8 reasons to choose true scale

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8 Reasons to Choose QLogic TrueScale™ InfiniBand™ Adapters TrueScale Architecture Enables Superior Scalable Performance

Reliable End-to-End Support for OpenFabrics Software Distribution

Executive Summary

QLogic TrueScale InfiniBand (IB) Host Channel adapters (HCas) deliver industry-leading scalable performance, allowing organizations to effectively move their applications onto larger clusters to achieve the shortest time-to-solution and to maximize their return On Investment (rOI).

QLogic’s TrueScale adapters demonstrate ultra-low latency, the highest message rate, and a high effective bandwidth compared to any competitive offering in the market today. additionally, these superior performance attributes are maintained as the core and node counts are scaled. as a result, organizations relying on clustered systems for critical computing tasks will experience a significant increase in productivity as they expand their compute clusters.

QLogic, as a world-class supplier of Enterprise connectivity solutions in Fibre Channel and Ethernet technologies, is now offering their InfiniBand customers differentiated benefits, such as lower cost of ownership, industry leading adapter warranty, reliability, and 24×7 customer support.

This paper provides an overview of the advantages of QLogic TrueScale adapters, with a focus on factors that matter to CIOs, end users, and systems administrators: scalable performance, reliability, low power, superior application performance, and ROI.

Key Findings

Choosing QLogic TrueScale InfiniBand provides superior return On Investment (rOI) due to:

Superior Performance of High Performance Computing (HPC) Applications

TrueScale adapters deliver the highest message rate for multi-1. core compute nodes and large node count clusters

TrueScale architecture delivers the lowest scalable latency2.

Highest overall bandwidth on PCI Express Gen1 platforms3.

Superior power efficiency4.

Guaranteed Interoperability

Easiest installation due to compliance to industry standards. 5. Customers can leverage QLogic’s NETtrack™ program, which insures that QLogic adapters are certified across all major IB applications.

PCI-SIG and InfiniBand Trade association (IBTa) •compliance

Support for OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution (OFED) with 6. optional enhancements to improve MPI applications, SrP, and VNIC performance

Enhanced Reliability

Only supplier of end-to-end InfiniBand networking products7.

Highest product reliability, backed by a 3-year warranty8.

Stateless design is inherently more resilient to fabric •failures


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Introduction

Interconnect performance has become a key factor in overall application and clustered system performance. This will continue to be the case as applications become more complex, more sophisticated, and are scaled onto increasingly larger clusters to accelerate the time-to-solution for critical business and scientific problems.

Superior Performance

Reason #1: Highest Message Rate PerformanceDesigned to leverage the capabilities of multi-core servers, the TrueScale architecture can handle the increase in communication requirements in a multi-core environment. With the prevalence of multi-core compute nodes in today’s HPC clusters, the communications burden per adapter is far greater than when single and dual-core servers were the norm.

To maintain a balanced system and make effective use of the available cores, the interconnect must be able to efficiently process a large number of messages at varied patterns. Unmatched in message rate performance, the TrueScale architecture is the ideal choice for multi-core compute nodes.

Reason #2: Lowest Scalable LatencyHPC application codes have become more parallelized to take advantage of advances in cluster computing. as a result, these codes are being deployed on larger systems now that they can take advantage of the additional compute resources available. Due to the connectionless design and light-weight memory footprint per process, only the TrueScale adapter was designed from the ground up to scale efficiently with the size of the fabric.

When messaging requirements dominate in an application, QLogic’s advantage over alternative interconnect solutions is significant at small scales and dramatic at large scale. The fundamental reason is that QLogic’s architecture and interfaces are optimized to spend the least amount of time on parallel communications, so that applications can make better use of their computation resources and generate answers quicker.

QLogic’s IB adapters deliver superior rOI by lowering both capital and operating expense. QLogic adapter’s superior ability to scale real-world applications means that organizations can achieve better utilization of their clustered computing assets, and therefore maximize their rOI. In addition, QLogic’s solutions allow bridging to both Ethernet and FC data center fabrics, giving customers the flexibility to implement a converged fabric for their data center needs while leveraging investments in their existing infrastructure.

