Bytedance and Mellanox 

• Introduction
  BlueField's Ethernet SmartNIC solutions combine Arm® processing power with advanced network offloads to accelerate a multitude of security, networking and storage applications.
  Based on the BlueField system-on-chip (SoC) programmable network engine, BlueField SmartNICs integrate Mellanox ConnectX®-5 network controller with Arm multicore processors and cryptology options to deliver an innovative and high-performance programmable platform.
  Through this article you will be able to quickly set up a simple test lab which will allow you to experiment and explore BlueField SmartNIC capabilities. The setup includes a bare metal server hosting BlueField 25GbE SmartNIC connected back-to-back to another bare metal server with ConnectX-5 NIC.

• License

• How to use this document

  • The BlueField SmartNIC installation guide is referring Mellanox Quick Start Guide: BlueField SmartNIC with DPDK Acceleration
  • https://docs.mellanox.com/pages/releaseview.action?pageId=19792124

  • On This Page

    • Introduction
    • Equipment
    • Physical Configuration Diagram
    • Physical Configuration Instructions
    • SmartNIC Server Preparations
    • SmartNIC Management Methods 
    • Basic SmartNIC Management Operations
    • SmartNIC Modes
      • Switching to EMBEDDED Mode from SEPERATED_HOST Mode
      • Switching to SEPERATED_HOST Mode from EMBEDDED Mode
    • Testing Traffic in EMBEDDED Mode using DPDK

• Deployment Architecture

  The following diagram shows the physical configuration between the BlueField SmartNIC and the ConnectX-5 NIC. 

  

• Pre-Installation Requirements

  • Minimum Hardware Requirements

    Qty.	Item	Comments
    2	x86 servers running CentOS 7.5	-
    1	ConnectX-5 NIC (FW: 16.24.0328 and up)	-
    1	BlueField 25GbE SmartNIC with Arm processor (FW: 18.24.1000 and up)	-
    1	25GB/s SFP28 networking cable	-
    1	QSA28 Adapter (100GB-to-25GB Adapter)	-
    1	UART-to-USB cable	For SmartNIC USB console access
    1	Mini USB Type B cable	For SmartNIC USB Console Access
    1	bfb image to be loaded on the BlueField SmartNIC Arm.	Image contains: CentOS 7.5 over Arm architecture MLNX_OFED_LINUX-4.4-2.5.11.0 (compiled with DPDK and BlueField flags) DPDK libraries version 18.11 Pre-configured network settings for easy SmartNIC management

    1. Insert ConnectX-5 NIC into Server A
    2. Insert BlueField SmartNIC into Server B
    3. Connect the SmartNIC UART cable from SmartNIC to its hosting Server B USB port #1
    4. Connect Mini USB cable from SmartNIC to its hosting Server B USB port #2
    5. Insert QSA28 Adapter into Server B 100GB port
    6. Connect one of the SmartNIC ports to the ConnectX-5 using 25GB cable
    7. Connect both servers to a management LAN

  • Recommended Hardware Requirements

• Hardware Requirements

• Software Prerequisites

  • MLNX_OFED

  • Note

    • Use automatic FM update during MLNX_OFED installation ONLY if the current BlueField FW version is 18.24.1000 (GA) or above. In case its older, manually burn the FW after MLNX_OFED installation.
    • In case you plan to run DPDK on the host itself, install MLNX_OFED with "--dpdk --upstream-libs" flags
    • The "bluefield" flag is not required in some of the MLNX_OFED versions and OS releases

•    Installation High-Level Overview

  • SmartNIC Server Preparations

    • Install useful packages:

      yum install -y screen minicom net-tools tcpdump usbutils net-utils sshpass iptables-services fio epel-release iperf wget git unzip perl pciutils lsof tcl libxml2-python tk unbound gtk2 atk cairo gcc-gfortran tcsh nvme-cli

        

    • Install MLNX_OFED with the mentioned flags below.

      tar -xzvf MLNX_OFED_LINUX-4.4-2.5.11.0-rhel7.5-x86_64.tgz cd MLNX_OFED_LINUX-4.4-2.5.11.0-rhel7.5-x86_64 ./mlnxofedinstall --with-nvmf --bluefield --without-fw-update

        

    Note

    • Use automatic FM update during MLNX_OFED installation ONLY if the current BlueField FW version is 18.24.1000 (GA) or above. In case its older, manually burn the FW after MLNX_OFED installation.
    • In case you plan to run DPDK on the host itself, install MLNX_OFED with "--dpdk --upstream-libs" flags
    • The "bluefield" flag is not required in some of the MLNX_OFED versions and OS releases

