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7 Author: NetApp and Open Grid Computing
8 Date: February 25, 2008
15 - Check RDMA and NFS Setup
21 This document describes how to install and setup the Linux NFS/RDMA client
24 The NFS/RDMA client was first included in Linux 2.6.24. The NFS/RDMA server
25 was first included in the following release, Linux 2.6.25.
27 In our testing, we have obtained excellent performance results (full 10Gbit
28 wire bandwidth at minimal client CPU) under many workloads. The code passes
29 the full Connectathon test suite and operates over both Infiniband and iWARP
35 If you get stuck, you can ask questions on the
37 nfs-rdma-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
44 These instructions are a step by step guide to building a machine for
47 - Install an RDMA device
49 Any device supported by the drivers in drivers/infiniband/hw is acceptable.
51 Testing has been performed using several Mellanox-based IB cards, the
52 Ammasso AMS1100 iWARP adapter, and the Chelsio cxgb3 iWARP adapter.
54 - Install a Linux distribution and tools
56 The first kernel release to contain both the NFS/RDMA client and server was
57 Linux 2.6.25 Therefore, a distribution compatible with this and subsequent
58 Linux kernel release should be installed.
60 The procedures described in this document have been tested with
61 distributions from Red Hat's Fedora Project (http://fedora.redhat.com/).
63 - Install nfs-utils-1.1.1 or greater on the client
65 An NFS/RDMA mount point can only be obtained by using the mount.nfs
66 command in nfs-utils-1.1.1 or greater. To see which version of mount.nfs
71 If the version is less than 1.1.1 or the command does not exist,
72 then you will need to install the latest version of nfs-utils.
74 Download the latest package from:
76 http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/nfs
78 Uncompress the package and follow the installation instructions.
80 If you will not be using GSS and NFSv4, the installation process
81 can be simplified by disabling these features when running configure:
83 > ./configure --disable-gss --disable-nfsv4
85 For more information on this see the package's README and INSTALL files.
87 After building the nfs-utils package, there will be a mount.nfs binary in
88 the utils/mount directory. This binary can be used to initiate NFS v2, v3,
89 or v4 mounts. To initiate a v4 mount, the binary must be called mount.nfs4.
90 The standard technique is to create a symlink called mount.nfs4 to mount.nfs.
92 NOTE: mount.nfs and therefore nfs-utils-1.1.1 or greater is only needed
93 on the NFS client machine. You do not need this specific version of
94 nfs-utils on the server. Furthermore, only the mount.nfs command from
95 nfs-utils-1.1.1 is needed on the client.
97 - Install a Linux kernel with NFS/RDMA
99 The NFS/RDMA client and server are both included in the mainline Linux
100 kernel version 2.6.25 and later. This and other versions of the 2.6 Linux
101 kernel can be found at:
103 ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/
105 Download the sources and place them in an appropriate location.
107 - Configure the RDMA stack
109 Make sure your kernel configuration has RDMA support enabled. Under
110 Device Drivers -> InfiniBand support, update the kernel configuration
111 to enable InfiniBand support [NOTE: the option name is misleading. Enabling
112 InfiniBand support is required for all RDMA devices (IB, iWARP, etc.)].
114 Enable the appropriate IB HCA support (mlx4, mthca, ehca, ipath, etc.) or
115 iWARP adapter support (amso, cxgb3, etc.).
117 If you are using InfiniBand, be sure to enable IP-over-InfiniBand support.
119 - Configure the NFS client and server
121 Your kernel configuration must also have NFS file system support and/or
122 NFS server support enabled. These and other NFS related configuration
123 options can be found under File Systems -> Network File Systems.
125 - Build, install, reboot
127 The NFS/RDMA code will be enabled automatically if NFS and RDMA
128 are turned on. The NFS/RDMA client and server are configured via the hidden
129 SUNRPC_XPRT_RDMA config option that depends on SUNRPC and INFINIBAND. The
130 value of SUNRPC_XPRT_RDMA will be:
132 - N if either SUNRPC or INFINIBAND are N, in this case the NFS/RDMA client
133 and server will not be built
134 - M if both SUNRPC and INFINIBAND are on (M or Y) and at least one is M,
135 in this case the NFS/RDMA client and server will be built as modules
136 - Y if both SUNRPC and INFINIBAND are Y, in this case the NFS/RDMA client
137 and server will be built into the kernel
139 Therefore, if you have followed the steps above and turned no NFS and RDMA,
140 the NFS/RDMA client and server will be built.
142 Build a new kernel, install it, boot it.
144 Check RDMA and NFS Setup
145 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
147 Before configuring the NFS/RDMA software, it is a good idea to test
148 your new kernel to ensure that the kernel is working correctly.
149 In particular, it is a good idea to verify that the RDMA stack
150 is functioning as expected and standard NFS over TCP/IP and/or UDP/IP
155 If you built the RDMA components as modules, load them at
156 this time. For example, if you are using a Mellanox Tavor/Sinai/Arbel
162 If you are using InfiniBand, make sure there is a Subnet Manager (SM)
163 running on the network. If your IB switch has an embedded SM, you can
164 use it. Otherwise, you will need to run an SM, such as OpenSM, on one
167 If an SM is running on your network, you should see the following:
169 > cat /sys/class/infiniband/driverX/ports/1/state
172 where driverX is mthca0, ipath5, ehca3, etc.
174 To further test the InfiniBand software stack, use IPoIB (this
175 assumes you have two IB hosts named host1 and host2):
177 host1> ifconfig ib0 a.b.c.x
178 host2> ifconfig ib0 a.b.c.y
182 For other device types, follow the appropriate procedures.
186 For the NFS components enabled above (client and/or server),
187 test their functionality over standard Ethernet using TCP/IP or UDP/IP.
192 We recommend that you use two machines, one to act as the client and
193 one to act as the server.
195 One time configuration:
197 - On the server system, configure the /etc/exports file and
198 start the NFS/RDMA server.
200 Exports entries with the following format have been tested:
202 /vol0 10.97.103.47(rw,async) 192.168.0.47(rw,async,insecure,no_root_squash)
204 Here the first IP address is the client's Ethernet address and the second
205 IP address is the clients IPoIB address.
207 Each time a machine boots:
209 - Load and configure the RDMA drivers
211 For InfiniBand using a Mellanox adapter:
215 > ifconfig ib0 a.b.c.d
217 NOTE: use unique addresses for the client and server
219 - Start the NFS server
221 If the NFS/RDMA server was built as a module (CONFIG_SUNRPC_XPRT_RDMA=m in kernel config),
222 load the RDMA transport module:
226 Regardless of how the server was built (module or built-in), start the server:
228 > /etc/init.d/nfs start
234 Instruct the server to listen on the RDMA transport:
236 > echo rdma 2050 > /proc/fs/nfsd/portlist
238 - On the client system
240 If the NFS/RDMA client was built as a module (CONFIG_SUNRPC_XPRT_RDMA=m in kernel config),
241 load the RDMA client module:
243 > modprobe xprtrdma.ko
245 Regardless of how the client was built (module or built-in), issue the mount.nfs command:
247 > /path/to/your/mount.nfs <IPoIB-server-name-or-address>:/<export> /mnt -i -o rdma,port=2050
249 To verify that the mount is using RDMA, run "cat /proc/mounts" and check the
250 "proto" field for the given mount.
252 Congratulations! You're using NFS/RDMA!