################################################################################ # # # NFS/RDMA README # # # ################################################################################ Author: NetApp and Open Grid Computing Date: February 25, 2008 Table of Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Overview - Getting Help - Installation - Check RDMA and NFS Setup - NFS/RDMA Setup Overview ~~~~~~~~ This document describes how to install and setup the Linux NFS/RDMA client and server software. The NFS/RDMA client was first included in Linux 2.6.24. The NFS/RDMA server was first included in the following release, Linux 2.6.25. In our testing, we have obtained excellent performance results (full 10Gbit wire bandwidth at minimal client CPU) under many workloads. The code passes the full Connectathon test suite and operates over both Infiniband and iWARP RDMA adapters. Getting Help ~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you get stuck, you can ask questions on the nfs-rdma-devel@lists.sourceforge.net mailing list. Installation ~~~~~~~~~~~~ These instructions are a step by step guide to building a machine for use with NFS/RDMA. - Install an RDMA device Any device supported by the drivers in drivers/infiniband/hw is acceptable. Testing has been performed using several Mellanox-based IB cards, the Ammasso AMS1100 iWARP adapter, and the Chelsio cxgb3 iWARP adapter. - Install a Linux distribution and tools The first kernel release to contain both the NFS/RDMA client and server was Linux 2.6.25 Therefore, a distribution compatible with this and subsequent Linux kernel release should be installed. The procedures described in this document have been tested with distributions from Red Hat's Fedora Project (http://fedora.redhat.com/). - Install nfs-utils-1.1.1 or greater on the client An NFS/RDMA mount point can only be obtained by using the mount.nfs command in nfs-utils-1.1.1 or greater. To see which version of mount.nfs you are using, type: > /sbin/mount.nfs -V If the version is less than 1.1.1 or the command does not exist, then you will need to install the latest version of nfs-utils. Download the latest package from: http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/nfs Uncompress the package and follow the installation instructions. If you will not be using GSS and NFSv4, the installation process can be simplified by disabling these features when running configure: > ./configure --disable-gss --disable-nfsv4 For more information on this see the package's README and INSTALL files. After building the nfs-utils package, there will be a mount.nfs binary in the utils/mount directory. This binary can be used to initiate NFS v2, v3, or v4 mounts. To initiate a v4 mount, the binary must be called mount.nfs4. The standard technique is to create a symlink called mount.nfs4 to mount.nfs. NOTE: mount.nfs and therefore nfs-utils-1.1.1 or greater is only needed on the NFS client machine. You do not need this specific version of nfs-utils on the server. Furthermore, only the mount.nfs command from nfs-utils-1.1.1 is needed on the client. - Install a Linux kernel with NFS/RDMA The NFS/RDMA client and server are both included in the mainline Linux kernel version 2.6.25 and later. This and other versions of the 2.6 Linux kernel can be found at: ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ Download the sources and place them in an appropriate location. - Configure the RDMA stack Make sure your kernel configuration has RDMA support enabled. Under Device Drivers -> InfiniBand support, update the kernel configuration to enable InfiniBand support [NOTE: the option name is misleading. Enabling InfiniBand support is required for all RDMA devices (IB, iWARP, etc.)]. Enable the appropriate IB HCA support (mlx4, mthca, ehca, ipath, etc.) or iWARP adapter support (amso, cxgb3, etc.). If you are using InfiniBand, be sure to enable IP-over-InfiniBand support. - Configure the NFS client and server Your kernel configuration must also have NFS file system support and/or NFS server support enabled. These and other NFS related configuration options can be found under File Systems -> Network File Systems. - Build, install, reboot The NFS/RDMA code will be enabled automatically if NFS and RDMA are turned on. The NFS/RDMA client and server are configured via the hidden SUNRPC_XPRT_RDMA config option that depends on SUNRPC and INFINIBAND. The value of SUNRPC_XPRT_RDMA will be: - N if either SUNRPC or INFINIBAND are N, in this case the NFS/RDMA client and server will not be built - M if both SUNRPC and INFINIBAND are on (M or Y) and at least one is M, in this case the NFS/RDMA client and server will be built as modules - Y if both SUNRPC and INFINIBAND are Y, in this case the NFS/RDMA client and server will be built into the kernel Therefore, if you have followed the steps above and turned no NFS and RDMA, the NFS/RDMA client and server will be built. Build a new kernel, install it, boot it. Check RDMA and NFS Setup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before configuring the NFS/RDMA software, it is a good idea to test your new kernel to ensure that the kernel is working correctly. In particular, it is a good idea to verify that the RDMA stack is functioning as expected and standard NFS over TCP/IP and/or UDP/IP is working properly. - Check RDMA Setup If you built the RDMA components as modules, load them at this time. For example, if you are using a Mellanox Tavor/Sinai/Arbel card: > modprobe ib_mthca > modprobe ib_ipoib If you are using InfiniBand, make sure there is a Subnet Manager (SM) running on the network. If your IB switch has an embedded SM, you can use it. Otherwise, you will need to run an SM, such as OpenSM, on one of your end nodes. If an SM is running on your network, you should see the following: > cat /sys/class/infiniband/driverX/ports/1/state 4: ACTIVE where driverX is mthca0, ipath5, ehca3, etc. To further test the InfiniBand software stack, use IPoIB (this assumes you have two IB hosts named host1 and host2): host1> ifconfig ib0 a.b.c.x host2> ifconfig ib0 a.b.c.y host1> ping a.b.c.y host2> ping a.b.c.x For other device types, follow the appropriate procedures. - Check NFS Setup For the NFS components enabled above (client and/or server), test their functionality over standard Ethernet using TCP/IP or UDP/IP. NFS/RDMA Setup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We recommend that you use two machines, one to act as the client and one to act as the server. One time configuration: - On the server system, configure the /etc/exports file and start the NFS/RDMA server. Exports entries with the following format have been tested: /vol0 10.97.103.47(rw,async) 192.168.0.47(rw,async,insecure,no_root_squash) Here the first IP address is the client's Ethernet address and the second IP address is the clients IPoIB address. Each time a machine boots: - Load and configure the RDMA drivers For InfiniBand using a Mellanox adapter: > modprobe ib_mthca > modprobe ib_ipoib > ifconfig ib0 a.b.c.d NOTE: use unique addresses for the client and server - Start the NFS server If the NFS/RDMA server was built as a module (CONFIG_SUNRPC_XPRT_RDMA=m in kernel config), load the RDMA transport module: > modprobe svcrdma Regardless of how the server was built (module or built-in), start the server: > /etc/init.d/nfs start or > service nfs start Instruct the server to listen on the RDMA transport: > echo rdma 2050 > /proc/fs/nfsd/portlist - On the client system If the NFS/RDMA client was built as a module (CONFIG_SUNRPC_XPRT_RDMA=m in kernel config), load the RDMA client module: > modprobe xprtrdma.ko Regardless of how the client was built (module or built-in), issue the mount.nfs command: > /path/to/your/mount.nfs :/ /mnt -i -o rdma,port=2050 To verify that the mount is using RDMA, run "cat /proc/mounts" and check the "proto" field for the given mount. Congratulations! You're using NFS/RDMA!