Hey Checkyourlogs Fans,
Here is a quick little post on iWarp as a protocol that can be used to run RDMA for your Storage Spaces Direct deployments. The best part about iWarp is that it doesn’t require Switch or Server configuration it is pretty much plug and play. To this effect, Intel has created a nice little video explaining how it works.
NOTE: I haven’t personally setup a Storage Spaces Direct configuration in production using iWarp yet, and I am working with my first customer that is using it this week. Traditionally although more complete the lossless RoCE v2 networks that I setup are rock solid. I have heard rumblings from my other MVP friends that they have had mixed experiences using iWarp and for that reason, I still recommend RoCE/RDMA to my customers. This video, however, was interesting and a great way to learn a bit more.
Here is the video for you:
Thanks and have a great day.
Dave
Hey Dave; I was recently forced to use iWARP on a 2 node SSD ‘cluster’ (if you want to call a 2 node a cluster) due to Meraki switches at the core. It has been running in prod for a few months with no issues to speak of; other than the expected limitations of 2 nodes. iWARP seems to be better option from the lack of implementation complexity, but I don’t see much uptake in the industry. Have you seen or done any more iWARP implementations? I’m wondering if I’m going to have to suck it up and move to RoCE/RDMA in the future due to iWARP dying. Thanks sir!
Hey Justin –> Sorry for the delay in responding. iWARP is a great technology. A lot of us still use RoCE in Production because we understand and know how to configure the stack. Microsoft wants everyone on iWARP because it is in theory easier to configure. IMHO RoCE is a great technology if configured properly. If not it can be a nightmare. We deploy like this because we know how it is done. Not other reason than that.
Thanks Dave! I appreciate the response; and I can tell how busy you are just by the sheer amount of content here. Thanks again for the insight.