RDMATransports

RDMATransports refers to the underlying network protocols and mechanisms used by Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) to achieve direct memory access between computers without involving the operating system. RDMA allows applications to bypass the kernel and directly access the memory of a remote machine, significantly reducing latency and CPU overhead. The "transport" aspect describes how this data is moved across the network.

Common RDMA transports include InfiniBand, RoCE (RDMA over Converged Ethernet), and iWARP (Internet Wide Area RDMA Protocol). InfiniBand is a high-performance interconnect specifically designed for RDMA, offering very low latency and high bandwidth. RoCE is an adaptation of RDMA principles to Ethernet networks, allowing RDMA capabilities to be leveraged over standard Ethernet infrastructure, typically requiring lossless Ethernet for optimal performance. iWARP also enables RDMA over standard TCP/IP networks, providing a more flexible solution for environments where dedicated InfiniBand fabrics are not present.

The choice of RDMA transport impacts network infrastructure requirements, cost, and performance characteristics. Each transport has its own set of protocols, hardware support, and configuration considerations. Understanding these transports is crucial for designing and deploying high-performance computing, storage, and other latency-sensitive applications that benefit from RDMA technology.