Network-based processing versus host-based processing: Lessons learned

Interconnect technologies play a great role in the efficiency and scalability of high-performance systems. The capability of low latency, high bandwidth, high message rate and low CPU overhead greatly influence application performance and overall system productivity. In the paper we explore two different architectures of high-speed interconnects-offloading interconnects (where the interconnect handles the transport protocol) and onloading interconnects (where the host CPU is responsible for handling the transport protocol. We will demonstrate that offloading solutions are preferred for high-performance systems by presenting several cases of latency, message rate and the ability to support advanced capabilities.