    
    

    
    

    • Enable SR-IOV on FW (Optional):

      mlxconfig -y -d /dev/mst/mt41682_pciconf0 s SRIOV_EN=1 mlxconfig -y -d /dev/mst/mt41682_pciconf0 s NUM_OF_VFS=8

      
      

    • Uncomment the following line in /etc/modprobe.d/rshim.conf to set the default RShim access method to the SmartNIC:

      options rshim backend_driver=rshim_usb

        

    Note

    • When this line is commented, the first available driver will be used.
    • When the mini USB cable is not used, the driver should be rshim_pcie

    
    

    
    

    • Create a file named ifcfg-tmfifo_net0 under /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ directory, with the following content:

      NAME="tmfifo_net0" HWADDR="00:1a:ca:ff:ff:02" ONBOOT=yes NETBOOT=yes IPV6INIT=yes BOOTPROTO=static TYPE=Ethernet IPADDR=192.168.100.1 NETMASK=255.255.255.0

        

    ifcfg-tmfifo_net0 is the network interface used for IP communication between the x86 host and the SmartNIC with rshim_net driver.

    
    

    • Enable ip forwarding and set a NAT rule to allow the SmartNIC OS to communicate with the outer world via the host management interface:

      sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1 systemctl enable iptables systemctl start iptables iptables -F iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o <host_mgmt_interfac> -j MASQUERADE service iptables save

      
      

    • Disable Firewall and Network Manager services

      systemctl disable firewalld.service systemctl disable NetworkManager

      
      

    • Reboot the server. Once server is up again, run some configuration sanity tests:

    • • To verify BlueField FW version:

        mlxfwmanager --query

        
        

    • •  To verify RShim modules are loaded:

        lsmod | grep -i rshim

        
        

    
    

    • • To identify the backend active RShim driver:

        cat /dev/rshim0/misc

        
        

    • • To verify the NAT rule for SmartNIC communication with the outer world:

        iptables -L -n -t nat

        
        

    • Download the BlueField Quick Start bfb image:  https://mellanox.box.com/s/q44f501xq1e29yb1bjpsb9vzgqs89a76

    • Place the bfb image on the host and load it on the BlueField SmartNIC using the following command:

      cat /home/CentOS7.5ALT-aarch64-QuickStart.bfb > /dev/rshim0/boot

        

    Use one of the console access methods described in the "SmartNIC Management Methods" section below to follow the image installation process.

    When bfb image installation process is completed, connect to the SmartNIC with the console or SSH, as described below, and test connectivity from the SmarNIC OS to the outer world.

    
    SmartNIC Management Methods 

     To manage the SmartNIC from the hosting server, use one of the following methods.

    
    Access Credentials: root\centos

    1. Console over USB-Serial / Serial Port properties: Rate 115200, HW Flow Control OFF.

       minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB0

       
       

    2. Console over USB (rshim_usb) / Serial Port properties: Rate 115200, HW Flow Control OFF

       minicom -D /dev/rshim0/console

       
       

    3. SSH (rshim_net)

       ssh root@192.168.100.2

         

    Note
    SmartNIC OS is configured to obtain internet access via its hosting server.

      

    Basic SmartNIC Management Operations

    How-to soft reset the SmartNIC via host server:

    • Issue the following command on the server:

      echo "SW_RESET 1" > /dev/rshim0/misc

      
      

    • Follow the boot process using console access:

      minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB0

        

    Note

    This is not a power cycle of the SmartNIC.

    
    

      How-to load BlueField SmartNIC OS image from hosting server:

    • Place bfb image on the server

    • Issue the following command on the server:

      cat <image>.bfb > /dev/rshim0/boot

      
      

    
    

    • Follow the installation and boot process using the console access:

      minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB0

        

    SmartNIC Modes

    BlueField SmartNIC can operate in two modes:

    • SEPERATED_HOST (default mode)

    In this mode, both the x86 hosting server and the SmartNIC Arm OS act as separated entities; Both can use and communicate with each other or the network via the ConnectX-5 module of the SmartNIC.

    • EMBEDDED

    In this mode, the x86 hosting server communicates with the outer world only through the SmartNIC Arm.

