Intel X520 SFP+ Specifications

Intel® Ethernet X520 SFP+
Direct Attach Server Adapter

10 Gigabit Ethernet Dual Port Server Adapter Provides
Ultimate Flexibility and Scalability in Virtual and Unified
Storage Environments

Product Brief

Intel® Ethernet X520
SFP+ Direct Attach
Server Adapter for Dell
PowerEdge Servers

Network Connectivity

Third-party information brought to you courtesy of Dell.

The Intel® Ethernet X520 SFP+ Direct Attach

(DA) Server Adapter for Dell PowerEdge Rack

and Tower servers is one of the most flexible

and scalable Ethernet adapters for today’s

demanding data center environments. Data

center networks are being pushed to their

limits. The escalating deployments of servers

with multi-core processors and demanding

applications such as High Performance

Computing (HPC), database clusters, and video-

on-demand are driving the need for 10 Gigabit

connections. Customers require flexible and

scalable I/O solutions to meet the rigorous

requirements of running mission-critical

applications in virtualized and unified storage

environments.

Designed as a low-cost, low-power adapter, the

Intel Ethernet X520 SFP+ DA Server Adapter

provides direct attach copper twinaxial cable

connections between servers and a top-of-rack

switch. Two ports, coupled with a low-profile

PCI Express* form factor, make this adapter

ideal for slot-constrained environments. Using

direct attach copper cables compliant with the

SFP+ MSA SFF-8431 specification, the Intel

x520 SFP+ DA Server Adapter is well-suited for

customers who require low-cost “in-the-rack”

connections of up to 7 meters between server

and top-of-rack switch.

Powered by Intel’s third-generation 10 GbE

network controller, the Intel® Ethernet 82599

10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller, the X520 server

adapter addresses the demanding needs of

the next-generation data center by providing

unmatched features for virtualization, flexibility

for LAN and SAN networking, and proven,

reliable performance.

Best Choice for Virtualization

The explosive growth in virtualization is

leading to an increasing demand for network

performance. With more Virtual Machines (VMs)

running on each multi-core server, networking

traffic is dramatically increased with each

VM competing for available I/O bandwidth.

Dell’s new Intel Ethernet X520 Server

Adapter addresses networking bottlenecks

in virtualized environments. This new adapter

enables network-intensive applications

to achieve the performance expected in a

virtualized environment.

The Intel Ethernet X520 SFP+ DA Server

Adapter provides the best networking

performance available in the industry, whether

the physical port is configured in an emulation

mode using the virtual switch in the Virtual

Machine Monitor (VMM), or is directly assigned

to a virtual machine. In the emulation mode,

2

Intel’s I/O technology, Virtual Machine Device queues

1

(VMDq)

optimizes network performance by offloading data sorting and

copying from the software Virtual Switch in the VMM to the Intel

Ethernet 82599 10 Gigabit Controller. This configuration is best

suited for a large number of VMs running standard applications

that have limited bandwidth and latency requirements.

For mission-critical applications, where dedicated I/O is required

for maximum network performance, users can assign a dedicated

virtual adapter port to a VM. The Intel Ethernet X520 Server

Adapter provides direct VM connectivity and data protection

across VMs using SR-IOV.

2

SR-IOV technology allows the data

to bypass the software virtual switch and provides near-native

performance. It assigns either physical or virtual I/O ports

to individual VMs directly. This technology is best suited for

applications that demand the highest I/O throughput and lowest

latency performance such as database, storage, financial and

other applications.

The PCI-SIG SR-IOV capability is a mechanism for devices

to advertise their ability to be directly assigned to multiple

virtual machines. This technology allows for the partitioning

of a PCI function into many virtual interfaces for the purpose

of sharing the resources of a PCI Express* (PCIe) device in a

virtual environment. These virtual interfaces are called Virtual

Functions. Each virtual function can support a unique and

separate data path for I/O-related functions within the PCI

Express hierarchy. Use of SR-IOV with a networking device, for

example, allows the bandwidth of a single port (function) to be

partitioned into smaller slices that may be allocated to specific

VMs, or guests, via a standard interface.

The Intel Ethernet X520 Server Adapter delivers the same

functionality and throughput as ten dual-port one-Gigabit

adapters, saving cost, power, and complexity. For more

information on virtualization please go to www.intel.com/go/vtc.

Unified Networking and Storage

The family of Intel Ethernet X520 server adapters lowers your

data center total cost of ownership (TCO) by providing the ability

to route LAN and SAN traffic over a single fabric.

Support for Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)

2

FCoE encapsulates Fiber Channel frames over standard Ethernet

networks, enabling Fiber Channel to take advantage of 10

GbE networks while preserving its native protocol. The X520

server adapter offers FCoE hardware acceleration to provide

performance comparable to FC HBAs. The new server adapters

support Data Center Bridging, also known as Converged

Enhanced Ethernet (CEE), which allows customers to configure

traffic classes and priorities to deliver a lossless Ethernet

fabric. An Intel Ethernet X520 Server Adapter reduces TCO by

eliminating redundant fabrics and saves the cost of expensive FC

HBAs and FC switch ports.

Support for iSCSI

The server adapters provide complete support for proven native

OS and VMM iSCSI initiators as well as iSCSI boot. Historically,

CRC32C computation has degraded system performance, but

now with the CRC instruction set included in the latest Intel®

Xeon® processors, CRC validation is possible with minimal impact

to network throughput while delivering superior data integrity.

The new Intel Ethernet X520 SFP+ DA Server Adapter for Dell

PowerEdge servers does it all: 10 Gigabit LAN, FCoE, and iSCSI;

truly delivering on the promise of unified networking.

Reliable Performance

The X520 server adapter includes a number of advanced

features that allow it to provide industry-leading performance

and reliability.

Security Optimizations

The adapter supports IPsec offload for Microsoft’s Network

Access Protection (NAP), Active Directory,* and future security

capabilities in Windows* 7. An X520 server adapter allows

customers to run a secure network environment without

sacrificing performance.

PCIe v2.0 (5 GT/s)

PCIe v2.0 (5 GT/s) support enables customers to take full

advantage of 10 GbE by providing a maximum of 20 Gbps

bi-directional throughput per port on a single dual port card.

Designed For Multi-core Processors

Support for technologies such as Intel® QuickData, multiple MSI-X

vectors, and Low Latency Interrupts allow the X520 server

adapter to provide high-performance, 10 Gigabit connectivity

in multi-core PowerEdge servers. These technologies distribute

network processing across multiple CPU cores, improving overall

performance.

For today’s demanding virtualized data center environments,
the new X520 server adapter delivers ultimate flexibility and
scalability.