z/OS V2R1 Communications Server -- along with zEnterprise EC12 and zEnterprise BC12 systems with the 10 GbE RoCE Express feature -- support a new communications protocol called Shared Memory Communications - RDMA (SMC-R), where GbE is Gigabit Ethernet, RMDA is Remote Direct Memory Access, and RoCE is RDMA over Converged Ethernet.
This new protocol is designed to provide highly efficient, low-latency data transfer between z/OS systems over RoCE in a manner transparent to socket applications.
We will discuss the SMC-R protocol, including basic concepts, benefits, and requirements. We will also look at the enhancements to SMC-R in z/OS V2R2, including the ability to share the RoCE adapter, which is introduced on the IBM z13 with z/OS V2R2 CS (or via PTF on z/OS V2R1 CS).