In libfabric v1.0.0 (i.e., API v1.0), the usnic provider handled
FI_MSG_PREFIX inconsistently between sends and receives. This has
been fixed in libfabric v1.1.0 (i.e., API v1.1): FI_MSG_PREFIX is
handled consistently for both sends and receives.
Run-time detect which libfabric we are running with and adapt behavior
appropriately.
This commit represents the conversion of the usnic BTL from verbs to
libfabric.
For the moment, libfabric is embedded in Open MPI (currently in the
usnic BTL). This is because the libfabric API is still changing, and
also has not yet been released. Ultimately, this embedded copy of
libfabric will likely disappear and the usnic BTL will rely on an
external installation of libfabric.
New configure options:
* --with-libfabric: will cause configure to fail if libfabric support
cannot be built
* --without-libfabric: will prevent libfabric support from being built
* --with-libfabric=DIR: use an external libfabric installation
* --with-libfabric-libdir=LIBDIR: when paired with --with-libfabric=DIR,
use LIBDIR for the libfabric installation library dir
The --with-libnl3[-libdir] arguments are now gone.
structure
This structure member was originally used to specify the remote segment
for an RDMA operation. Since the new btl interface no longer uses
desriptors for RDMA this member no longer has a purpose. In addition
to removing these members the local segment information has been
renamed to des_segments/des_segment_count.
We recognize that this means other users of OPAL will need to "wrap" the opal_process_name_t if they desire to abstract it in some fashion. This is regrettable, and we are looking at possible alternatives that might mitigate that requirement. Meantime, however, we have to put the needs of the OMPI community first, and are taking this step to restore hetero and SPARC support.
WHAT: Open our low-level communication infrastructure by moving all necessary components (btl/rcache/allocator/mpool) down in OPAL
All the components required for inter-process communications are currently deeply integrated in the OMPI layer. Several groups/institutions have express interest in having a more generic communication infrastructure, without all the OMPI layer dependencies. This communication layer should be made available at a different software level, available to all layers in the Open MPI software stack. As an example, our ORTE layer could replace the current OOB and instead use the BTL directly, gaining access to more reactive network interfaces than TCP. Similarly, external software libraries could take advantage of our highly optimized AM (active message) communication layer for their own purpose. UTK with support from Sandia, developped a version of Open MPI where the entire communication infrastucture has been moved down to OPAL (btl/rcache/allocator/mpool). Most of the moved components have been updated to match the new schema, with few exceptions (mainly BTLs where I have no way of compiling/testing them). Thus, the completion of this RFC is tied to being able to completing this move for all BTLs. For this we need help from the rest of the Open MPI community, especially those supporting some of the BTLs. A non-exhaustive list of BTLs that qualify here is: mx, portals4, scif, udapl, ugni, usnic.
This commit was SVN r32317.
