ISCSI TCP/IP TOE card specifications

One means of improving iSCSI traffic performance is to include TOE (TCI/IP Offload Engine) capability on the Ethernet card itself. An iSCSI TOE allows the network adapter to process iSCSI traffic (often all Ethernet LAN traffic) locally -- relieving those burdensome processing tasks from the host server or other computers connected to the LAN. To implement this capability, iSCSI servers must be upgraded with Ethernet NICs that include a TOE chip onboard. Although the selection of iSCSI TOE cards is generally limited to just a few manufacturers, it's important to consider the available ports, host interface, and other card characteristics before making a purchase. The product snapshots in this chapter highlight key specifications for a cross-section of popular iSCSI TOE cards. The following products were selected based on input from industry analysts and SearchStorage.com editors, and specifications are current as of February 2007. The following specifications have been provided by vendors and are periodically updated. Vendors are welcome to submit their updates and new product specifications to [email protected]. Go to the first product snapshot, or select the desired product below: Alacritech; SEN2000 Accelerator card Alacritech; SEN2100 Accelerator card Alacritech; SES2000 Accelerator card Alacritech; SES2100 Accelerator card LeWiz Communications Inc.; Talon 3220 10 Gb Copper TCP/IP Accel. NIC LeWiz Communications Inc.; Magic 2028-4P 1 Gb Copper TCP/IP Accel. NIC QLogic Corp.; QLA4050C/QLA4052C iSCSI HBA Return to the beginning Product Snapshot #1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: Alacritech; SEN2000 Accelerator card Available Ports: 1 or 2 Technology: Both copper and fiber are available Throughput per Channel: 1Gb/port Interface: PCI-X Boot Support: Yes, through PXE with emBoot software Management Tools: Management tools are integrated into Windows as part of the Scalable Networking Pack (SNP) Security Features: Not provided TOE Enhancements: Alacritech's patented Dynamic TCP Offload, the basis for Microsoft Chimney, performs offload on all TCP traffic for faster access to data, networks that can scale to support more clients, and lower overall total cost of ownership on both the IP SAN and the LAN. Operating Systems: All Microsoft Windows operating systems Other Features: 802.3ad network teaming and Jumbo Frame support System Requirements: A compatible PCI-X slot on a system running Microsoft Windows Vendor Comment: The Alacritech TCP offload cards perform acceleration on all TCP based network traffic. This means that file and application servers can support more clients, iSCSI and NAS storage can be accessed with higher throughput, and the overall total cost of ownership can be greatly reduced. Availability: Currently available Base Cost: Models starting at $999.00 USD list price Detailed Specs: http://www.alacritech.com/html/SEN2000_Accelerator.shtml Vendor URL: www.alacritech.com Go to beginning ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product Snapshot #2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: Alacritech; SEN2100 Accelerator card Available Ports: 2 or 4 Technology: Both copper and fiber are available Throughput per Channel: 1Gb/port Interface: 4x PCIe Boot Support: Yes, through PXE with emBoot software Management Tools: Management tools are integrated into Windows as part of the Scalable Networking Pack (SNP) Security Features: Not provided TOE Enhancements: Alacritech's patented Dynamic TCP Offload, the basis for Microsoft Chimney, performs offload on all TCP traffic for faster access to data, networks that can scale to support more clients, and lower overall total cost of ownership on both the IP SAN and the LAN. Operating Systems: All Microsoft Windows operating systems Other Features: 802.3ad network teaming and Jumbo Frame support System Requirements: A compatible PCIe slot on a system running Microsoft Windows Vendor Comment: The Alacritech line of TCP Accelerators can perform offload on all TCP network traffic for improved performance on both the IP SAN and the LAN. This means that file and application servers can scale to support more clients than ever before. Availability: Currently available Base Cost: Models starting at $1,649.00 USD list price Detailed Specs: http://www.alacritech.com/html/SEN2100_Accelerator.shtml Vendor URL: www.alacritech.com Go to beginning ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product Snapshot #3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: Alacritech; SES2000 Accelerator card Available Ports: 1 or 2 Technology: Both copper and fiber are available Throughput