Thank you for bringing this new approach. I hope it will develop to something easy and fast to use instead of buying the switch.
Do you have any data comparing this setup to the same tests run with a switch?
I’m wondering what the difference is between the setups (if any) and whether a switch is worth getting or if you get similar results without one. I know it’s not necessary, but is a switch helpful (or harmful) from a performance perspective?
I don’t personally have a switch to test against, but in comparing with others in the community, mostly discord, running almost identical images/builds, there doesn’t seem to be much discernable difference running on a ring versus a switch, they are nearly identical from what I can tell.
There are pros and cons to both of course; the switch draws continuous power and creates noise, but it’s easier to plug and play, especially beyond 4+ sparks, until I have 6 and 8 tested. Ring on the other hand has no switch so you save that noise, power, and cost at the expense of 200Gbe links to any other device (like a NAS). But, the ring is free to try and you can always add a switch later.
Installation has been greatly improved/simplified as well in my latest builds. I’ve attempted to create an installing that does most of the difficult setup, for many different scenarios and setups: SparkRing Install Builder
For example, to install GLM5.3F on 4 spark ring, cable them up and:
sudo curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FujitsuPolycom/sparkring/8e27a4fe9a15a64df78e390f06fe3f1cd0077fd4/install.sh | bash -s -- --ref 8e27a4fe9a15a64df78e390f06fe3f1cd0077fd4 --profile glm53-flash-nvfp4-spark-tp4 --plan
And performance from that profile:
Others include:
- Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash-MOPD
- DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash
Another neat feature, install two TP2 models on a single 4-spark ring, example:
Install GLM5.3Flash, TP2 on pair 1 and Qwen3.8FlashNext, TP2, on pair 2:
# install sparkring, download and launch profile 1 on pair 1
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FujitsuPolycom/sparkring/2e7e63a75627dfd30a45de3951646a9caa7078e4/install.sh | bash -s -- --ref 2e7e63a75627dfd30a45de3951646a9caa7078e4 --profile glm53-flash-nvfp4-spark-tp2 --on 0,1
# download and launch profile 2 on pair 2.
sudo sparkring install --profile qwen38-flash-next-tp2 --on 2,3
Sparkring 2026.10.1 has 9 tested profiles. Main Repo
Install Builder will put together the installation command for said profiles or a combination of them (2x TP2 setup on a single ring).
Would love to have more testers, issues feedback, PRs, the works.
Thanks for your awesome work on this! That’s kind of what I suspected but wasn’t sure of.
I have a switch back-ordered and the thought was maybe I’d keep the order and think about expanding to more nodes later, but honestly, with the crazy dgx spark pricing now 4 might be the most this cluster ever grows to… so with your work, the switch becomes less interesting.
i’ve been using a switchless 4x setup for a couple weeks now and it’s great. fast and stable. I think I only want a switch now for A|B comparisons but the compactness and less noise of a switchless system is very appealing