SCI Adapter Cards

Sun HPC 3.0 cluster nodes connect to the SCI network through SCI adapter cards installed in the node's SBus slots. In two-node SCI networks, the SCI adapter cards are ordinarily connected to each other directly, without going through a switch. One possible exception to this switchless approach is discussed in "Connecting SCI Adapter Cards in a Two-Node Network".

In three- and four-node networks, each adapter card is connected to a port in a four-port SCI switch. These two basic SCI network connections schemes are shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1 Basic SCI Network Connection Schemes for Sun HPC 3.0 Clusters