Which infiniband for CFD in 2022? [used]
 

Hey,


I am on the hunt for the best bang for the buck infiniband for a small cluster (<10 nodes) running Fluent and OpenFOAM mostly. Is Mellanox the go-to, what switch should I get, how about cables, and most importantly perhaps - which model/speed?



Also, if you have any suggestions of a good store that sells these refurbished parts within the EU that would be awesome.

I'm no expert, others will have better info than I.
But you will pay an outrageous amount for brand new Infiniband, and you do not need those speeds for a 10 node cluster.
I get old used QDR or FDR stuff off ebay for cheap. Depends on your budget, FDR is faster.
Yes, Mellanox is pretty much the Standard.
I would go with ConnectX-3 or Higher.
Just get the cables with the correct bandwidth rating and end connectors, usually QSFP or QSFP+, but those two are sort of used interchangeably (incorrectly), which is kind of confusing.
Like I said, I'm no expert, others will have better info.

If you get dual port ConnectX-3 cards, you can build your network without a mellanox switch. (I have a switch, but dont like to use it because it has a jet engine in the back.) opensm is really very good at routing traffic.