	    Open Fabrics Enterprise Distribution (OFED)
	                Version 1.2.5.4
		         Release Notes
			 November 2007


===============================================================================
Table of Contents
===============================================================================
1. Overview, which includes:
	- OFED Distribution Rev 1.2.5 Contents
	- Supported Platforms and Operating Systems
	- Supported HCA and RNIC Adapter Cards and Firmware Versions
	- Tested Switch Platforms
	- Third party Test Packages
	- OFED sources
2. Main Changes From OFED 1.2
3. Fixed Bugs Since OFED 1.2.0
4. Enhancements Since OFED 1.2.5
5. Fixed Bugs Since OFED 1.2.5.2
6. Fixed Bugs and Enhancements Since OFED 1.2.5.3
6. Known Issues


===============================================================================
1. Overview
===============================================================================
These are the release notes of OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution (OFED)
release 1.2.5.4. The OFED software package is composed of several software
modules, and is intended for use on a computer cluster constructed as an
InfiniBand subnet or an iWARP network.

This package is based on OFED 1.2 with the addition of the mlx4 driver that
supports Mellanox Technologies' ConnectX(TM) IB HCA. The addition of mlx4
has led to changes to both the core and the mthca driver.


Note: If you plan to upgrade the OFED package on your cluster, please upgrade
all of its nodes to this new version.

1.1 OFED 1.2.5.4 Contents
-------------------------
The OFED package contains the following components:
 - OpenFabrics core and ULPs:
        - IB HCA drivers (mthca, mlx4, ipath, ehca)
	- iWARP RNIC driver (cxgb3)
        - core
        - Upper Layer Protocols: IPoIB, SDP, SRP Initiator, iSER Host, RDS, 
	  uDAPL and VNIC.
 - OpenFabrics utilities:
        - OpenSM (OSM): InfiniBand Subnet Manager
        - Diagnostic tools
        - Performance tests
 - MPI:
        - OSU MPI stack supporting the InfiniBand and iWARP interface
        - Open MPI stack supporting the InfiniBand and iWARP interface
	- OSU MVAPICH2 stack supporting the InfiniBand and iWARP interface
        - MPI benchmark tests (OSU benchmarks, Intel MPI benchmarks, Presta)
 - Extra packages:
        - open-iscsi: open-iscsi initiator with iSER support
	- ib-bonding: Bonding driver for IPoIB interface
 - Sources of all software modules (under conditions mentioned in the modules'
      LICENSE files)
 - Documentation

Notes:
1. The mlx4 driver is of GA quality.
2. The cxgb3 driver is of Beta quality.
3. The Virtual NIC (VNIC) driver is presented as a technology preview.
4. All other OFED components are of production quality.
5. See release notes for each package in the docs directory.
6. Any Topspin copyright belongs to Cisco Systems, Inc.

1.2 Supported Platforms and Operating Systems
---------------------------------------------
  o   CPU architectures:
	- x86_64
	- x86
	- ppc64
	- ia64
	
  o   Linux Operating Systems:
	- RedHat EL4 up3: 2.6.9-34.ELsmp
	- RedHat EL4 up4: 2.6.9-42.ELsmp
	- RedHat EL4 up5: 2.6.9-55.ELsmp
	- RedHat EL5: 2.6.18-8.el5
	- SLES10: 2.6.16.21-0.8-smp
	- kernel.org: 2.6.20.x and 2.6.22
	- SLES10 SP1: 2.6.16.46-0.12-smp (partially tested)
	
1.3 HCAs and RNICs Supported
----------------------------
This release supports IB HCAs by Mellanox Technologies, Qlogic and IBM as
well as iWARP RNICs by Chelsio Communications.

  o   Mellanox Technologies HCAs (SDR and DDR Modes are Supported):
	- InfiniHost (fw-23108 Rev 3.5.000)c
	- InfiniHost III Ex (MemFree: fw-25218 Rev 5.2.000 
	                     with memory: fw-25208 Rev 4.8.200)
	- InfiniHost III Lx (fw-25204 Rev 1.2.000)
	- ConnectX IB (fw-25408 Rev 2.2.000)

	For official firmware versions please see:
	http://www.mellanox.com/support/firmware_table.php

  o   Qlogic HCAs:
	- QHT6040 (PathScale InfiniPath HT-460)
	- QHT6140 (PathScale InfiniPath HT-465)
	- QLE6140 (PathScale InfiniPath PE-880)

  o   IBM HCAs:
	- GX Dual-port 4x IB HCA 
	- GX Dual-port 12x IB HCA 

  o   Chelsio RNICs:
	- S310/S320 10GbE Storage Accelerators
	- R310E 10GbE iWARP Adapters

