Slidecast: IBTA Releases Updated Specification for RoCEv2

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ibta_logoIn this slidecast, Bill Lee and Mike Jochimsen from the InfiniBand Trade Association describe the new RoCEv2 Specification Release.

RoCEv2 is an extension of the original RoCE specification announced in 2010 that brought the benefits of Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) I/O architecture to Ethernet-based networks. RoCEv2 addresses the needs of today’s evolving enterprise data centers by enabling routing across Layer 3 networks. Extending RoCE to allow Layer 3 routing provides better traffic isolation and enables hyperscale data center deployments.

RDMA has been shown to dramatically improve data center performance and efficiency while reducing total cost of ownership. The original RoCE specification brought the benefits of RDMA to applications in enterprise data centers utilizing Ethernet fabrics. Data centers today are experiencing tremendous growth with many applications running in hyperscale environments over network architectures spanning Layer 3 domains.

Major cloud providers and Web 2.0 companies have converged on RoCE to solve the challenges of running compute intensive applications and processing massive amounts of data in hyperscale networking environments,” said Barry Barnett, co-chair of the InfiniBand Trade Association. “The RoCEv2 standard enables multi-vendor, interoperable solutions delivering RDMA that spans hyperscale network environments. This in turn paves the way for broader adoption within enterprise environments in order to improve infrastructure efficiency and lower total cost of ownership.”

RoCEv2 enables RoCE fabrics to extend beyond a single Layer 2 subnet by supporting routing across Layer 3 networks. The updated specification preserves strict layering, adds standard IP address based routing, and is generated and consumed below the channel interface, or API. RoCEv2 is also transparent to applications and underlying network infrastructures. Additional benefits to the RoCEv2 specification include enabling standard network mechanisms for forwarding, management, monitoring, metering, accounting, firewalling, snooping, and multicast.

Representatives from at least 10 member companies participated in the development of the specification. For more information, or to view the full specification.

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