User Manual

Rev 4.70

Mellanox Technologies

10 Deploying Windows Server 2012 and Above with SMB

Direct

10.1 Overview

The Server Message Block (SMB) protocol is a network file sharing protocol implemented in

Microsoft Windows. The set of message packets that defines a particular version of the protocol

is called a dialect.

The Microsoft SMB protocol is a client-server implementation and consists of a set of data pack-

ets, each containing a request sent by the client or a response sent by the server.

SMB protocol is used on top of the TCP/IP protocol or other network protocols. Using the SMB

protocol allows applications to access files or other resources on a remote server, to read, create,

and update them. In addition, it enables communication with any server program that is set up to

receive an SMB client request.

10.2 Hardware and Software Prerequisites

The following are hardware and software prerequisites:

• Two or more machines running Windows Server 2012 and above

• One or more Mellanox ConnectX®-2, ConnectX®-3, or ConnectX®-3 Pro adapters for

each server

• One or more Mellanox InfiniBand switches

• Two or more QSFP cables required for InfiniBand

10.3 SMB Configuration Verification

10.3.1 Verifying Network Adapter Configuration

Use the following PowerShell cmdlets to verify Network Direct is globally enabled and that you

have NICs with the RDMA capability.

• Run on both the SMB server and the SMB client.

Get-NetOffloadGlobalSetting | Select NetworkDirect

Get-NetAdapterRDMA

Get-NetAdapterHardwareInfo

10.3.2 Verifying SMB Configuration

Use the following PowerShell cmdlets to verify SMB Multichannel is enabled, confirm the

adapters are recognized by SMB and that their RDMA capability is properly identified.

• On the SMB client, run the following PowerShell cmdlets:

Get-SmbClientConfiguration | Select EnableMultichannel

Get-SmbClientNetworkInterface

• On the SMB server, run the following PowerShell cmdlets

Get-SmbServerConfiguration | Select EnableMultichannel