Reason #3: Highest Overall Bandwidth on PCI Express Gen1 PlatformsQLogic is the only supplier of PCI Express Gen1 x16 IB adapters on the market. For customers deploying PCI Express Gen1 platforms, only QLogic TrueScale adapters can take full advantage of the bandwidth capability of the Double Date rate (DDr) InfiniBand aSIC and achieve true DDr performance.

The following table lists the message rate, scalable latency, and peak bandwidth performance of the two TrueScale DDr adapters, which offers the fastest time to solution and the highest rOI for HPC applications.

TrueScale adapter OSU Message rate @ 8 ppn HPCC random ring Latency @ 128 Cores

Throughput Performance

QLogic QLE7240 PCIe Gen1 x8 19 Million messages/sec 1.3 µs 1500 MBps

QLogic QLE7280 PCIe Gen1 x16 26 Million messages/sec 1.1 µs 1950 MBps


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The QLE7200 series adapter’s low latency and high message rates result in superior real-world application scalability across nearly all modeling and simulation applications. Well known applications that have demonstrated superior scaling and outstanding performance when running on clusters with the TrueScale interconnect include: NaMD, amber8, STar-CD®, Fluent®, NWChem, DL_POLY, LS-DYNa®, aBaQUS®, PowerFlow, OpenFOaM, Eclipse™, WrF, POP, MM5, LaMMPS, GaMMES, CPMD, aM2, CHarMM, GrOMaCS, and many others.

Beyond Hero Numbers White Paper

Real Application Performance White Paper

Please refer to the following UrL for White Papers on performance in real-world applications:

http://www.qlogic.com/Educationandresources/WhitePapersresourcelibraryHpc.aspx

Reason #4: Superior Power EfficiencyQLogic’s TrueScale HCas are designed to provide outstanding performance with very low power requirements compared to competitive offerings. The following chart depicts the maximum wattage draw for QLogic InfiniBand adapters.

QLogic InfiniBand HCa

Watts (maximum)

QLE7140 2

QLE7240 5.5

QLE7280 6.5

Typical wattage requirements could be considerably less depending on the communications activity at the time of measurement, but no other IB vendor can provide maximum performance within these power envelopes.


Enterprises deploying clustered computing infrastructures based on IB require maximum levels of flexibility when it comes to selecting and deploying network interconnect technology. Besides providing the best performing IB adapters on the market, QLogic also delivers unprecedented levels of flexibility when it comes to choices of available software, hardware, interoperability, and interfaces to other data center network fabrics.

Reason #5: Easiest Installation Due to Compliance to Industry Standards an active board member of the OpenFabrics alliance, QLogic is fully committed to industry standard form factors and IBTa specification compliance. The only vendor to offer PCI Express x8 and x16 form factor adapters that satisfy the IBTa 1.2 specification, QLogic plays a leading role in fostering the adoption of InfiniBand technology as an open standard and the continued development of the IB eco-system.

DDr IB HCas QLogic TrueScale

Mellanox® ConnectX™

IBTa 1.2 compliance 4 No

QLogic’s TrueScale IB adapters provide:

Support for popular file systems including GPFS, Lustre™, and •NFS®

Support for block storage devices including both direct-attached •IB storage and gateway-attached Fibre Channel storage

Support for 10Gb Ethernet gateway for Ethernet network •connectivity

Support for the OpenFabrics alliance OFED release as well as all •standard OFED transport protocols

Support for the most common MPI implementations including •Platform (Scali), HP, Intel®, QLogic, OpenMPI, MVaPICH, and MPICH2

http://www.qlogic.com/EducationAndResources/WhitePapersResourcelibraryHpc.aspx

http://www.qlogic.com/EducationAndResources/WhitePapersResourcelibraryHpc.aspx


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Interoperability with all fabric switches including QLogic, Voltaire • ®, Cisco®, Mellanox, and Flextronics

Interoperability with fabric subnet managers from OFED, QLogic, •and all proprietary switch vendors

Interoperability with a wide variety of IB passive copper, active •copper, and optical fiber cabling solutions

Cluster administrators can enjoy peace of mind when deploying QLogic TrueScale adapters, knowing that the adapters will work with their existing infrastructure as well as with any IBTa compliant equipment that will be added in the future.

QLogic’s NETtrack Partner Program ensures that QLogic adapters are certified with the most extensive list of IB application vendors in the marketplace.

