The IB ACM provides information needed to establish a connection, but does not implement the communication management protocol. It provides services similar to rdma_getaddrinfo, rdma_resolve_addr, and rdma_resolve_route using IB multicast. The IB ACM does not require IPoIB or use standard naming services, such as DNS, and limits network communication, especially with the IB SA. The ib_acme utility assists in verifying what options of the ibacm service may be usable for the current fabric topology.
Client interactions with the ibacm service are done over sockets through a standard TCP connection. The librdmacm abstracts this interaction.