Create a VPC network for RDMA NICs

This page describes how to create a VPC network with an RDMA network profile provided by Google Cloud.

You only need to configure a network profile if you want to run workloads that require RDMA NICs as described in RDMA network profiles. Otherwise, create a regular VPC network without a network profile.

Before you begin

Make sure that you review the supported and unsupported features in VPC networks with an RDMA network profile. If you attempt to configure unsupported features, Google Cloud returns an error.

Create a network with an RDMA network profile

To create a VPC network with an RDMA network profile, do the following.

Console

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the VPC networks page.

    Go to VPC networks

  2. Click Create VPC network.

  3. In the Name field, enter a name for the network.

  4. In the Maximum transmission unit (MTU) field, select 8896.

  5. Select Configure network profile and do the following:

    1. In the Zone field, select the zone of the network profile that you want to use. The VPC network that you create is constrained to this zone, which means that you can only create resources in the network in this zone.
    2. Select the RDMA network profile for the zone that you selected previously, such as europe-west4-b-vpc-falcon or europe-west4-b-vpc-roce.
    3. To view the set of supported features for the network profile that you selected, click Preview network profile features.

  6. In the New subnet section, specify the following configuration parameters for a subnet:

    1. In the Name field, enter a name for the subnet.
    2. In the Region field, select the region in which to create the subnet. This region must correspond to the zone of the network profile that you configured. For example, if you configured a network profile in the europe-west4-b zone (such as europe-west4-b-vpc-roce), then you must create the subnet in the europe-west4 region.

    3. Enter an IPv4 range. This range is the primary IPv4 range for the subnet.

      If you select a range that is not an RFC 1918 address, confirm that the range doesn't conflict with an existing configuration. For more information, see IPv4 subnet ranges.

    4. Click Done.

  7. To add more subnets, click Add subnet and repeat the previous steps. You can also add more subnets to the network after you have created the network.

  8. Click Create.

gcloud

  1. To create the network, use the gcloud compute networks create command and specify the --network-profile flag.

     gcloud compute networks create NETWORK \ --subnet-mode=custom \ --network-profile=NETWORK_PROFILE

    Replace the following:

    • NETWORK: a name for the VPC network

    • NETWORK_PROFILE: the zone-specific name of the network profile, such as europe-west4-b-vpc-falcon or europe-west4-b-vpc-roce.

      RDMA network profiles aren't available in all zones. To view the zone-specific instances of a network profile that are available, follow the instructions to list network profiles.

  2. To add subnets, use the gcloud compute networks subnets create command.

     gcloud compute networks subnets create SUBNET \ --network=NETWORK \ --range=PRIMARY_RANGE \ --region=REGION

    Replace the following:

    • SUBNET: a name for the new subnet
    • NETWORK: the name of the VPC network that contains the new subnet
    • PRIMARY_RANGE: the primary IPv4 range for the new subnet, in CIDR notation. For more information, see IPv4 subnet ranges.
    • REGION: the Google Cloud region in which the new subnet is created. This must correspond to the zone of the network profile that you configured. For example, if you configured a network profile in the europe-west4-b zone (such as europe-west4-b-vpc-roce), then you must create the subnet in the europe-west4 region.

API

  1. To create the network, make a POST request to the networks.insert method and specify the networkProfile property.

     POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/networks { "autoCreateSubnetworks": false, "name": "NETWORK", "networkProfile": "NETWORK_PROFILE" }

    Replace the following:

    • PROJECT_ID: the ID of the project where the VPC network is created
    • NETWORK: a name for the VPC network

    • NETWORK_PROFILE: the zone-specific name of the network profile, such as europe-west4-b-vpc-falcon or europe-west4-b-vpc-roce

      RDMA network profiles aren't available in all zones. To view the zone-specific instances of a network profile that are available, follow the instructions to list network profiles.

  2. To add subnets, make a POST request to the subnetworks.insert method.

     POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/regions/REGION/subnetworks { "ipCidrRange": "IP_RANGE", "network": "NETWORK_URL", "name": "SUBNET" }

    Replace the following:

    • PROJECT_ID: the ID of the project that contains the VPC network to modify
    • REGION: the name of the Google Cloud region where the subnet is added. This region must correspond to the zone of the network profile that you configured. For example, if you configured a network profile in the europe-west4-b zone (such as europe-west4-b-vpc-roce), then you must create the subnet in the europe-west4 region.
    • IP_RANGE: the primary IPv4 address range for the subnet. For more information, see IPv4 subnet ranges.
    • NETWORK_URL: the URL of the VPC network where you're adding the subnet
    • SUBNET: a name for the subnet

What's next