Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters

Virtual Machine Device Queues (VMDq)

VMDqofoadsdata-packetsortingfromthevirtualswitch

in the virtual machine monitor (VMM) vmkernel onto the

network adapter, which reduces processor overhead and

improvesoverallefciency.Datapacketsaresortedbasedon

their MAC addresses, queued up based on destination virtual

machine (VM), and then routed to the appropriate VMs by

the VMM vmkernel virtual switch. A line rate throughput of

9.3 Gbps was seen on a virtualized server as compared to

4.2 Gbps without VMDq.

For more information, see Intel’s

VMDq Web page.

Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV)

The latest Intel® Ethernet server controllers support SR-IOV, a

standard created by the PCI* Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG*).

Intelplayedakeyroleindeningthisspecication.UsingSR-

IOV functionality, Intel Ethernet Server Adapters can partition

a physical port into multiple virtual I/O ports called Virtual

Functions (VFs). Using this mechanism, each virtual I/O port or

VF can behave as a single dedicated port directly assigned to

a VM. For more information, see Intel’s PCI-SIG SR-IOV Primer.

Data Center Bridging (DCB)

DCBenablesbettertrafcprioritizationoverasingle

interface,aswellasanadvancedmeansforshapingtrafc

on the network to decrease congestion. 10GbE with DCB can

also help some low-latency workloads, avoiding the need

to upgrade to a special purpose network to meet latency

requirements, thereby reducing total cost of ownership.

For more information, see Intel’s DCB Web page.

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed

I/O (Intel® VT-d)

Intel VT-d enables the VMM to control how direct memory

remapping (DMA) is processed by I/O devices, so that it can

assignanI/OresourcetoaspecicVM,givingunmodied

guest OSs direct, exclusive access to that resource without

the need for the VMM to emulate device drivers. For more

information, see the Intel® Virtualization Technology for

DirectedI/OArchitectureSpecication.

INTEL TECHNOLOGIES THAT ENABLE NEAR-NATIVE PERFORMANCE

Inavirtualizedenvironment,realizingtheperformancebenetsof10GbErequiresthemeanstomitigatesoftware

overhead. To that end, features of Intel® Virtualization Technology improve networking performance.

Simplify VMware vSphere* 4 Networking with Intel® Ethernet 10 Gigabit Server Adapters