InfiniBand vs. Ethernet

A Security Showdown for Sovereign AI

Security Model

Centralized

Control is centralized in a single subnet manager, creating a single point of administration and potential failure.

Layered / Distributed

Security is managed across multiple layers (ACLs, firewalls, etc.), offering defense-in-depth but increasing complexity.

Vendor Ecosystem

Vertically Integrated

NVIDIA

Dominated by a single vendor, leading to tight integration but potential for vendor lock-in and limited choice.

Diverse & Open

A wide range of vendors promotes competition, innovation, and interoperability through open standards.

Tenant Isolation

Partition Keys (PKeys)

Metadata Leakage

Uses Partition Keys for isolation, but management traffic (metadata) can sometimes cross tenant boundaries.

VXLAN Tunnels

VXLAN
TUNNEL

Encapsulates traffic in VXLAN tunnels, providing strong, cryptographically verifiable isolation between tenants.

Native Encryption

Not Standard

Lacks a native, standardized link-layer encryption protocol, requiring higher-layer solutions.

MACsec (802.1AE)

MACsec

Includes MACsec as a standard for hop-by-hop encryption, securing data in transit at Layer 2.

Key Risk Factor

Single Point of Failure

The centralized Subnet Manager can become a critical failure point; if it's compromised, the entire fabric is at risk.

Complexity & Deadlocks

Complex configurations can lead to vulnerabilities. Credit-based flow control can sometimes result in network deadlocks.