When we talk about wired networks we now almost exclusively use the standard Ethernet. By using special Ethernet cables (check the category), using compatible devices and checking the distances involved, you can even transfer data up to 10 or 100 Gbps. An ever-increasing number of network devices used in large companies and enterprise environments, it allows you to transfer data beyond the 10 Gbps barrier.
Multigigabit Ethernet networks allow you to move large data while reducing the transfer times: Think about the reality of having to create and restore large backups (e.g. copies of the contents of entire machines), moving high-resolution video, working with virtualization solutions, and so on.
The fact is that some multigigabit networking devices can still be difficult to find and may need major changes in structure of the local network (for example at the level of routers, switches, individual devices and Ethernet cables, for example those previously routed through wall conduits).
What is the relationship between USB4 and Thunderbolt
In another article we talked about the differences between USB ports and cables, providing some suggestions to understand something in the jungle of acronyms, abbreviations and “numbers” used by USB-IF (USB Implementers Forum) to describe each single evolution of the standard.
To date USB4 it is the most recent evolution with USB4 2.0 which represents its most recent “incarnation” (it can transfer up to 80 Gbps bidirectionally and is proposed as an alternative for the not yet presented Thunderbolt 5). Officially announced at the end of August 2019, USB4 can be somewhat considered as the open version of Thunderbolt 3. Yes, because Intel (which designed the Thunderbolt interface with Apple) donated the technology behind Thunderbolt 3 to USB-IF, therefore not requiring the payment of any royalty (as happened in the past).
So USB4 incorporates the Thunderbolt 3 protocol, inheriting many of its advanced features. Among these the possibility of Transfer data up to 40Gbps (bandwidth doubled to 80 Gbps with USB4 2.0).
Both USB4 and Thunderbolt also use the USB-C connector: This allows for greater flexibility and compatibility between devices, as both technologies can be used with the same cables and connectors.
What is a USB4/Thunderbolt full-mesh network
With all this bandwidth available, would you have ever imagined being able to use USB4/Thunderbolt cables to create a real network of devices?
Well yes, it is possible to do it. A rete full-mesh Cable-based USB4 refers to a type of connection in which each device is directly connected to all other devices in the network via USB4 cables.
Fang-Pen Lin, software engineer, explained how he achieved this. This is a contribution that is clearly susceptible to additions and improvements but it clearly demonstrates how the use of cavi USB4/Thunderbolt goes well beyond “standard uses”.
First of all, he says that to reduce the service costs AWS cloud, has decided to move some less critical services to servers on-premises that is, within its local infrastructure. It is possible by creating for example a cluster Kubernetes bare metal and configuring the network correctly.
In his example, Fang-Pen Lin used three high-performance MINIS FORUM UM790 Pro processor-based mini PCs AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS, 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of SSD storage. With the aim of overcoming network limitations Ethernet a 1 Gbpsinvested a few dollars to create a cluster that has the potential to transfer data at up to 40 Gbps.
The interesting part of the engineer’s job is the use of bridge Ethernet USB4 instead of a conventional Ethernet switch and cables. Noting that every mini PC UM790 Pro It is equipped with two USB4 ports, it was enough to use two USB4 USB-C cables and an additional USB4/Thunderbolt cable.
Configuring your Linux and Kubernetes environment
In this post, in the paragraph “Configure the mesh network with NixOS and Systemd“, the configuration used on an instance of NixOS, an immutable Linux distribution, to set up the USB4 full-mesh network and govern the operation of the Kubernetes cluster is described.
In essence, the author describes the configuration of the Thunderbolt network device (Kubernetes cluster) using systemd-udevd then sets up a second system network configuration to specify an IP address and a peer address on the interface.
Using the utility of benchmarking iPerf, the engineer was able to ascertain that the bandwidth actually available on the USB4/Thunderbolt connection is equal to 11 Gbps. It is not known why, at the moment, it is not possible to reach 40 Gbps. Everything points to limitations at the network card level. In any case, the work carried out shows the potential of USB4 for move data at high speed.
The future of USB4/Thunderbolt-based networks and a look back
In the near future, when controllers and high-speed USB/Thunderbolt cables become standard and widely available on the most modern computers, there will be a way to indulge in high-performance, short-range networking applications at very low costs. And in the future we could make one high-speed switches equipped with many USB4 ports and controllers? How much will it cost compared to Ethernet equivalents?
Incidentally, the USB4/Thunderbolt connection mode is really appreciable: it’s the fastest way to move data between 2 modern PCs. The connection is managed in Windows, for example, as an Ethernet port and the transfer speed data can even saturate the performance of an SSD drive. It reminds you of the interface a bit FireWire presented by Apple in 1994 (it never caught on mainly due to the cost): at the time a notebook could become a hard disk esterno large, useful for temporarily saving data or quickly installing the operating system.