NVIDIA BlueField Management and Initial Provisioning
NVIDIA BlueField Management and Initial Provisioning

Appendix - BlueField Management in NIC Mode

The following diagram illustrates the architecture and connectivity for managing the BlueField in NIC mode.

image-2024-6-26_12-38-23-1-version-1-modificationdate-1725896358174-api-v2.png

Info

See this page for a detailed description of the interfaces of BlueField-3.

Info

See this page for a detailed description of the interfaces of BlueField-2.

The following table describes the interfaces available to manage the BlueField.

Management Interface

Description

Comment

SMBus (PCIe Golden Fingers)

Enables PLDM/NC-SI over MCTP between the BlueField and the host BMC

Enables the host BMC to monitor and reset the BlueField

PCIe

PCIe interface between the BlueField and host x86 server

Enables the host x86 to update and recover the BlueField using RShim PCIe physical function (PF) when the host is trusted

Info

Unavailable while in zero-trust mode. Use the 1GbE OOB interface instead.

20-pin connector

UART/USB/I2C with DPU BMC

Data ports

Not in use in the recommended approach

The following are recommended approaches for BlueField management in NIC mode:

  • From platform BMC using NCSI over SMBus. This method enables the following capabilities:

    • Monitoring of the BlueField device

    • Reset control of the BlueField device

  • From host x86 during a maintenance window. This method enables the following capabilities:

    • BlueField and upgrade and recovery

      Note

      It is required to enable host PCIe RShim for this maintenance timeslot for upgrade

The following subsections describe the recommended management methods for specific tasks on the BlueField .

BlueField Update and Recovery

The NVIDIA BlueField file format for performing software upgrade is BlueField bootstream (BFB). The BFB serves both as a comprehensive upgrade and recovery solution for the BlueField.

Host PCIe RShim is used to push the BFB to facilitate the upgrade and recovery. Please refer to this page for more information.

Note

After an upgrade/recovery, a system power cycle may be required to apply changes.


BlueField Monitoring

BlueField monitoring may be performed from the platform BMC, using NC-SI over SMBus to obtain the following information:

  • BlueField temperatures (board, DDR, and ports), voltages, and link states

  • BlueField FRU information about NIC firmware, network interfaces, etc.

  • Device sensor data record (SDR), sensor threshold and events, system event logs (SEL), etc.

Request the NVIDIA Specific NC-SI OEM Commands Application Note from your NVIDIA representative for more details.

BlueField and Reset Control

The platform BMC may issue a (soft or hard) reset to the BlueField using NC-SI over SMBus.

Request the NVIDIA Specific NC-SI OEM Commands Application Note from your NVIDIA representative for more details.

© Copyright 2024, NVIDIA. Last updated on Sep 9, 2024.