Thunderbolt-Ibverbs: InfiniBand for Everyone
The article discusses the development of a Linux kernel module and userspace shim that enables a generic USB4 connection to function as a high-performance InfiniBand device. This setup allows for distributed inference across two mini PCs, achieving significantly higher data transfer rates compared to traditional Ethernet connections. The project highlights the potential of using advanced networking technologies in home computing environments.
- ▪The project utilizes AI-generated code to create a Linux kernel module for InfiniBand functionality.
- ▪It achieves approximately 48 Gb/s in each direction, significantly outperforming standard Ethernet speeds.
- ▪Basic interoperability with Apple's native protocol has been successfully demonstrated.
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thunderbolt-ibverbs: We have InfiniBand at home May 28, 2026 I spent the past few weeks working on this project, I thought it might be interesting to write up a technical report on it, the motivation, the process, learnings, etc. DISCLAIMER: all of the code in this repo (github.com/hellas-ai/thunderbolt-ibverbs) is AI-generated (mostly Codex 5.5 and Opus 4.7) — while I made an effort to understand enough of it to keep it on-track, I almost certainly failed in many instances and I'm sure the code contains many false assumptions, hallucinations and plain stupidity. No warranty or guarantee offered, for research use only, not for human consumption. TL;DR.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Hellas.
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