Cisco Systems SFS 7012 manual Subnet Manager, Subnet Management Agents

Chapter

Subnet Manager

Every InfiniBand fabric subnet requires a single active Subnet Manager (SM) to initialize and maintain the subnet. The fabric may also have one or more standby Subnet Managers. One of the standby Subnet Managers can be configured to become the active SM in the event of a failure.

As Figure 1-2shows, InfiniBand-enabled fabrics consist of one or more subnets. Each subnet consists of a number of InfiniBand-capable servers connected to target devices. InfiniBand-capable routers provide connectivity between InfiniBand subnets.

Figure 1-2 Subnet Manager

	InfiniBand
	Subnet Manager
Subnet A	for Subnet A	SFS 7012
	InfiniBand	IB Port
	Subnet Manager
Router	for Subnet B	IB Port
		IB Port
Router
		IB Port
Subnet B		IB Port
		IB Port
InfiniBandHCA		IB Port
Capable Server
		IB Port
InfiniBandHCA
Capable Server

When a network is initially powered up, the Subnet Manager queries the subnet management agents running on the network devices, for information about node/port addressing schemes, routing tables and partitions. From that point on, the Subnet Manager periodically sweeps the network for changes. Once the InfiniBand network is up and running, the InfiniBand General Services Managers (GSMs) begin to interface with General Services Agents (GSAs).

Subnet Management

Subnet Management Agents

A Subnet Management Agent processes management requests from the Subnet Manager. Subnet Management Agents are implemented on all nodes within the InfiniBand fabric. These nodes include IB-capable switches, routers, and channel adapters. Each node implements a Subnet Management Agent. Within the SFS 7012 Switch, a Subnet Management Agent (SMA) is implemented within its firmware.

Cisco SFS 7012 InfiniBand Server Switch Hardware Users Guide

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