One of the main advantages of RDMA is its outstanding speed when compared with other technologies and protocols for data transfer such as iSCSI (SCSI protocol via TCP), fiber channel (FC) or fiber channel over Ethernet (FCoE). However, the final speed of the data exchange also depends on the RDMA variant. Ethernet and InfiniBand are especially popular, as these enable transfer speeds of 10 to 100 Gigabit per second. This is especially suitable for areas of application that require high computing power, such as distributed databases, big data analyzes or applications in data centers.
However, RDMA also has disadvantages when compared with fiber channels, which are still used by many companies. In order to introduce RDMA, companies must arrange high investments, as the technology requires the acquisition of new hardware and protocol components. The costs of Remote Direct Memory Access are thus considerably higher than those for FC or FCoE. In addition, the speedy data transfer via RDMA only works if all systems are supported by the technology.