1.4 Switches Supported
----------------------
This release was tested with switches and gateways provided by the following
companies:
	- Cisco
	- Voltaire
	- Qlogic
	- Flextronics

1.5 Third Party Packages
------------------------
The following third party packages have been tested with OFED 1.2:
1. Intel MPI, Version 3.0 - Package ID: l_mpi_p_3.0.043
2. HP MPI, Version 2.2.5

1.6 OFED Sources
----------------
All sources are located under git://git.openfabrics.org/
Kernel sources: ofed_1_2/ofed_kernel.git
User level Sources are located in all git trees starting with: ofed_1_2/ 

The kernel sources are based on Linux 2.6.20 mainline kernel. Its patches
are included in the OFED sources directory.
For details see HOWTO.build_ofed.

===============================================================================
2. Main Changes From OFED 1.2
===============================================================================
2.1 Changes in components:
    The following components are different between OFED 1.2 and OFED 1.2.5.4:
    a) User space
    - libmlx4 (new) 
    - mstflint (was enhanced to support ConnectX IB)
    - ofascripts
    - perftest

    b) Kernel
    - Code is based on kernel 2.6.22
    - mthca
    - mlx4_core (new) 
    - mlx4_ib (new)
    - core (verbs provider)

===============================================================================
3. Fixed Bugs Since OFED 1.2.0
===============================================================================
- mad: Fixed the address handle leak in mad_rmpp
- opensm: Now sets the time a packet can live at the Head of Queue (HoQ
  lifetime) of a (switch) port driving a CA port to approximately 1 second.
  In addition, the number of dropped packets due to HoQ lifetime timeout that
  will stall the CA was increased to 7 (instead of 1).
- New MVAPICH package 

For changes in the following components see their respective release notes:
- mlx4 (ConnectX IB driver)
- IPoIB
- RDS
- MVAPICH

===============================================================================
4. Enhancements Since OFED 1.2.5
===============================================================================
- RDS
  o Performance enhancements
- IPoIB
  o Now uses NAPI by default
  o For small received packets, it now allocates an SKB with the right size
    to alleviate accounting on the socket. (The normal SKB size equals 1 MTU.)
  o IPOIB CM - Tx now uses unsignalled QP
- mlx4
  o Supports opening of more resources than the default by increasing command
    timeout for INIT_HCA to 10 seconds
  o Enables changing the default max HCA resource limits using module options.
- PPC64 support
  o Fixed compilation issues on SLES10 SP1

===============================================================================
5. Fixed Bugs Since OFED 1.2.5.2
===============================================================================
- IPOIB: Fixed kernel oops in the unsignalled QP for IPOIB connected mode.

===============================================================================
6. Fixed Bugs and Enhancements Since OFED 1.2.5.3
===============================================================================
- Low level drivers update:
  - cxgb3: Pull in latest fixes.
  - ipath: Pull in latest fixes.
- OSes support:
  - Added support for SLES9 SP4.
  - Added support for RHEL5 up1.
- IPOIB: 
  - removed the usage of unsignalled QP in Tx due to deadlock.
- RDS: 
  - Relax the header consistency check on fragment reassembly


===============================================================================
7. Known Issues
===============================================================================
The following is a list of general limitations and known issues of the various
components of the OFED 1.2 release.

1. When upgrading from an earlier OFED version, the installation script does not
   stop the earlier OFED version prior to uninstalling it. 
   Workaround: Stop the old OFED stack (/etc/init.d/openibd stop) before 
   upgrading to OFED 1.2.5.4.
2. Memory registration by the user is limited according to administrator
   setting. See "Pinning (Locking) User Memory Pages" in OFED_tips.txt for
   system configuration.
3. Fork support from kernel 2.6.12 and above is available provided
   that applications do not use threads. The fork() is supported as long
   as the parent process does not run before the child exits or calls exec().
   The former can be achieved by calling wait(childpid), and the latter can be
   achieved by application specific means.  The Posix system() call is
   supported.
4. The ipath driver is supported only on 64-bit platforms.
5. There are issues using Intel's MPI with the Qlogic card driver that cause
   failures.

Note: See the release notes of each component for additional issues.