    
    

    

    Note

    In order to identify the SmartNIC current mode, issue the following commands on the x86 hosting server:

    x86_host#mst start x86_host#mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41682_pciconf0 q | grep -i model

    
    

    Switching to EMBEDDED Mode from SEPERATED_HOST Mode

    On the x86 host:

    • Enable EMBEDDED mode:

      x86_host #mst start x86_host #mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41682_pciconf0 s INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL=1

      
      

    •  Reboot.

    
    

    • Verify:

      x86_host#mst start x86_host#mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41682_pciconf0 q | grep -i model

      
      

    On the Arm:

    • Issue the following commands to enable ECPF parameters (applied per port):

      Note
      The ECPF parameters will be available for setting only after completing the previous steps.

        

      Snic#mst start Snic#mst status -v Snic#mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41682_pciconf0 s ECPF_ESWITCH_MANAGER=1 ECPF_PAGE_SUPPLIER=1 Snic#mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41682_pciconf0.1 s ECPF_ESWITCH_MANAGER=1 ECPF_PAGE_SUPPLIER=1

        

    • Reboot the x86 host.
    • Verify configuration:

      • Once the procedure is completed, issue the following command on both the x86 host and the Arm:

        /opt/mellanox/iproute2/sbin/rdma link

         
        On x86 host: the output should list two net devices.

        1/1: mlx5_0/1: state ACTIVE physical_state LINK_UP netdev ens1f0 2/1: mlx5_1/1: state DOWN physical_state DISABLED netdev ens1f1

         
        On Arm: the output should list four representors:

        1/1: mlx5_0/1: state ACTIVE physical_state LINK_UP netdev rep0-ffff 2/1: mlx5_1/1: state ACTIVE physical_state LINK_UP netdev rep0-0 3/1: mlx5_2/1: state DOWN physical_state DISABLED netdev rep1-ffff 4/1: mlx5_3/1: state DOWN physical_state DISABLED netdev rep1-0

          

    • Issue the following commands on the Arm to see the correlation between PCI device and its representors:

      mst start mst status -v     PCI devices: ------------ DEVICE_TYPE MST PCI RDMA NET NUMA BlueField(rev:0) NA 03:00.1 mlx5_3,mlx5_2 net-eth2,net-rep1-ffff -1 BlueField(rev:0) NA 03:00.0 mlx5_1,mlx5_0 net-rep0-ffff,net-eth1 -1

      
      

    Note
    The rep0-0 / rep1-0 are the representors facing the x86 host and the rep0-ffff / rep1-ffff are the representors facing the network.

    
    

    
    

    Switching to SEPERATED_HOST Mode from EMBEDDED Mode

    On the x86 host:

    • Enable SEPERATED_HOST mode:

      x86_host #mst start x86_host #mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41682_pciconf0 s INTERNAL_CPU_MODEL=0

      
      

    • Reboot.

    • Verify:

      x86_host#mst start x86_host#mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt41682_pciconf0 q | grep -i model

      
      

    Testing Traffic in EMBEDDED Mode using DPDK

    In Embedded mode, traffic from the x86 server hosting the SmartNIC to the remote x86 server hosting the ConnectX-5 is going via the SmartNIC Arm.

    DPDK application is used to forward the traffic and bypass Arm OS kernel. Follow the configuration steps below to test it.

    • On the Arm

      • Stop OVS:

        systemctl stop openvswitch

        
        

    • • Verify hugetlbfs is mounted:

        mount | grep -i hugetlbfs

        if not, mount it:

        mount -t hugetlbfs nodev /dev/hugepages

        
        

    • • Set Hugepages:

        echo 4 > /sys/kernel/mm/hugepages/hugepages-524288kB/nr_hugepages

        
        

    • • Verify hugepages were allocated (look for HugePages_Total and Free):

        cat /proc/meminfo | grep -i huge

        
        

    • • Identify the SmartNIC PCI device ID:

        lspci | grep -i mellanox

        
        

    • • Start testPMD application  while probing the representors  (pci device is 03:00.0):

        cd /usr/bin/ ./testpmd -w 03:00.0,representor=[0,65535] – -i testpmd> start

        
        

    • Set IPs on both x86 host and ConnectX-5 host and test connectivity with ping (it will be forwarded by the Arm DPDK)

    • On the ConnectX-5 external host start iperf server:

      iperf -s

      
      

    • On the x86 host, start iperf client:

      iperf -c 172.16.0.2 -P12

      
      

    • While the test is running, you can check traffic statistics on Arm testPMD:

      testpmd> show port stats all

      
      

• Frequently Asked Questions

• License

• References

• Definitions, acronyms and abbreviations