Rdma between Linux and windows

Hi there,

Yes, Windows and Linux can exchange data using RDMA, but they can’t do it by directly talking to each other’s RDMA APIs.

Windows uses Network Direct and Linux uses verbs, and those are just different programming interfaces. They don’t “speak” to each other. What does match between them is the RDMA hardware and network protocols underneath (like RoCE or InfiniBand). That part is the same on both sides.

So instead of Windows talking “Network Direct” to Linux talking “verbs”, both systems have to use some common protocol or software layer on top of RDMA. Each OS uses its own API under the hood, but the data format and behavior are agreed on.

That’s why things like SMB Direct or some MPI libraries work across Windows and Linux, while a custom app using raw verbs on Linux won’t easily talk to a custom Network Direct app on Windows.

Hope that this helps!