User GuideNIXL Backends

DOCA GPUNetIO

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Overview

The DOCA GPUNetIO backend provides high-performance GPU-to-GPU transfers using GPUDirect Async over the DOCA networking stack on supported NVIDIA SmartNICs.

PropertyValue
Transfer TypeVRAM ↔ DRAM
ProtocolDOCA GPUDirect Async
Best ForUltra-low-latency GPU-to-GPU transfers on DOCA-capable systems

Installation

Prerequisites

The DOCA GPUNetIO backend requires:

  • DOCA SDK — Install from the NVIDIA DOCA SDK page
  • GPUDirect Async-capable hardware — NVIDIA BlueField SmartNICs (DPUs)
  • CUDA Toolkit — Version 11.4 or later

For system configuration and setup details, see the DOCA GPUNetIO Programming Guide.

Configuration

The DOCA GPUNetIO backend has no backend-specific environment variables or build options.

When to Use

  • Ultra-low-latency GPU-to-GPU transfers
  • Deployments with DOCA-capable NVIDIA SmartNICs (BlueField DPUs)
  • Workloads preferring the GPUDirect Async path over UCX RDMA