Intel Virtual Technology for Connectivity

1
Intel® Virtualization Technology requires a computer system with an enabled Intel® processor, BIOS, virtual machine monitor (VMM) and, for some uses, certain platform software enabled for it. Functionality,
performance or other benets will vary depending on hardware and software congurations and may require a BIOS update. Software applications may not be compatible with all operating systems. Please
check with your application vendor.
2
64-bit computing on Intel architecture requires a computer system with a processor, chipset, BIOS, operating system, device drivers and applications enabled for Intel® 64 architecture. Performance will vary
depending on your hardware and software congurations. Consult with your system vendor for more information.
INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH INTEL® PRODUCTS. NO LICENSE, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, BY ESTOPPEL OR OTHERWISE, TO ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
RIGHTS IS GRANTED BY THIS DOCUMENT. EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN INTEL'S TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE FOR SUCH PRODUCTS, INTEL ASSUMES NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER, AND INTEL
DISCLAIMS ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY, RELATING TO SALE AND/OR USE OF INTEL PRODUCTS INCLUDING LIABILITY OR WARRANTIES RELATING TO FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE,
MERCHANTABILITY, OR INFRINGEMENT OF ANY PATENT, COPYRIGHT OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHT. UNLESS OTHERWISE AGREED IN WRITING BY INTEL, THE INTEL PRODUCTS ARE NOT
DESIGNED NOR INTENDED FOR ANY APPLICATION IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF THE INTEL PRODUCT COULD CREATE A SITUATION WHERE PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH MAY OCCUR.
Intel may make changes to specications and product descriptions at any time, without notice. Designers must not rely on the absence or characteristics of any
features or instructions marked "reserved" or "undened." Intel reserves these for future denition and shall have no responsibility whatsoever for conicts or
incompatibilities arising from future changes to them. The information here is subject to change without notice. Do not nalize a design with this information. The
products described in this document may contain design defects or errors known as errata which may cause the product to deviate from published specications.
Current characterized errata are available on request. Contact your local Intel sales ofce or your distributor to obtain the latest specications and before placing
your product order. Copies of documents which have an order number and are referenced in this document, or other Intel literature, may be obtained by calling
1-800-548-4725, or by visiting Intel's Web Site http://www.intel.com/.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
Copyright © 2009 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel. Leap ahead., Intel. Leap ahead. logo, and Itanium are trademarks of
Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
Printed in USA 0609/BY/OCG/HOP/750
Please Recycle
318245-002US
VMDq technology enhances networking performance and reduces
CPU utilization in the virtualized environment. It reduces I/O
overhead on the hypervisor in a virtualized server by performing data
sorting in the network silicon. VMDq technology makes use of the
multiple queues technology in the network device. With VMDq, as
data packets enter the network adapter, they are sorted, and packets
to the same destination get grouped together. The packets are
then sent to the hypervisor, which directs them to their respective
destinations. Relieving the hypervisor of packet ltering improves
overall CPU utilization and throughput levels.
Intel® I/O Acceleration Technology
Intel I/O Acceleration Technology (Intel® I/OAT) is a suite of features
which improves data acceleration across the platform, from I/O
and networking devices to the memory and processors which help
to improve system performance. The different features include
Intel® QuickData Technology, Direct Cache Access (DCA), MSI-X,
low latency interrupts, and Receive Side Coalescing (RSC). Intel
QuickData Technology moves data copy from the CPU to the chipset
and DCA enables the CPU to pre-fetch data, thereby avoiding cache
misses and improving application response times. MSI-X helps in
load-balancing I/O network interrupts, and low latency interrupts
automatically tune interrupt interval times depending on the latency
sensitivity of the data. RSC provides lightweight coalescing of receive
packets, which increases the efciency of the host network stack.
Single Root I/O Virtualization
(SR-IOV) Implementation
Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) is a Peripheral Component
Interconnect Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG) specication. Intel
is actively participating along with other industry leaders within
the PCI-SIG working group to dene new standards for enhancing
virtualization capabilities of I/O devices. SR-IOV provides a standard
mechanism for devices to advertise their ability to be simultane-
ously shared among multiple virtual machines. SR-IOV allows for the
partitioning of a PCI function into many virtual interfaces for the
purpose of sharing the resources of a PCI Express* (PCIe) device in
a virtual environment. Intel plans to support SR-IOV specication in
its networking devices.
Each virtual function can support a unique and separate data
path for I/O-related functions within the PCI Express* hierarchy.
Use of SR-IOV with a networking device, for example, allows the
bandwidth of a single port (function) to be partitioned into smaller
slices that may be allocated to specic virtual machines, or guests,
via a standard interface. A common methodology for conguration
and management is also established to further enhance the
interoperability of various devices in a PCIe hierarchy. Such sharing
of resources can increase the total utilization of any given resource
presented on an SR-IOV capable PCIe device, potentially reducing
the cost of a virtual system.
Faster and more efficient
I/O performance
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Connectivity
(Intel® VT for Connectivity)
Improved CPU Utilization Increased Throughput Lower Latency
Virtual Machine
Device Queues
Improves all three key factors
Virtual Machine
Direct Connect
Future Data Center
• Improved data acceleration across the platform
• Hardware assists in the I/O silicon to improve
data processing
• Continued investment in providing hardware
assists and ofoad technologies to improve
I/O performance