Overview - Intel x520 Dual-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ Adapter for IBM System x

Content

At a glance

The Intel Dual-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ Adapter for IBM System x is powered by an Intel Ethernet 82599 third-generation 10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller. This card offers full line-rate 10 Gigabit Ports performance for High-IO intensive clients, and showcases the next generation in 10 Gigabit Ethernet networking features for the enterprise network and data center.

Overview

The explosive growth in virtualization is leading to an increasing demand for network performance. With more virtual machines (VMs) running on each multicore server, networking traffic is dramatically increased with each VM competing for available I/O bandwidth. Intel's family of Intel Ethernet X520 Adapters addresses networking bottlenecks in virtualized environments. These adapters enable network-intensive applications to achieve the performance expected in a virtualized environment.

The Intel family of Intel Ethernet X520 Adapters provides great networking performance, 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, the Intel I/O technology, Virtual Machine Device Queues (VMDq), I/O technology, Virtual Machine Device Queues (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.

Intel Virtualization Technology for Connectivity (Intel VT for Connectivity) is a suite of hardware assists that improves overall system performance by lowering the I/O impact in a virtualized environment. This improves CPU usage, reduces system latency, and improves I/O throughput. Intel VT for Connectivity includes two major components: Virtual Machine Device Queues (VMDq) and Intel I/O Acceleration Technology (Intel I/OAT).

Support for iSCSI

The server adapters provide complete support for proven native OS and VMM iSCSI initiators and 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.

PCIe v2.0 (5 GT/s)

PCIe v2.0 (5 GT/s) support enables clients to take full advantage of 10 Gigabit Ethernet by providing a maximum of 20 Gigabit Ports bidirectional throughput per port on a single Dual-Port card.

Designed for multicore processors

Support for technologies, such as multiple queues, receive-side scaling, multiple MSI-X vectors, and low-latency interrupts allow the X520 server adapters to provide high-performance, 10-Gigabit connectivity in multi-core server blades. These technologies distribute network processing across multiple CPU cores, improving overall performance.

Warranty

• One year.

Physical specifications

Intel Dual-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ Adapter for IBM System x

Operating environment

• Operating environment: 0 to +55 degrees C
• Storage temperature: 20 to +65 degrees C
• Shipping conditions: 20 to +70 degrees C
• Air flow requirement (LFPM) = 45 minimum
• Wet bulb (max): 27 degrees C

Relative humidity

• Relative humidity (operating/nonoperating): 10% to 90%
• Relative humidity (shipping): 5% to 95% No Condensation
• Relative humidity (storage): 5% to 80%

Other

• Maximum dew point (operating): 21 degrees C
• Maximum operating altitude: 7,000 feet or 2,134 meters
• Vibration and Shock IEC 68, FCC Part 68.302, NSTA, 1A
• Electrostatic/Electromagnetic Susceptibility IEC 801-2,3,4,5

Agency approvals

• EN55022
• EN55024
• EN60950 / CE
• EN 61000-3-2
• EN 61000-3-3
• ICES-003, Issue-004
• IEC 950 CB Scheme
• FCC 47 CFR Part 15 Class A
• UL 1950
• CSA C22.2 950-95
• VCCI
• AS/NZS CISPR 22 / C-tick
• RRL for KC
• BSMI
• UL 94-/V

Product marketing and replacement part numbers (FRU)

Software requirements

The following network operating systems have been tested for compatibility with the Intel x520 Dual-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ Adapter for IBM System x.

• Windows Server 2008 x86 (All versions)
• Windows Server 2008 x64 (All versions)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 (All versions)
• Windows PE 3.1 and 2.1 x86 / x64
• RHEL5 for x86, x64
• RHEL6 for x86, x64
• SLES10 for x86, x64
• SLES11 for x86, x64

Compatibility

• Support for popular network operating systems.
• ServerProven testing, which verifies servers and the Ethernet adapters will function properly.

Limitations

• None.