Intel Gigabit ET and EF Multi-Port Server Adapters
The Intel® Gigabit ET and EF Multi-Port Server Adapters are Intel’s third generation of PCIe GbE network adapters. Built with the Intel® 82576 Gigabit Ethernet Controller, these new adapters showcase the next evolution in GbE networking features for the enterprise network and data center. These features include support for multi-core processors and optimization for server virtualization.
Optimized for Virtualization
The Intel Gigabit ET and EF Multi-Port Server Adapters showcase
the latest virtualization technology called Intel® Virtualization Technology for Connectivity (Intel® VT for Connectivity). Intel VT for Connectivity is a suite of hardware assists that improve overall system performance by lowering the I/O overhead in a virtualized environment. This optimizes CPU usage, reduces system latency, and improves I/O through-put. Intel VT for Connectivity includes:
the latest virtualization technology called Intel® Virtualization Technology for Connectivity (Intel® VT for Connectivity). Intel VT for Connectivity is a suite of hardware assists that improve overall system performance by lowering the I/O overhead in a virtualized environment. This optimizes CPU usage, reduces system latency, and improves I/O through-put. Intel VT for Connectivity includes:
• Virtual Machine Device Queues (VMDq)
• Intel® I/O Acceleration Technology1 (Intel® I/OAT)
• PCI-SIG Single Root I/O Virtualization (PCI-SIG SR-IOV)
Use of multi-port adapters in a virtualized environment is very important because of the need to provide redundancy and data connectivity for the applications/workloads in the virtual machines. Due to slot limitations and the need for redundancy and data connectivity, it is recommended that a virtualized physical server needs at least six GbE ports to satisfy the I/O requirement demands.
