* IBM brings NetXen technology to its System x servers
NetXen this week revealed that IBM’s new 10 Gigabit Ethernet SR adapter option for its System x servers uses NetXen technology.
The System x servers are aimed at enterprise companies. These are x86-based computers that IBM says are optimized for performance, availability, manageability and scalability. Certainly, putting a 10 Gigabit NIC into the mix ought to clear the way for higher performance and scalability. The System x servers come in rack-mount and tower configurations.
Some NetXen technology was already being used by IBM and HP, as I wrote about a year ago. NetXen and IBM collaborated on a 10 Gigabit Ethernet card for IBM’s BladeCenter H system.
NetXen says its technology is firmware-upgradeable to support offload of TCP/IP, iSCSI and RDMA protocols, and Linux Sockets Acceleration. Such offloading of these duties can improve throughput and reduce utilization of the host CPU, making the overall system faster.
IBM says the multiprotocol offload capabilities are key to enabling more efficient scalability in the data center.
Even today, a 10 Gigabit Ethernet NIC may be overkill, but there could be times when servers could be helped by a burst of speed above 1Gbps. And if performance is what you’re after, naturally you’re going to go for the fastest network technology available for servers today.
The 10 Gigabit Ethernet SR Server Adapter is shipping now from IBM.
NetXen, in Santa Clara, was founded five years ago, and the Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit adapters are its primary focus, across servers, storage, security and networking systems.
