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Emulex VFA5 ML2 Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Adapter for IBM System x 1

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Emulex VFA5 ML2 Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Adapter for

IBM System x

IBM Redbooks Product Guide

The Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapter 5 (VFA5) for IBM® System x® builds on the foundation of previous

generations of Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapters by delivering performance enhancements and new

features that maximize the return on server and storage investments. The Emulex VFA5 delivers a new

set of powerful features and capabilities that are designed for the virtualized enterprise environment,

multi-tenant and single-tenant cloud environments, I/O intensive environments, and converged

infrastructure environments. The adapter is shown in the following figure.

Figure 1. Emulex VFA5 ML2 Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Adapter

Did you know?

The Emulex VFA5 adapter supports two methods to virtualize I/O: IBM Virtual Fabric mode and Switch

Independent mode. With virtual fabric, up to eight virtual network ports (vNICs) can be created with a

single two-port 10 GbE network adapter. Converged protocols iSCSI and FCoE are also supported by the

IBM Features on Demand upgrade. By using a common infrastructure for Ethernet and SAN, and by

virtualizing your network adapter, you can reduce your infrastructure capital expense.

Summary of content (13 pages)

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򔻐򗗠򙳰 ® Emulex VFA5 ML2 Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Adapter for IBM System x IBM Redbooks Product Guide The Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapter 5 (VFA5) for IBM® System x® builds on the foundation of previous generations of Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapters by delivering performance enhancements and new features that maximize the return on server and storage investments.
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Part number information The part numbers to order the adapter are listed in the following table. The FCoE/iSCSI upgrade license is an IBM Features on Demand field upgrade that enables the converged networking capabilities of the adapter. Table 1.
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Table 3. Supported direct-attach cables Supported switches Part number Feature Code Brocade VDX 6730 IBM G8124E, IBM G8264 Juniper EX4500 0.
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 Emulex Virtual Network Acceleration (VNeX) technology support Emulex VNeX supports Microsoft supported network virtualization by using generic routing encapsulation (NVGRE) and VMware-supported virtual extensible LAN (VXLAN). These technologies create more logical LANs for traffic isolation that are needed by cloud architectures. Because these protocols increase the processing burden on the server’s processor, the VFA5 has an offload engine that is designed specifically for processing these tags.
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Ethernet and NIC features            NDIS 5.2, 6.0, and 6.
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Standards supported The following IEEE standards are supported:              802.3-2008 10Gbase Ethernet port 802.1Q vLAN 802.3x Flow Control with pause Frames 802.1 Qbg Edge Virtual Bridging 802.1Qaz Enhanced transmission Selection (ETS) Data Center Bridging Capability (DCBX) 802.1Qbb Priority Flow Control 802.3ad link Aggregation/LACP 802.1AB Link Layer Discovery Protocol 802.3ae (SR Optics) 802.
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Supported servers The Emulex VFA5 ML2 Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Adapter is supported in the IBM System x and iDataPlex® servers that are listed in the following table. Table 4. Server compatibility (Part 1) Part number Description 00D1996 Emulex VFA5 ML2 Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Adapter N N N N N Y N N N N N N N N N N Table 4.
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Modes of operation The Emulex VFA5 ML2 Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Adapter supports two types of virtual NIC (vNIC) operating modes, and a physical NIC (pNIC) operating mode:  IBM Virtual Fabric Mode (also known as vNIC1 mode) works only with an IBM RackSwitch™ G8124E and G8264. In this mode, the Emulex adapter communicates with the IBM switch to obtain vNIC parameters (using DCBX).
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The following table compares the two virtual fabric modes. Table 5. Comparison of virtual fabric modes Function IBM Virtual Fabric Mode Switch Independent Mode Description Intelligence in the IBM Networking OS working with select Emulex adapters. VLAN based. Intelligence in the adapter, independent of the upstream networking device.
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Physical specifications ML2 adapter dimensions (approximate):    Height: 69 mm (2.7 in.) Length: 168 mm (6.6 in.) Width: 17 mm (0.7 in.) Shipping dimensions and weight (approximate):     Height: 189 mm (7.51 in.) Width: 90 mm (3.54 in.) Depth: 38 mm (1.50 in.) Weight: 450 g (0.
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   VMware vSphere 5.0 (ESXi) U2 VMware vSphere 5.1 (ESXi) U1 VMware vSphere 5.5 (ESXi) For the latest information about the specific versions and service packs that are supported, see IBM ServerProven at http://ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/. Not all servers support all operating systems and versions. Related publications For more information, see these resources:  Announcement letter http://ibm.
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Notices This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A. IBM may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in other countries. Consult your local IBM representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBM product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBM product, program, or service may be used.
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This document was created or updated on February 14, 2014. Send us your comments in one of the following ways: Use the online Contact us review form found at: ibm.com/redbooks  Send your comments in an e-mail to: redbook@us.ibm.com  Mail your comments to: IBM Corporation, International Technical Support Organization Dept. HYTD Mail Station P099 2455 South Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12601-5400 U.S.A.  This document is available online at http://www.ibm.com/redbooks/abstracts/tips1142.html .