AT-2973SX PCIe x 4 (channels) dual port fiber Gigabit interface card optimized for virtualization Using multi-port cards in virtualized environments critical to the application in order to provide redundancy & data connectivity for the workloads in the virtual machines. Due to specific slot limitations & the need for redundancy/data connectivity, it is usually recommended virtualized servers use at least six Gigabit ports to satisfy the I/O demands. Virtual Machine Device Queues (VMware Direct Path) VMware Direct Path (SR-IOV) reduces I/O overhead on the hypervisor in a virtualized server by performing data sorting & uniting it in the network silicon (this feature requires an O/S that supports VMDq). This technology makes use of multiple queues in the network controller. As data packets enter the card, they are sorted, & packets traveling to the same destination/ virtual machine get grouped together in a single queue. The packets are sent to the hypervisor, which directs them to their respective virtual machines. Taking the strain of packet filtering & sorting from the hypervisor improves overall CPU usage & throughput. The AT-2973SX Gigabit interface card provides enhanced performance with the next generation (VMDq) technology, which
Includes:: features such as loop back (inter-VM communication), priority-weighted bandwidth management, & doubling the number of data queues per port from 4 to 8. It also supports multicast & broadcast data on a virtualized server. Dual Port 1000SX (LC) PCIe x 4 TCP offload engine (TOE) CPU Task Offload VLAN Jumbo Frames (9K) Microsoft Certified Drivers Load Balancing Ro HS Compliant