User Manual

Rev 1.4.1-
Mellanox Techologies
9
Glossary
The following is a list of concepts and terms related to InfiniBand in general and to Subnet Manag-
ers in particular. It is included here for ease of reference,
but the main reference remains the
InfiniBand Architecture Specification.
Table 3 - Glossary
Channel Adapter (CA),
Host Channel Adapter
(HCA)
An IB device that terminates an IB link and executes transport functions.
This may be an HCA (Host CA) or a TCA (Target CA).
HCA Card
A network adapter card based on an InfiniBand channel adapter device.
IB Devices
Integrated circuit implementing InfiniBand compliant communication.
IB Cluster/Fabric/
Subnet
A set of IB devices connected by IB cables.
In-Band A term assigned to administration activities traversing
the IB connectivity
only.
LID
An address assigned to a port (data sink or source point) by the Subnet Man-
ager, unique within the subnet, used for directing packets within the subnet.
Local Device/Node/Sys-
tem
The IB Host Channel Adapter (HCA) Car
d installed on the machine running
IBDIAG tools.
Local Port The IB port of the HCA through which IBDIAG tools connect to the IB fab-
ric.
Master Subnet Man-
ager
The Subnet Manager that is authoritative, that has the reference configura-
tion information for the subnet. See Subnet Manager.
Multicast Forward-
ing Tables
A table that exists in every switch providing the list of ports to forward
received multicast packet. The table is organized by MLID.
Network Interface
Card (NIC)
A network adapter card that plugs into the PCI Express slot and provides one
or more ports to an Ethernet network.
Standby Subnet Man-
ager
A Subnet Manager that is currently quiescent, and not in the role of a Master
Subnet Manager, by agency of the master SM. See Subnet Manager.
Subnet Administra-
tor (SA)
An application (normally part of the Subnet Manager) that implements the
interface for querying and manipulating subnet management data.
Subnet Manager (SM)
One of several entities involved in the configuration and control of the sub-
net.
Unicast Linear For-
warding Tables (LFT)
A table that exists in every switch providing the port through which packets
should be sent to each LID.
Virtual Protocol
Interconnet (VPI)
A Mellanox Technologies technology that allows Mellanox channel adapter
devices (ConnectX®) to simultaneously connect to an InfiniBand subnet and
a 10GigE subnet (each subnet connects to one of the adpater ports)
Mellanox Technologies Confidential