Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540-T1

10 Gigabit for the Broad Market

The Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540 is the latest innovation in Intel’s leadership to drive 10 Gigabit Ethernet into the broader server market This adapter hosts Intel’s latest Ether¬net silicon, the Intel8 Ethernet Controller X540, which is used by many OEMs as a single chip solution for LAN on Mother¬board (LOM) to deliver 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) on the latest server platforms.

10GBASE-T Simplifies the Transition to 10 GbE
The Intel X540 family of products works with existing networks today. It works with legacy Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switches and Cat 6A cabling. Install the Intel X540 adapter into a server and the auto-negotiation between 1 GbE and 10 GbE provides the necessary backwards compatibility that most customers require for a smooth transition and easy migration to 10 GbE. When time and budget allows, 10GBASE-T switches can be added any time to experience the full benefits of 10 GbE.

10GBASE-T uses the copper twisted pair cables that are very familiar to IT profes¬sionals today. It is everything you know and love about 1000BASE-T. The knowl¬edge, training and investment in BASE-T are preserved. 10GBASE-T is the easiest and most versatile 10 GbE and you can deploy it anywhere in your data center. Its flexible reach from 1 meter to 100 meters supports the latest network architectures including Top of Rack (ToR), Middle of Row (MoR), and End of Row (EoR).

10G Performance at Low Cost and Low Power
The new Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540 is the lowest cost way to deploy 10 Gb£ in your data center today. The Intel X540 uses low cost, Cat 6 and Cat 6A cabling. Chances are this cabling already exists in the data center.

A way for Intel to reduce cost and power is to integrate components into a single-chip solution. Of course, integration is what Intel does best. With the new Intel X540 Controller, the MAC and the PHY are integrated into a single-chip solution.

So, why is integration important? First, integration translates to lower power. A single-chip solution simply uses less power than two separate components. This means no more active heat sink and reduces the per-port power consumption. Second, integration also means lower cost per port. Manufacturing a single part costs less than two. When cabling is accounted for, cost efficiencies realized from a single part mean 10GBAS6-T is the lowest cost media to deploy.

With lower cost and power, 10GBASE-T is ready for broad deployment. 10GBAS6-T is an option for every rack and tower server in the data center. The wait for a low cost 10 GbE copper solution to broadly deploy 10 GbE to all corners of the data center is over. The new Intel X540 adapter provides bandwidth-intensive applications with highly affordable 10 GbE network performance and cost-effective RJ-45 con¬nectivity for distances up to 100 meters.

Exciting New Data Center Usage Models
More than simply a 10x increase in per¬formance, with 10 Gb£ there are exciting new usage models that are now possible, including Unified Networking (iSCSI, FCoE and LAN), Visualization (VMDq and SR-I0V), and now, Flexible Port Partitioning (FPP).

Flexible I/O Visualization
Virtualization changes the way server resources are deployed and managed by running multiple applications and operat¬ing systems independently on a single server.

The Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540 includes Intel Virtualiza¬tion Technology for connectivity (Intel VT-c) to deliver I/O virtualization and Quality of Service (QoS) features designed directly into the Intel X540 controller on the adapter. Intel I/O virtualization advances network connectivity models used in today’s servers to more efficient models by providing FPP, multiple Rx/Tx queues, and on-controller QoS functional¬ity that can be used in both virtual and non-virtual server deployments.

Flexible Port Partitioning (FPP)
By taking advantage of the PCI-SIG SR-IOV specification, Intel Ethernet products en¬able FPP. With FPP, virtual controllers can be used by the Linux* host directly and/or assigned to virtual machines. FPP allows you to use the functionality of SR-IOV to assign up to 63 processes per port to virtual functions in Linux. This enables an administrator to partition their 10 GbE bandwidth across multiple processes, ensuring a QoS by giving each assigned process equal bandwidth. Network admin¬istrators may also rate-limit each of these services to control how much of the 10 GbE pipe is available to each process.

Unified Networking
Unified Networking solutions on the new Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540 let you combine the traffic of multiple data center networks like LAN and SAN onto a single efficient network fabric. You now have the choice of NFS, iSCSI, or Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) to carry both network and storage traffic at speeds of up to 10 Gbps. The Intel X540 adapter combines support for all of these traffic types in one adapter at no additional cost and with no additional licensing fees for the adapter.

Intel’s Unified Networking solutions are enabled through a combination of standard Intel6 Ethernet products along with trusted network protocols integrated in the operating systems. Thus, Unified Networking is available on every Server either through LAN-on-Motherboard (LOM) implementation or via an add-in Network Interface Card (NIC).

Intel has delivered high quality Ethernet products for over 30 years and our Unified Networking solutions are built on the original principles that made us successful in Ethernet:

• Open Architecture integrates network¬ing with the server, enabling IT managers to reduce complexity and overhead while enabling a flexible and scalable data cen¬ter network.
• Intelligent Offloads lower cost and power while delivering the application performance that customers expect.
• Proven Ethernet Unified Networking is built on trusted Intel Ethernet technol¬ogy, enabling customers to deploy FCoE or iSCSI while maintaining the quality of their traditional Ethernet networks.

iSCSI Simplifies SAN Connectivity
iSCSI uses Ethernet to carry storage traf¬fic, extending the familiarity and simplicity of Ethernet to storage networking, with¬out the need for SAN-specific adapters or switches. Intel5 Ethernet X540 is the easi¬est, most reliable, and most cost-effective way of connecting servers to iSCSI SANs.

Open FCoE Consolidates LANs and Legacy SANs
Intel’s Open FCoE solution enables Intel Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server products (adapters and controllers) to support Fibre Channel payload encapsulated in Ethernet frames. There is no upgrade charge for Open FCoE on the adapter Just as with iSCSI, now customers can easily connect to an FCoE network with Intel 10 GbE solutions.

For the first time, Open-FCoE is now supported on 10GBASE-T.As 10GBASE-T switches come to market enabled with FCoE support, the Intel X540 is ready when you’re ready. This enables you to use cost-effective 10GBASE-T for all your converged networking needs. The Open-FCoE architecture uses a combination of FCoE initiators in Microsoft Windows* and Linux* operating systems and in the VMware* ESXi hypervisor to deliver high-performance FCoE solutions using standard 10 GbE Ethernet adapters.

This approach enables IT managers to
simplify the data center and standardize on a single adapter for LAN and SAN con¬nectivity. The Intel4 Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540 is designed to fully offload the FCoE data path to deliver full-featured converged network adapter (CNA) functionality without compromising on power efficiency and interoperability.

Data Center Bridging (DCB) Delivers Lossless Ethernet
Conventional Ethernet does not guar¬antee successful data delivery, which is not acceptable for SAN traffic. Ethernet enhancements such as Data Center Bridg¬ing (DCB) overcome that limitation with technologies that guarantee lossless deliv¬ery, congestion notification, priority-based flow control, and priority groups.

The combination of 10 GbE and unified networking helps organizations overcome connectivity challenges and simplify the data center infrastructure. 10 GbE pro¬vides a simple, well-understood fabric for virtualized data centers, one that helps reduce cost and complexity as the number of virtual machines continues to grow.