Intel X540T1BLK User Manual
PRODUCT BRIEF
Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540
Network Connectivity
Intel® Ethernet Converged Network
Adapter X540
10GBASE-T converged network adapter simplies migration to 10 GbE, provides iSCSI, FCoE, Virtualization, and Flexible
Port Partitioning.
Key Features
• Low Cost, Low Power, 10 Gigabit
Ethernet (10GbE) Performance for the
Entire Datacenter
• Standard CAT-6a Cabling with RJ45
Connectors
• Backward Compatibility with Existing
1000BASE-T Networks Simplifies the
Transition to 10GbE
• Flexible I/O virtualization for port
partitioning and quality of service (QoS)
of up to 64 virtual ports
• Unified Networking Delivering LAN, iSCSI,
and FCoE in One Low Cost CNA
• Industry First Dual-Port 10GBASE-T
Adapter with Single-Chip Solution with
Integrated MAC + PHY
• Reliable and proven 10 Gigabit Ethernet
technology from Intel Corporation
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 Intel® Ethernet Controller
X540, which is used by many OEMs as a
single chip solution for LAN on Motherboard (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 benets of 10
GbE.
10GBASE-T uses the copper twisted pair
cables that are very familiar to IT professionals today. It is everything you know
and love about 1000BASE-T. The knowledge, 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
exible 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 GbE 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 efciencies realized from a single
part mean 10GBASE-T is the lowest cost
media to deploy.
With lower cost and power, 10GBASE-T is
ready for broad deployment. 10GBASE-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 connectivity for distances up to 100 meters.
Exciting New Data Center
Usage Models
More than simply a 10x increase in performance, with 10 GbE there are exciting
new usage models that are now possible,
including Unied Networking (iSCSI, FCoE
and LAN), Virtualization (VMDq and SRIOV), and now, Flexible Port Partitioning
(FPP).
Flexible I/O Virtualization
Virtualization changes the way server
resources are deployed and managed by
running multiple applications and operating systems independently on a single
server.
The Intel Ethernet Converged Network
Adapter X540 includes Intel® Virtualization 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 efcient
models by providing FPP, multiple Rx/Tx
queues, and on-controller QoS functionality 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
specication, Intel Ethernet products enable 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 administrators may also rate-limit each of these
services to control how much of the 10
GbE pipe is available to each process.
Unified Networking
Unied Networking solutions on the
new Intel® Ethernet Converged Network
Adapter X540 let you combine the trafc
of multiple data center networks like LAN
and SAN onto a single efcient network
fabric. You now have the choice of NFS,
iSCSI, or Fibre Channel over Ethernet
(FCoE) to carry both network and storage
trafc at speeds of up to 10 Gbps. The
Intel X540 adapter combines support for
all of these trafc types in one adapter at
no additional cost and with no additional
licensing fees for the adapter.
Intel’s Unied Networking solutions
are enabled through a combination of
standard Intel® Ethernet products along
with trusted network protocols integrated
in the operating systems. Thus, Unied
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
Unied 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 technology, 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 trafc, extending the familiarity and simplicity
of Ethernet to storage networking, without the need for SAN-specic adapters or
switches. Intel® 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 rst 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 OpenFCoE 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 connectivity. The Intel® Ethernet Converged
Network Adapter X540 is designed to
fully ofoad the FCoE data path to deliver
full-featured converged network adapter
(CNA) functionality without compromising
on power efciency and interoperability.
Data Center Bridging (DCB)
Delivers Lossless Ethernet
Conventional Ethernet does not guarantee successful data delivery, which is
not acceptable for SAN trafc. Ethernet
enhancements such as Data Center Bridging (DCB) overcome that limitation with
technologies that guarantee lossless delivery, congestion notication, priority-based
ow control, and priority groups.
The combination of 10 GbE and unied
networking helps organizations overcome
connectivity challenges and simplify the
data center infrastructure. 10 GbE provides 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.
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