Introduction; Benefits - NETGEAR GA 620 Reference Manual

GA620/620T.Manual.R2 6/12/00
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on your purchase of the NETGEAR
Model GA620T Gigabit Ethernet Card. Designed especially for high-performance
systems, such as servers and high-end workstations, the Model GA620 and Model
GA620T Gigabit Ethernet Cards offer 2 gigabits per second (Gbps) of aggregate
bandwidth and optimize performance while minimizing network overhead on the host
system.This guide describes the installation and use of the Model GA620 or Model
GA620T Gigabit Ethernet Card for operation in a Microsoft
Windows 2000
This chapter provides information about the features of the Model GA620 and
Model GA620T Gigabit Ethernet Cards.The Model GA620 and Model GA620T
Gigabit Ethernet Cards connect your PCI-compliant server or workstation to
a Gigabit Ethernet network, incorporating a new technology that transfers data
at a rate of 1 Gbps or 1000 megabits per second (Mbps), which is 100 times the
rate of Ethernet.

Benefits

Performance is optimized and network overhead on the host system is minimized with
the use of the Model GA620 and Model GA620T Gigabit Ethernet Cards.These
devices introduce CruiseControl, a NETGEAR feature that uses a set of functions to
offload the host PC by providing interrupt coalescing and zero host copy.
With interrupt coalescing, the Model GA620 and Model GA620T Gigabit Ethernet
Cards provide adaptive host interrupt frequency based on traffic load. In light traffic,
they interrupt the host as soon as a packet arrives in order to minimize latency. In
heavy traffic, the cards optimize host efficiency by coalescing interrupts—receiving
back-to-back packets and issuing a single interrupt only when buffer space is low or
its timer has expired. In this way, interrupt coalescing eliminates unnecessary inter-
rupts, maximizing cycles for applications.
The Model GA620 and Model GA620T Gigabit Ethernet Cards can move packet
headers and data to and from various memory locations, offloading CPU-consuming
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, or Novell NetWare environment.
®
™ Model GA620 or
Windows NT ,
® ®

introduction

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