Options QLogic Mellanox

Certificate Partner Program

http://www.qlogic.com/interoperability/NETtrack.aspx

No

Orderable Hard Copy Certification Guides

HPC Interoperability Guide

No

Reason #6: QLogic Provides Enhancements to Key Features in OpenFabrics SoftwareQLogic offers a single Linux® driver that works with all QLogic adapters based on the TrueScale architecture. In addition, QLogic’s driver is distributed as part of OFED and is included in the Linux distributions via kernel.org. OFED is an open source community stack that includes protocols for sockets and storage communications; and delivers industry standard IPoIB, SDP, SrP, and other upper level protocols to applications.

In addition to OFED, QLogic products provide the following additional optional capabilities:

QLogic accelerated MPI stack: • QLogic developed, this stack provides high performance MPI support for QLogic MPI, Open MPI, HP-MPI, Scali MPI, MVaPICH, and MPICH2. (Check with your QLogic sales representative for the latest list of supported MPI libraries.)

Support for QLogic’s InfiniBand Fabric Suite (IFS): • This set of tools, which includes FastFabric™, QLogic’s Subnet Manager, and Fabric Viewer, simplifies installation and provides extensive troubleshooting capabilities from a centralized location. IFS is available for purchase separately.

QLogic enhanced versions of the SCSI RDMA Protocol (SRP) •and VNIC are also available, along with a variety of host-based utilities.

all of these stacks can be used with the QLogic TrueScale adapter to address requirements for high performance MPI applications in addition to sockets and storage networking.

The following graphic depicts the various components of the software stack provided by QLogic. The items in red are sourced from the OFED release. The optional value-added components from QLogic are in aqua. The community and third-party components are in blue.

Enhanced reliability

Reason #7: QLogic is the Only One-Stop Shop for End-to-End IB Networking Products QLogic is an end-to-end supplier of IB infrastructure products, from host adapters and OpenFabrics-based software stacks to a wide variety of Edge and Director Class switch products that enable the right-sizing of the cluster. QLogic also provides multi-protocol gateway products to extend into Ethernet LaN and Fibre Channel SaN environments, a variety of active and passive cabling options, and a comprehensive portfolio of cluster management tools to tie it all together.

QLogic’s complete IB solution includes:

adapters •

Host software •

Switching fabric •

Ethernet and FC gateways •

Fabric management •

Copper and optical cabling solutions •

QLogic is a proven supplier of Enterprise Class connectivity solutions and brings the benefits of an experienced, reliable partner to customers deploying IB networking technology. Working with a single vendor for all cluster and storage networking infrastructure needs results in solution reliability and customer satisfaction.




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Reason #8: Highest Product Reliability Backed by 3-Year WarrantyMellanox offers only 1 year of warranty on their IB adapters, with an extension to 3 years at a significant cost increase. Due to a highly integrated aSIC, QLogic TrueScale IB adapters have a simplified design requiring less on-board components. The combination of an integrated aSIC and a firmware-less architecture provides minimum hardware related failures and a highly reliable adapter. QLogic backs its reliability claims with an unprecedented 3-year standard warranty at no extra charge. In addition, the higher reliability of TrueScale adapters will translate directly into lower operating expenses over the lifetime of the product.

Summary and Conclusion

Choosing the right InfiniBand adapter is critical for deploying clusters that require the highest possible performance at the lowest operating costs.

QLogic TrueScale IB adapters provide superior scalable performance capabilities, allowing customers to scale their applications onto larger clusters with “fatter” nodes and achieve the shortest time-to-solution possible for a variety of applications. reducing the time-to-solution by increasing the efficiency and utilization of their compute environment allows customers to maximize their rOI.

as a world-class supplier of Enterprise connectivity solutions, QLogic offers substantial advantages as a partner, allowing customers to enjoy many benefits, including a lower total cost of ownership and increased support and reliability.


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appendix: Quick reference Sheet

QLogic TrueScale adapters: 8 reasons to Choose QLogic IB adapters

Category reason Benefit

Performance #1: Highest Message rate Performance

Superior communication capabilities per adapter are well suited for •multi-core environments. High message rate per adapter can handle communication requirements of additional cores.

#2: Lowest Scalable Latency Superior application scaling driven by highest real messaging rate, lowest •real communications latency, and highest effective bandwidth over a variety of message patterns. Superior communications/computation overlap.

Connectionless design and resulting light-weight memory footprint per •process enables better scaling.

