Operating system virtualization for host channel adapters
A host information handling system (IHS) provides virtualization of host channel adapters (HCAs). A hypervisor partitions a system memory of the host IHS into multiple logical partitions (LPARs). A particular LPAR includes a single instance of an operating system. The single instance of the operating system includes a common layer that provides virtualization of physical HCAs and sharing of the physical HCAs by multiple virtual HCAs.
1. A host information handling system (IHS), comprising:
a processor;
a system memory coupled to the processor, the system memory being partitioned into a plurality of logical partitions (LPARs) including a particular LPAR, the host IHS including a plurality of physical host channel adapters (HCAs), the system memory being configured to:
provide a single instance of an operating system to the particular LPAR, the single instance of the operating system including a common layer that provides virtualization of the physical HCAs and sharing of the physical HCAs by multiple virtual HCAs.
2. The host IHS of claim 1 , wherein multiple virtual HCAs share a particular physical HCA.
3. The host IHS of claim 1 , wherein the system memory is further configured to:
generate a request, by a user of the particular LPAR, for a physical HCA;
intercept the request by the common layer; and
forward the request, by the common layer, to a virtual HCA that is isolated from other users of the particular LPAR.
4. The host IHS of claim 3 , wherein the user of the particular LPAR is a TCP/IP stack.
5. The host IHS of claim 1 , wherein the common layer provides host channel adapter services.
6. The host IHS of claim 1 , wherein the common layer comprises an RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) layer.
7. The host IHS of claim 1 , wherein the system memory is further configured to:
provide a respective virtual MAC address and global identifier (GID) to each user for each physical HCA of the single logical partition.
8. An computer program product, comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium;
first instructions that partition a memory of a host information handling system (IHS) into a plurality of logical partitions (LPARs) including a particular LPAR, the host IHS including a plurality of physical host channel adapters (HCAs); and
second instructions that provide a single instance of an operating system to the particular LPAR, the single instance of the operating system including a common layer that provides virtualization of the physical HCAs and sharing of the physical HCAs by multiple virtual HCAs,
wherein the first and second instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage medium.
9. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein multiple virtual HCAs share a particular physical HCA.
10. The computer program product of claim 8 , further comprising:
third instructions that generate a request, by a user of the particular LPAR, for a physical HCA;
fourth instructions that instruct the common layer to intercept the request; and
fifth instructions that instruct the common layer to forward the request to a virtual HCA that is isolated from other users of the particular LPAR;
wherein the third, fourth and fifth instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage medium.
11. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the user of the particular LPAR is a TCP/IP stack.
12. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the common layer provides host channel adapter services.
13. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the common layer is an RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) layer.