Qlogic QLE7280 Comparison Chart

Brand: Qlogic

Model: QLE7280

Type: Comparison Chart

This manual is also suitable for

QLE7240

COMPETITIVE BRIEF

QLogic

DDR HCA Advantage

HPC Applications Show Best Performance with QLogic DDR HCAs

Industry Challenges

As high performance computer clusters grow to address

problems of increasing complexity in market segments like

oil and gas, education, and computational fluid dynamics,

the communication requirements between processing nodes

increase dramatically. This increase creates more messaging

traffic, making HCA interconnect performance crucial.

Performance of adapters used in HPC clusters/nodes is measured

by means of five key metrics: point-to-point latency, bandwidth,

and message rate; scalable latency, and scalable message rate.

Adapters that perform well on all of these key metrics allow

processing of designs and simulations in less time, resulting in

optimal efficiency and better profitability for the end user.

QLogic DDR HCA Advantage

Performance that Scales •

QLogic provides the best DDR adapter solution

for MPI based applications. Table 1 compares

key metrics for HCA performance for QLogic and

Mellanox. Note that QLogic has the best message

rate and scalable latency in the industry.

Power Efficiency with Extended Warranty •

QLogic’s HCA simplified design uses less on-board

components and therefore consumes less than

6.0W (typical). QLogic HCAs are backed with a

three-year warranty at no extra charge.

Best Linux Software Support of any HCA •

Driver distribution is part of OFED and is also

included in the Linux

distribution kernel.org.

QLogic provides full software support.

Competitor's Shortfalls

Mellanox’s HCAs Do Not Scale Linearly •

Mellanox and QLogic’s HCA were tested in both medium

and large clusters. Unlike QLE72xx adapters, as processing

nodes were added to the cluster, the message rate for the

Mellanox HCAs did not scale.

Power Hungry Design with Limited Warranty •

The Mellanox HCA adapter uses more components than the

QLogic DDR adapter and consumes almost twice the power

(11.6W). The standard Mellanox warranty is one year.

Limited Real-Time Linux Software Support •

Mellanox software driver bug fixes rely on the support of the

open source community. Fixes are incorporated when OFED

adopts the new software.

Key Metric QLE72x0 DDR

x8 | x16

ConnectX™ DDR

Gen1 | Gen2

Point-to-Point

Bandwidth

1.50 | 1.95 GBps 1.55 | 1.90 GBps

Point-to-Point

Message

Rate

19 | 26

Millions of

Messages per second

8 ppn

6 | 6

Millions of

Messages per second

4 ppn (worse at 8 ppn)

Scalable

Latency

1.3 µs 2.3 µs

Table 1. QLogic vs. Mellanox, Key Metrics

QLogic® DDR HCA Advantage HPC Applications Show Best Performance with QLogic DDR HCAs

COMPETITIVE BRIEF

Corporate Headquarters QLogic Corporation 26650 Aliso Viejo Parkway Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 949.389.6000 www.qlogic.com

Europe Headquarters QLogic (UK) LTD. Quatro House Lyon Way, Frimley Camberley Surrey, GU16 7ER UK +44 (0) 1276 804 670

© 2008 QLogic Corporation. Specifications are subject to change without notice. All rights reserved worldwide. QLogic and the QLogic logo are registered trademarks of QLogic Corporation. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Mellanox is a registered

trademark and ConnectX is a trademark of Mellanox Technologies, Inc All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information supplied by QLogic Corporation is believed to be accurate and reliable. QLogic

Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors in this brochure. QLogic Corporation reserves the right, without notice, to make changes in product design or specifications.

HSG-CB08002 SN0230959-00 A 2