Sun Microsystems Sun HPC 3.0, Manual

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Supported SCI Network Topologies
A Sun HPC 3.0 cluster can have up to four nodes connected to an SCI-based private
subnet. The nodes may connect to the SCI network through one or two SCI adapter
cards. When each node in the network has two SCI adapter cards, communication
bandwidth can be increased by striping messages across both network interfaces.
Note -
See the Sun HPC ClusterTools 3.0 Adminstrator’s Guide: With LSF or Sun
HPC ClusterTools 3.0 Adminstrator’s Guide: With CRE for additional information
about configuring a Sun HPC cluster to support message striping.
Chapter 2 describes the procedure for connecting the nodes in the various network
topologies described below. Chapter 3 describes the procedure for configuring the
SCI drivers.
Two-Node Networks
Figure 1–2 shows how two nodes in a Sun HPC 3.0 cluster can be connected via an
SCI network. The SCI adapter card in one node is connected directly to an SCI
adapter card in the other node. There is no intervening SCI switch, which is the
usual connection scheme for two-node networks.
If each node has two SCI adapter cards, messages can be striped across the two
network interfaces. This is illustrated in lower schematic in “Connecting SCI Adapter
Cards in a Two-Node Network” on page 12.
Preparing for SCI Installation
3