RDMA Gateway for TCP/IP Legacy Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing high-speed data communication technologies like InfiniBand and RDMA require significant rewriting of legacy systems and infrastructure, making them impractical for multi-tier business environments with complex security and quality of service requirements, as they bypass TCP/IP and reinvent necessary network management and security capabilities.
Innovation Solution
Establishing a transport layer connection using RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) that allows for high-speed, direct memory access communication between systems, enabling legacy systems to utilize RDMA connections transparently by integrating RDMA parameters into the TCP/IP setup process, maintaining active transport layer connections for efficient data exchange.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If InfiniBand or RDMA technologies are implemented, then high-speed data communication is achieved, but legacy systems require significant rewriting and infrastructure changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway as an intermediary component that translates between TCP/IP protocol and InfiniBand/RDMA protocols. This gateway enables legacy TCP/IP applications to communicate over high-speed InfiniBand networks without modification, resolving the contradiction by mediating between the existing legacy systems and the new high-speed infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is segmented into distinct functional components: a TCP/IP stack for legacy compatibility, an InfiniBand/RDMA stack for high-speed communication, and a gateway that bridges them. This segmentation allows each component to operate independently at its optimal protocol, enabling high-speed communication while preserving legacy system integrity.
2Ease of operation
If Sockets Direct Protocol (SDP) is used to bypass TCP/IP, then applications can run unmodified, but network security and quality of service capabilities are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway acts as a mediator that maintains TCP/IP protocol flows between applications and network elements. This allows applications to continue using standard TCP/IP sockets with full security and QoS support, while the gateway translates selected traffic to InfiniBand/RDMA for high-speed transmission, preserving both application compatibility and network security capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway provides multiple functions: it serves as a TCP/IP to InfiniBand translator, maintains TCP/IP protocol support for security and QoS, and enables high-speed RDMA communication. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by combining the benefits of both approaches in a single system.
3Reliability
If TCP/IP protocol stack is used, then network security and quality of service are maintained, but communication speed is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The communication path is segmented into control plane and data plane. The control plane uses TCP/IP for security, QoS, and management functions, while the data plane uses InfiniBand/RDMA for high-speed data transfer. This segmentation allows the system to maintain security capabilities while achieving high communication speeds.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway mediates between TCP/IP and InfiniBand/RDMA protocols, allowing TCP/IP to handle security and QoS while directing data traffic through the high-speed InfiniBand path. This mediation enables the system to simultaneously maintain security capabilities and achieve high communication speeds.
Data Source
AI summary
A transport layer connection is established between a first system and a second system. The establishment of the transport layer connection includes identifying a remote direct memory access (RDMA) connection between the first system and the second system. After establishing to transport layer connection, the first and second systems exchange data using the RDMA connection identified in establishing the transport layer connection.