#3: Highest Overall Bandwidth on PCI Express Gen1 Platforms

Mellanox offers only Gen1 x8 and Gen2 x8 adapters. For customers with •Gen1 platforms, the only way to achieve full DDr performance is to use a Gen1 x16 adapter, of which QLogic is the only supplier.

#4: Superior Power Efficiency QLogic InfiniBand HCa

Watts (maximum)

QLE7140 2

QLE7240 5.5

QLE7280 6.5

Competitor quotes “typical” wattage rather than “maximum.” Typical •wattage requirements for QLogic could be considerably less depending on the communications activity at the time of measurement, but no other IB vendor can provide maximum performance within these power envelopes.


#5: Easiest Installation Due to Compliance to Industry Standards

Founding member of the OpenFabrics alliance •

IBTa 1.2 compliance •

Support for GPFS, Lustre, and NFS •

Support for block storage: IB and Fibre Channel •

Support for 10Gb Ethernet gateway •

Support for OFED release as well as all standard OFED transport •protocols

Support for the most common MPI implementations: Platform (Scali), HP, •Intel, QLogic, OpenMPI, MVaPICH, and MPICH2

all fabric switches including QLogic, Voltaire, Cisco, Mellanox, and •Flextronics

Subnet Managers (SMs) from OFED, QLogic, and all proprietary switch •vendors

all IB active and passive copper cabling as well as optical cabling •

#6: QLogic Provides Enhancements to Key Features in OpenFabrics Software

In addition to OFED, QLogic provides the following additional optional •capabilities: QLogic accelerated MPI stack for QLogic MPI, Open MPI, HP-MPI, and Scali MPI; support for IFS; enhanced versions of SrP and VNIC host based utilities


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QLogic TrueScale adapters: 8 reasons to Choose QLogic IB adapters

Category reason Benefit

Enhanced Reliability #7: QLogic is the Only One-Stop Shop for End-to-End IB Networking Products

adapters •

Host software •

Switching fabric •

Ethernet and FC gateways •

Fabric management •

Copper and optical cabling solutions •

Single vendor for increased levels of customer satisfaction and solution •reliability

Highest reliability of supply chain solutions •

#8: Highest Product reliability Backed by 3-Year Warranty

Mellanox offers only 1 year of warranty. •

TrueScale IB adapters have a simplified design requiring less on-board •components.

The combination of an integrated aSIC and a firmware-less architecture •provides minimum hardware related failures.

Higher reliability translates into lower operating expenses over the life of •the product.


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Corporate Headquarters QLogic Corporation 26650 aliso Viejo Parkway aliso Viejo, Ca 92656 949.389.6000 www.qlogic.com

Europe Headquarters QLogic (UK) LTD. Quatro House Lyon Way, Frimley Camberley Surrey, GU16 7Er UK +44 (0) 1276 804 670

© 2008 QLogic Corporation. Specifications are subject to change without notice. all rights reserved worldwide. QLogic, the QLogic logo, and FastFabric are trademarks or registered trademarks of QLogic Corporation. Mellanox and ConnectX are trademarks or registered trademark of Mellanox Technologies, Inc. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Voltaire is a registered trademark of Voltaire, Inc. Cisco is a registered trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. STar-CD is a registered trademark of CD-adapco. FLUENT is a registered trademark of Fluent Inc. LS-DYNa is a registered trademark of Livermore Software Technology Corporation aBaQUS is a registered trademark or trademark of aBaQUS, Inc Eclipse is a trademark of eclipse.org Lustre is a trademark of Cluster File Systems, Inc. in the USa. NFS is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. aMD is a registered trademark of advanced Micro Devices, Inc. InfiniBand is a registered trademark and service mark of the InfiniBand Trade association. all other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information supplied by QLogic Corporation is believed to be accurate and reliable. QLogic Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors in this brochure. QLogic Corporation reserves the right, without notice, to make changes in product design or specifications.

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Disclaimerreasonable efforts have been made to ensure the validity and accuracy of these performance tests. QLogic Corporation is not liable for any error in this published white paper or the results thereof. Variation in results may be a result of change in configuration or in the environment. QLogic specifically disclaims any warranty, expressed or implied, relating to the test results and their accuracy, analysis, completeness or quality.

http://www.qlogic.com/

8 reasons to choose true scale

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