Q-Logic 8100 SERIES manual QLogic Converged Network Adapter

1–Product Overview QLogic Converged Network Adapter

Because the transmitting Fibre Channel frames require a lossless transport, an Ethernet network that transports FCoE frames must also provide the same lossless characteristics. Priority flow control (PFC) provides these lossless characteristics. PFC is a revised implementation of the IEEE 802.3X Ethernet standard, known as Pause, and is defined by the IEEE 802.1Qbb standard.

QLogic Converged Network Adapter

The second-generation QLogic 8100 Series Converged Network Adapters feature a fully integrated, single ASIC with significant enhancements in performance, power efficiency, and server-platform compatibility. The 8100 Series Adapter combines the functions of a Fibre Channel adapter and a NIC on one PCIe® Gen2 card (Figure 1-2). The 8100 Series Adapter appears to the operating system as two separate adapters.

Figure 1-2. Combined SAN and LAN Function on One Converged Network Adapter

The 8100 Series Adapter boosts system performance with 10Gbps speed and full-hardware offload for FCoE protocol processing. 10Gbps bandwidth eliminates performance bottlenecks in the I/O path with a tenfold data rate improvement over existing 1Gbps Ethernet solutions. Additionally, full-hardware offload for FCoE protocol processing reduces system CPU load for I/O operations, which leads to faster application performance and greater consolidation in virtualized systems.

QLogic Converged Network Adapters can connect a server to a Fibre Channel storage area network through a compatible converged network switch (FCoE switch). QLogic Converged Network Adapters can also connect to a network switch, and perform the functions of a 10Gb NIC.

QLogic offers four 8100 Series models for standard servers. For information about custom adapters for blade servers, see the product documentation.

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