Overview

This chapter takes a top-down approach to developing an application using InfiniBand technology.

The steps to develop an application are:

• Determine the service model(s).

• Select the transport service type.

• Develop a completion handling policy.

• Develop an error handling policy.

• Develop the process flow.

The exact implementation depends on the service functions provided by the operating system (i.e., the channel access layer). Each operating system has its own set of service functions.

The service model defined in the previous chapters is the reference model used throughout this book. The convention for indicating a reference function in this book is Cal.{functionName} where {functionName} identifies the particular function as defined in Table 8.1.

Selecting the Application Model

Typically, an application falls under one or more of the following service models:

• Service Provider. The application creates a service and waits for service requests. As it receives a request, it performs a set of functions associated with the request, and returns information and/or status to the service user (i.e., the entity that sent the service request).

• Service User. The application sends service requests to various service providers and waits for the service provider to return the information and/or status.

• Peer Process. The application spans multiple processes on two or more nodes and uses the same Queue Pair (QP) to send and receive service requests to and from a peer process.

• I/O Driver. A special case where the I/O driver deals with physical memory and relies on the additional services provided...