per Channel: 1Gb/channel Interface: PCI-X Boot Support: Yes, through PXE with emBoot software Management Tools: Management tools are integrated into Windows as part of the Scalable Networking Pack (SNP) Security Features: Not provided TOE Enhancements: Alacritech's patented Dynamic TCP Offload, the basis for Microsoft Chimney, performs offload on all TCP traffic for faster access to data, networks that can scale to support more clients, and lower overall total cost of ownership on both the IP SAN and the LAN. Operating Systems: All Microsoft Windows operating systems Other Features: 802.3ad network teaming and Jumbo Frame support System Requirements: A compatible PCI-X slot on a system running Microsoft Windows Vendor Comment: The Alacritech line of iSCSI Accelerators perform offload acceleration on iSCSI traffic for the highest possible throughput while allowing the connection of NAS based storage as well. Availability: Currently available Base Cost: Models starting at $599.00 USD list price Detailed Specs: http://www.alacritech.com/html/SES2000_Accelerator.shtml Vendor URL: www.alacritech.com Go to beginning ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product Snapshot #4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: Alacritech; SES2100 Accelerator card Available Ports: 2 or 4 Technology: Both copper and fiber are available Throughput per Channel: 1Gb/port Interface: 4x PCIe Boot Support: Yes, through PXE with emBoot software Management Tools: Management tools are integrated into Windows as part of the Scalable Networking Pack (SNP) Security Features: Not provided TOE Enhancements: Alacritech's patented Dynamic TCP Offload, the basis for Microsoft Chimney, performs offload on all TCP traffic for faster access to data, networks that can scale to support more clients, and lower overall total cost of ownership on both the IP SAN and the LAN. Operating Systems: All Microsoft Windows operating systems Other Features: 802.3ad network teaming and Jumbo Frame support System Requirements: A compatible PCIe slot on a system running Microsoft Windows Vendor Comment: The Alacritech PCIe iSCSI Accelerators allow systems to connect to iSCSI storage with greater redundancy and higher throughput than any iSCSI HBA. Availability: Currently available Base Cost: Models starting at $1,079.00 USD list price Detailed Specs: http://www.alacritech.com/html/SEN2100_Accelerator.shtml Vendor URL: www.alacritech.com Go to beginning ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product Snapshot #5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: LeWiz Communications Inc.; Talon 3220 10 Gb Copper TCP/IP Accelerated NIC Specifications not available at this time. Detailed Specs: http://www.lewiz.com/talon3220.html Vendor URL: www.lewiz.com Go to beginning ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product Snapshot #6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: LeWiz Communications Inc.; Magic 2028-4P 1 Gb Copper TCP/IP Accelerated NIC Specifications not available at this time. Detailed Specs: http://www.lewiz.com/magic2028-4p.html Vendor URL: www.lewiz.com Go to beginning ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product Snapshot #7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: QLogic Corp.; SANBlade (QLA4050C/QLA4052C) iSCSI HBA Available Ports: Up to 2 ports Technology: Copper (QLA4050C/QLA4052C) or Fiber (QLA4050) Throughput per Channel: 1 Gb/channel Interface: PCI-X Boot Support: Intel AMD IA32 and x64 systems, Sun SPARC systems with FCODE Management Tools: SANsurfer device manager utility and CLI Security Features: CHAP User Authentication TOE Enhancements: Full hardware based iSCSI and TCP/IP offload engine provides DAS / FC equivalent predictable host performance for Enterprise storage deployment. Just like storage today, there is no extra CPU processing power required to support iSCSI. Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP, Linux Novell SLES, Linux Red Hat, Solaris x86, Solaris SPARC, ESX3.01 (from VMware), AIX (from IBM) Other Features: iSCSI Data Digests for reliability System Requirements: Not provided Vendor Comment: The QLogic full iSCSI TOE Offload HBA provides the performance, reliability, and management required to deploy SANs over Ethernet. iSCSI HBAs provide true remote storage boot and the ability to manage multiple operating systems with a common utility to reap the full benefits of networked block storage. Availability: Currently available Base Cost: $645.00 USD MSRP Detailed Specs: http://www.qlogic.com/products/iscsi_products_hba.asp Vendor URL: www.qlogic.com Go to beginning -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------