datasheet you saw that it’s not supported?
Note, that it is supported, and for configuring PFC you will need to install the MLNX_OFED driver and use the mlnx_qos tool.

Best Regards,
Viki

[s5814108]

Hi Viki,

Just from datasheet, see below screenshot, it shows “no ECN, no PFC”, that confused me.

Best regards,
Jacky