The ICF (Internode Communication Facility) protocol used by PRIMECLUSTER is designed specifically for cluster communications. It is a low-latency protocol that guarantees ordered delivery of messages. Overhead of ICF will be less than TCP/IP. ICF uses the Ethernet protocol or is a service over IP (CF/IP).
Note
Devices that only accept TCP/IP cannot route the ICF protocol when it is configured directly on the Ethernet. In this instance, if you need to use a router, it must be a level-two router.
ICF can only be used in the internal components of CF and cannot be used at the user lever resources. Cluster interconnect protocol (CIP) is used for applications that access the cluster interconnect. CIP provides a standard TCP/IP protocol on the ICF.
