What does RDMA stand for in networking?

RDMA stands for Remote Direct Memory Access. This technology enables data to be transferred between the memory of two computers without the need for the CPU to be involved in the data transfer process. By bypassing the CPU, RDMA can significantly reduce latency and increase throughput for data transfer operations, making it particularly beneficial in high-performance computing and data center environments.

The functionality of RDMA allows for efficient utilization of network resources, as it minimizes overhead and allows for direct memory access over a network connection. This capability is crucial in applications such as high-speed data transfers, real-time processing, and large data set management, where performance and speed are critical.

Understanding RDMA’s role is vital for network engineers and system administrators as it opens up opportunities for optimizing networked systems and for implementing technologies like InfiniBand and RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE), which provide the benefits of RDMA within network infrastructures.