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QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter and CNA for IBM BladeCente

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QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter and CNA for IBM

BladeCenter

IBM Redbooks Product Guide

The QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter and Virtual Fabric CNA for IBM® BladeCenter® are based on

the third-generation QLogic Converged Network Adapter (CNA) 8200 ASIC, which supports simultaneous

LAN (TCP/IP) and SAN (Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), iSCSI) traffic at line-rate, 10 Gbps Ethernet

speed. This convergence of networking traffic can lower data center costs by eliminating the need for

separate LAN and SAN infrastructure. Data centers now need fewer adapters, cables, and switches,

which also means reduced management, power, and cooling costs.

The QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter is shown in the following figure.

Figure 1. QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter for IBM BladeCenter

Did you know

QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters can operate in pNIC mode as regular 10Gb Ethernet adapters, or in

switch-independent vNIC mode (NIC partitioning - NPAR) where they can be divided into up to eight

virtual adapters each (up to four vNICs per physical port).

When QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters operate as CNA, they can concurrently support multiple

protocols, such as running IP, iSCSI, and FCoE on the same port at the same time.

QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters support full hardware offload for IP, FCoE, and iSCSI protocol

processing. This feature frees up the server’s CPU to perform other tasks. Consequently, the server’s

applications can run faster and virtualized servers can support more virtual machines.

Summary of content (15 pages)

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򔻐򗗠򙳰 ® QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter and CNA for IBM BladeCenter IBM Redbooks Product Guide The QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter and Virtual Fabric CNA for IBM® BladeCenter® are based on the third-generation QLogic Converged Network Adapter (CNA) 8200 ASIC, which supports simultaneous LAN (TCP/IP) and SAN (Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), iSCSI) traffic at line-rate, 10 Gbps Ethernet speed.
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Part number information The following table shows the ordering part numbers and feature codes for QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters. Table 1.
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Features The QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters have the following features:  10 Gb converged adapters The QLogic 10 Gb Virtual Fabric CNAs support simultaneous LAN (TCP/IP) and SAN (FCoE, iSCSI) traffic at line-rate, 10 Gbps Ethernet speed. These adapters interface to the host server with a PCIe Gen2 x8 bus, designed to ensure that internal performance bottlenecks do not occur.
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Technical specifications The QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters have the following specifications. Host interface  Operate at full 10 Gbps line rate on both ports.  10 Gbps per-port maximum throughput.  Based on the QLogic 8200 ASIC.  PCI Express 2.0 x8 host interface.  CFFh form factor.  10 Gb ports operating either in a virtual NIC (vNIC) or physical NIC (pNIC) mode:   vNIC mode: Up to eight vNICs (up to four vNICs per one 10 Gb port):  Switch Independent mode of operation.
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 Wake on LAN  Enhanced Ethernet:     Priority-Based Flow Control (802.1Qbb) Enhanced Transmission Selection (802.1Qaz) DCBX Protocol (802.1Qaz) Protocols:         IEEE 802.3ae (10 Gb Ethernet) IEEE 802.3ap (10GBASE-KR) IEEE 802.1Q (VLAN) IEEE 802.3ad (Link Aggregation) IEEE 802.1p (Priority Encoding) IEEE 802.
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Supported servers The QLogic Virtual Fabric Adapters are supported in the BladeCenter servers listed in the following table. Table 2.
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Supported BladeCenter chassis and I /O modules The following table lists the supported chassis and I/O module combinations that the QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters support (in both pNIC and vNIC modes). Table 4.
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In BladeCenter H, the ports of QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters are routed through the midplane to I/O bays 7 and 9 (Figure 2). The BladeCenter HT is similar in that the QLogic VFA card ports are also routed through the midplane to I/O bays 7 and 9. Figure 2. IBM BladeCenter H I/O topology showing the I/O paths from QLogic 10Gb VFA The QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters require I/O modules to be installed in bays 7 and 9 of the BladeCenter H or HT chassis (Table 5). Table 5.
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Supported operating systems The adapters support the following operating systems:                        Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Datacenter x64 Edition Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Datacenter x86 Edition Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Enterprise x64 Edition Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Enterprise x86 Edition Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Web x64 Edition Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server Edition Red Hat Enterpr
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Shipping dimensions and weight (approximate):     Height: 189 mm (7.5 in) Width: 90 mm (3.5 in Depth: 38 mm (1.5 in) Weight: 450 g (1.
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Configuration examples This section illustrates how the QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters and CNAs can be used in 10 Gb Ethernet and converged configurations. 10 Gb Ethernet configuration The QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters can be used in the 10 GbE data center network. In the example below, we use QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapters connected to the IBM Virtual Fabric 10Gb Switch Modules (as shown in the following figure). Figure 3.
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FCoE converged networking The QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric CNAs can be used to deliver the converged data center solution. In the example below, we use QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric CNAs connected to the IBM Virtual Fabric 10Gb Switch Modules, and the IBM switches are connected to the QLogic Virtual Fabric Extension Modules (as shown in Figure 4). QLogic Extension Modules can be connected directly to Fibre Channel storage systems or to FC SAN.
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Related publications For more information, refer to these documents:  Product web page http://ibm.com/systems/bladecenter/hardware/openfabric/ethernet.html  Announcement letter for the QLogic 10Gb Virtual Fabric Adapter and CNA http://ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=dd&subtype=ca&&htmlfid=897/ENUS113-099  IBM System x Configuration and Options Guide http://www.ibm.com/systems/xbc/cog/  IBM ServerProven 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 June 24, 2013. 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/tips1025.html .