[Beowulf] 2.6.11 is out; with InfiBand support

[Glen Otero]

Arima and Iwill have mobos with IB LOM (Landed on Motherboard).

Glen

On Mar 2, 2005, at 9:30 AM, Eugen Leitl wrote:

>
> Speaking of InfiniBand, I presume there are still no motherboards with 
> IB
> ports onboard?
>
> http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3485401
>
> February 24, 2005
> Linux Kernel 2.6.11 Supports InfiniBand
> By Sean Michael Kerner
>
> The Linux world is bracing for the final release of the new Linux 
> 2.6.11
> kernel, which will include a long list of driver updates and patches, 
> with
> InfiniBand support perhaps being one of most interesting new additions.
>
> Late last night, Linux creator Linus Torvalds issued the fifth release
> candidate for the 2.6.11 kernel. The first 2.6.11 RC was issued on 
> Jan. 12;
> the second on Jan 21; the third on Feb. 2; and the fourth on Feb. 12.
>
> In the RC5 posting, Torvalds indicated that it was likely the last RC 
> before
> the final release.
>
> "Hey, I hoped -- rc4 was the last one, but we had some laptop resource
> conflicts, various ppc TLB flush issues, some possible stack overflows 
> in
> networking and a number of other details warranting a quick -- rc5 
> before the
> final 2.6.11," Torvalds wrote.
>
> "This time it's really supposed to be a quickie, so people who can, 
> please
> check it out, and we'll make the real 2.6.11 asap."
>
> The long list of updates in the 2.6.11 kernel includes architecture 
> updates
> for x86-64, ia64, ppc, arm and mips, as well as updates to ACPI 
> (define), DRI
> (Direct Rendering Infrastructure, which permits direct access to 
> graphics
> hardware for X Window System users), ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound 
> Architecture,
> which provides MIDI and audio functionality to the Linux), SCSI 
> (define) and
> the XFS high-performance journaling filesystem.
>
> The 2.6.11 kernel will also be significant in that it includes driver 
> support
> for the InfiniBand (define) interconnect architecture. InfiniBand, 
> which is
> derived from its underlying concept of "infinite bandwidth," is a 
> switched
> fabric interconnect technology for high-performance network devices 
> that is
> common in a number of supercomputer clusters.
>
> The upcoming inclusion of InfiniBand support in the Linux kernel is a 
> major
> step according to the InfiniBand Trade Association.
>
> "The inclusion of InfiniBand drivers in the upstream Linux kernel is a
> significant milestone," Ross Schibler, CTO of InfiniBand vendor Topspin
> Communications, told internetnews.com.
>
> InfiniBand support was available previously in various Linux 
> distributions,
> but it wasn't part of the mainstream kernel.org Linux.
>
> "This now means that anyone that downloads a kernel will have automatic
> access to the software," explained Schibler. "It also means that any 
> upcoming
> distributions (Red Hat, SUSE, etc.) will have the software included on 
> their
> CDs. Previously SUSE had it on a distribution, but only in the 
> 'unsupported'
> directory."
>
> Schibler sees the inclusion of InfiniBand as a testament to the 
> maturation of
> the technology.
>
> "Now that the technology has matured to such a point that Linus has 
> accepted
> it into the kernel, the way is paved for greater distribution of the 
> code and
> accelerated deployment of the technology," Schibler said.
>
> The previous Linux kernel.org release, version 2.6.10 was issued on 
> Dec. 24
> after two release candidates. Linux distribution began including the 
> 2.6.10
> thereafter with Red Hat's Fedora Project being one of the first.
>
> Fedora Core 3 initially shipped with the 2.6.9 kernel and then 
> upgraded to
> the 2.6.10 kernel on Jan 13. Mandrakelinux's 10.2 Beta 3 also includes 
> the
> 2.6.10 release. SUSE Linux 9.2 currently includes the 2.6.8 kernel.
>
> Including the most recent kernel into a distribution is not a 
> particularly
> easy task. The upcoming Debian, code-named Sarge, will only ship with 
> the
> 2.6.8 kernel. In a release update e-mail, Debian Sarge release manager
> Andreas Barth related that a meeting was recently held to review the 
> status
> of which kernel they would include.
>
> "The team leads involved eventually decided to stay with kernel 2.6.8 
> and
> 2.4.27, rather than bumping the 2.6 kernel to 2.6.10," Barth wrote. 
> "This
> decision was made upon review of the known bugs in each of the 2.6 
> kernel
> versions; despite some significant bugs in the Debian 2.6.8 kernel 
> tree,
> these bugs were weighed against the additional delays that a kernel 
> version
> bump would introduce in the schedule for debian-installer RC3."
>
> "As it happens, preparing 2.4 and 2.6 kernels with the security fixes 
> for all
> architectures took roughly two months from start to finish, during 
> which time
> preparation of the next debian-installer release candidate has been 
> entirely
> stalled," he added.
>
> -- 
> Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a>
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Glen Otero Ph.D.
Linux Prophet

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