Dell-Omnia-Clusters-HPC-AI/docs/control_plane/input_parameters/INFINIBAND_SWITCHES.md

Mellanox InfiniBand Switches

In your HPC cluster, Mellanox InfiniBand switches must be connected using the Fat-Tree topology. In the fat-tree topology, switches in layer 1 are connected through the switches in the upper layer-layer 2. And, all the compute nodes in the cluster such as PowerEdge servers and PowerVault storage devices are connected to switches in layer 1. With this topology in place, we are ensuring that a 1x1 communication path is established between the compute nodes. For more information on the fat-tree topology, see https://community.mellanox.com/s/article/designing-an-hpc-cluster-with-mellanox-infiniband-solutions.

Omnia uses the server-based Subnet Manager (SM) where the SM runs as a Kubernetes pod on the management station. To enable the SM, Omnia configures the required parameters in the opensm.conf file. These parameters can be edited based on the requirement to enable the SM on the Mellanox InfiniBand Switches.

NOTE: Install the InfiniBand hardware drivers by running the command: yum groupinstall "Infiniband Support" -y.

Edit the "input_params" file

Under the control_plane/input_params directory, edit the following files:

1. Edit the following variables in the base_vars.yml file.
   

File name	Variables	Default, choices	Description
base_vars.yml	ib_switch_support	false true	To enable Mellanox InfiniBand switch configuration, set the variable to "true".
	ib_network_nic	ib0	NIC or Ethernet card that must be connected to configure Mellanox InfiniBand switches.
	ib_network_dhcp_start_range, ib_network_dhcp_end_range		DHCP range for the DHCP server to assign IPv4 addresses.

1. Edit the login_vars.yml file to enter the following details:
   a. ib_username and ib_password- username and password for InfiniBand Switches.
   NOTE: Minimum length of the password must be at least eight characters and a maximum of 30 characters. Do not use these characters while entering a password: -, \, "", and \'
   

Configuring the Subnet Manager on the management station

By default, Omnia enables and configures the Subnet Manager with the default attributes.

1. [Optional step] If you want to change the attributes of the Subnet Manager, under control_plane/input_params, edit the opensm.conf file.
   
2. Under control_plane/input_params, the following variables are provided in the ib_vars file.
   

Default configurations are provided for the Mellanox Quantum(TM) HDR InfiniBand Switch, 40 QSFP56 ports switch. The configurations must be changed based on the switch used. Omnia playbooks will work on all switches running MLNX-OS. The interfaces are from ib 1/1 to ib 1/36. For each dict, provide a description and configuration. For more information on the commands, see https://docs.mellanox.com/display/MLNXOSv392302. NOTE: The playbooks will fail if any invalid configurations are entered.

Variables	Default, choices	Description
cache_directory	/var/cache/opensm User-defined directory path	The directory used by opensm to store data during the configuration. Can be set to the default directory or enter a directory path to store data.
log_directory	/var/log User-defined directory path	The directory where temporary files of opensm are stored. Can be set to the default directory or enter a directory path to store temporary files.
mellanox_switch_config		List the configurations for the Mellanox InfiniBand switches.
mellanox_switch_interface_config	By default: Port descriptions are provided. Each interface is set to "no shutdown" state.	Update the individual interfaces of the Mellanox InfiniBand switches.

save_changes_to_startup

• false
• true

Change it to "true" only when you are certain that the updated configurations and commands are valid. WARNING: When set to "true", the startup configuration file is updated. If incorrect configurations or commands are entered, the Mellanox InfiniBand band switches may not operate as expected.

Deploy Omnia Control Plane

Before you configure the Mellanox InfiniBand switches, you must complete the deployment of Omnia control plane. Go to Step 8 in the Steps to install the Omnia Control Plane file to run the ansible-playbook control_plane.yml file.