QLogic 3200 Series is the Adapter of Choice for Virtualized Environments - Manual (Page 2)

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Introduction
in today’s business environment, enterprises can’t afford to stand still. they
must move at the speed of business to capitalize on opportunities and
remain agile to swiftly respond to competition. it assets must be able to
be deployed in minutes—not months—while still providing a high-quality
experience for users of real-time applications.
One answer to these challenges is 10Gigabit ethernet (10Gbe), which is
rapidly becoming the backbone of enterprise networks. the increased use
of 10Gbe is being driven by the deployment of servers with multi-core
processors and demanding applications, such as virtualization, database
cluster, and video-on-demand. 10Gbe delivers increased performance,
reliability, security, and ease of use in enterprise data centers, including
virtual environments. to ensure the best performance and lowest total
cost of ownership, data center managers need to choose the networking
adapter that can deliver the highest efficiency.
The QLogic Offering
the QLogic 3200 Series intelligent ethernet adapters boast industry-
leading networking performance, with dual-port throughput equaling
approximately 40Gbps. the adapters are designed for use in virtualized
environments, with support for QLogic’s unique NiC Partitioning feature
(NPar). NiC Partitioning allows a user to divide a physical ethernet port
into four virtual ports with flexible, user-defined allocation of 10Gbps
bandwidth. the QLogic 3200 Series intelligent ethernet adapters come in
single- and dual-port models with support for SFP+ direct attach copper
cables and both Sr (short reach) and Lr (long reach) optical transceivers.
QLogic Versus Intel
an intelligent ethernet adapter from QLogic goes beyond the support
offered by the intel X520 Network Server adapter. the QLogic 3200 Series
intelligent ethernet adapter helps businesses accomplish more through
streamlined operations by providing the following capabilities:
• highest application and VM performance by delivering superior
CPU efficiency
• VMflex technology (NiC Partitioning and QoS) to enable flexible bandwidth
allocation, ensure application isolation, and maintain productivity
• Centralized cross-platform, cross-protocol manageability to ease
installation and management
the QLogic 3200 Series intelligent ethernet adapters offer superior
operational efficiencies and simplicity. the adapters reduce costs and
provide the flexibility and performance needed to support critical business
needs, such as virtualization, OS mobility, and more. QLogic delivers a
solution with broad interoperability and maximum connectivity using a
standards-based approach. intel’s approach focuses on keeping network
processing close to the core, supporting the company’s main focus of
selling more processors. QLogic, on the other hand, delivers a solution with
the highest application performance, best server utilization, and easiest
management tools. this leads to the best return on investments made in
your enterprise data center, both now and in the future.
With increased server utilization as a result of virtualization and greater
compute power due to multi-core processors, a larger demand is
being placed on i/O bandwidth capacity. 10Gb ethernet is becoming
the technology of choice for the enterprise data center because it is
cost-effective, increases scalability, and simplifies management. the
QLogic 3200 Series intelligent ethernet adapter provides the highest
performing and most cost-effective solution when transitioning from
Gigabit to 10Gigabit ethernet infrastructures. With unique capabilities,
such as VMflex, the QLogic intelligent ethernet adapter decreases
the number of i/O adapters that are required, reduces CPU overhead, and enables the implementation of Quality of Service (QoS) policies
to improve application performance and simplify management within
next-generation virtualized data centers.
this paper describes why QLogic is the ideal solution for the transition
from 1Gbe to 10Gbe and helps it administrators make an informed
decision when purchasing network adapters.
Executive Summary