Intel 10 Gigabit AT Ethernet Server Adapter User Manual

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Product Brief

Intel® 10 Gigabit AT
Server Adapter

Network Connectivity

Intel® 10 Gigabit AT Server Adapter

10 Gigabit BASE-T Ethernet Server Adapters Designed for
Multi-Core Processors and Optimized for Virtualization

10 Gigabit Performance at the
Low Cost of Copper

The Intel® 10 Gigabit AT Ethernet Server

Adapter showcases Intel’s first-generation

standards-based 10BASE-T adapter in a low-

profile PCI Express* form factor. It provides

bandwidth-intensive applications highly

affordable 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) network

performance with cost-effective RJ-45

connections for distances up to 100 meters.

High-speed server connectivity — once

reserved for costly, proprietary technologies

such as High Performance Computing (HPC)

clusters and grid-based computing — can

now be achieved with the standardized

connectivity of the Intel 10 Gigabit AT

Server Adapter. Intel’s adapter also provides

1000BASE-T support for gigabit connections to

legacy switches.

Performance-Enhancing Features
for Multi-Core Environments

When implemented within multi-core processor

environments, the Intel 10 Gigabit AT Server

Adapter offers advanced networking

features for efficient distribution of Ethernet

workloads across CPU cores. Load balancing of

interrupts using MSI-X enables more efficient

response times and application performance.

CPU utilization can be lowered further through

stateless offloads such as TCP segmentation

offload, header replications/splitting, and Direct

Cache Access (DCA).

Next-Generation 10 Gigabit
Performance

10 Gigabit Ethernet has moved past the

early adoption stage and is rapidly becoming

mainstay for backbones within enterprise and

service provider networks. The escalating

deployments of servers with multi-core

processors and demanding applications

such as HPC, database clusters, and video on

demand are driving the need for 10 Gigabit

connections. Based on the Intel® 82598EB 10

Gigabit Ethernet Controller, this next-generation

Intel 10 Gigabit AT Server Adapter is designed

to meet the throughput requirements of

bandwidth-hungry applications.

The Intel 10 Gigabit AT Server Adapter is

optimized for virtualized environments,

supporting multiple queues, alleviating I/O

bottlenecks between virtual machines. Virtual

Machine Device Queue (VMDq) technology

offloads data sorting and data copying from

the Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) software

layer to the hardware, improving overall

throughput and CPU utilization on virtualized

servers. Additionally, the Intel 10 Gigabit AT

Server Adapter enables Intel® I/O Acceleration

Technology1 (Intel® I/OAT) with support for

Intel® QuickData Technology for faster I/O

processing on the new Quad-Core and Dual-

Core Intel® Xeon® processor-based servers.

Conserve valuable PCI Express (PCIe*) server slots while adding

10 Gigabit Ethernet capability with the Intel 10 Gigabit AT

Server Adapter. The dedicated input/output (I/O) bandwidth

of PCIe ensures priority performance on each port — without

bus sharing — for 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, as well as a

low-profile design, which improves server throughput and rack

density at the same time. In addition, eight-lane PCIe enables

maximum bandwidth for fast and efficient data transfer.

Advances for Storage Over Ethernet

The fast growth in storage capacity coupled with server

virtualization has brought the need for Storage Area Network

(SAN) to the forefront. To satisfy this growing demand, Intel 10

Gigabit AT Server Adapters support iSCSI acceleration through

Intel I/OAT and provide advanced features for unified networking.

Fast and reliable networked storage can be achieved via native

iSCSI support with Microsoft, Linux,* and VMware operating

systems as well as support for iSCSI remote boot.

Order Codes

Single unit EXPX9501AT

Companion Products

Consider these Intel® products in your server and network planning:

• Intel® 10 Gigabit Server Adapters for PCI and PCI Express
interfaces

• Intel® PRO/1000 Server Adapters

– Copper or fiber-optic network connectivity, up to four

ports per card

– Solutions for PCI Express, PCI-X,* and PCI interfaces

• Intel® PRO/1000 Desktop Adapters for PCI Express
and PCI interfaces

• Other Intel® PRO Desktop and Server Adapters

• Intel® Xeon® Processors

• Intel® Server Boards

Features Benefits

Intel® 82598EB 10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller

Low-profile

Load balancing on multiple CPUs

Intel® I/OAT

iSCSI remote boot support

MSI-X support

Virtual Machine Device queues (VMDq)

Low latency

Optimized queues: 32 Transmit (Tx) and
64 Receive (Rx) per port

Network packet handling without waiting or buffer overflow

Support for most Network Operating Systems (NOS)

Compatible with x8 and x16 standard and
low-profile PCI Express* slots

Remote management support

RJ-45 connections over category-6A cabling

RoHS-compliant,2 lead-free3 technology

Intel® PROSet Utility for Microsoft Windows*
Device Manager

Intel backing

1

• Industr y-leading, energy-efficient design for next-generation 10 Gigabit performance
and multi-core processors

• Enables higher bandwidth and throughput from standard and low-profile PCIe slots and servers

• Increases performance on multi-processor systems by efficiently balancing network loads across
CPU cores when used with Receive-Side Scaling from Microsoft or Scalable I/O on Linux*

• Accelerates I/O with higher throughput and lower CPU utilization by offloading processing overhead

• Provides centralized Storage Area Network (SAN) management at a lower cost than competing
iSCSI solutions

• Minimizes the overhead of interrupts

• Allows load balancing of interrupt handling between dif ferent cores/CPUs

• Allows the efficient routing of packets to the correct target machine in a virtualized environment
using multiple hardware queues

• Ensures transmit fairness and prevents head- of-line blocking

• Ability to toggle between the interrupt aggregation and non-aggregation mode based on the type
of data being transferred

• Enhances network per formance and reduces CPU utilization in the vir tualized environment

• Reduces I/O overhead on the hypervisor in a virtualized server by performing data sor ting and
coalescing in the network silicon

• Efficient packet prioritization

• Enables widespread deployment

• Allows each PCI Express* slot por t to operate without interfering with the other

• Reduces support cost s with remote management based on industr y-wide standards

• Ensures compatibility with cable lengths up to 100 meters

• Compliant with the European Union directive (effec tive as of July 2006) to reduce the use
of hazardous materials

• Provides point-and-click power over individual adapters, advanced adapter features, connection
teaming, and Vir tual Local Area Network (VLAN) configuration

• Backed by an Intel limited lifetime warranty, 90-day money-back guarantee (U.S. and Canada),
and worldwide suppor t