Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) allows data to move directly from the memory of one computer into that of another without involving either one's operating system. This permits high-throughput, low-latency networking, which is especially useful in massively parallel computer clusters.
RDMA supports zero-copy networking by enabling the network adapter to transfer data directly to or from application memory, eliminating the need to copy data between application memory and the data buffers in the operating system. Such transfers require no work to be done by CPUs, caches, or context switches, and transfers continue in parallel with other system operations. When an application performs an RDMA Read or Write request, the application data is delivered directly to the network, reducing latency and enabling fast message transfer.
RDMA reduces the need for protocol overhead, which can squeeze out the capacity to move data across a network, reducing performance, limiting how fast an application can get the data it needs, and restricting the size and scalability of a cluster.
RDMA’s acceptance is limited by the need to install a different networking infrastructure. New standards enable Ethernet RDMA implementation at the physical layer and TCP/IP as the transport, combining the performance and latency advantages of RDMA with a low-cost, standards-based solution. The RDMA Consortium and the DAT Collaborative[1] have played key roles in the development of RDMA protocols and APIs for consideration by standards groups such as the Internet Engineering Task Force and the Interconnect Software Consortium.[2] Software vendors such as Oracle Corporation support these APIs in their latest products, and network adapters that implement RDMA over Ethernet are being developed.
The most common RDMA implementation is over InfiniBand, which is technologically superior to most alternatives but faces an uncertain commercial future.
Notes
External links
- RDMA Consortium
- A Critique of RDMA for High-Performance Computing