Mellanox OFED with SoftRoCE

[sachin3072004]

Hello,

I have installed Mellanox OFED on an Ubuntu machine without a Mellanox NIC card. Does Soft RoCE come with Mellanox OFED? Can I use Mellanox OFED/Soft RoCE to learn about RDMA? Does NVIDIA provide a lab environment for learning about RDMA?

Thanks,
Sachin

[vkhomyakov]

Hi @sachin3072004

Soft RoCE is a software implementation of RDMA transport that allows RDMA functionality without requiring specialized hardware. Here are answers to your specific questions:

1. Does Soft RoCE come with Mellanox OFED? Soft RoCE is not included as part of the Mellanox OFED package. It is an open-source technology and is available separately through a GitHub community project supported by IBM, Mellanox, and System Fabric Works. Mellanox OFED primarily supports RDMA functionality for Mellanox hardware.
2. Can I use Mellanox OFED/Soft RoCE to learn about RDMA Yes, you can use Soft RoCE to learn about RDMA concepts and programming. Soft RoCE works with standard Ethernet adapters that lack hardware acceleration for RDMA, making it a cost-effective way to experiment with RDMA technology.
3. Does NVIDIA provide a lab environment for learning about RDMA? NVIDIA offers various training resources for learning about RDMA, including self-paced online courses. For example:

• The course “RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) from A to Z” provides an introduction to RoCE, its configuration on different network types, and practical insights into its operation
  RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) from A to Z | NVIDIA ACADEMY

Regards,
Vladislav