Functional Description - Dell Broadcom NetXtreme Family of Adapters User Manual

Functionality and Features: Broadcom NetXtreme II Network Adapter User Guide
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Functionality and Features: Broadcom NetXtreme II Network
Adapter User Guide

Functional Description

Features
Functional Description
The Broadcom NetXtreme II adapter is a new class of Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and 10 GbE converged network interface
controller (C-NIC) that can simultaneously perform accelerated data networking and storage networking on a standard
Ethernet network. The C-NIC offers acceleration for all popular protocols used in the data center, such as:
TCP Offload Engine (TOE) for accelerating TCP over 1 GbE and 10 GbE
Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) offload for accelerating network storage access featuring
centralized boot functionality (iSCSI boot)
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) offload and acceleration for fibre channel block storage
NOTE: Separate licences are required for all offloading technologies.
Enterprise networks that use multiple protocols and multiple network fabrics benefit from the C-NICs ability to combine data
communications, storage, and clustering over a single Ethernet fabric by boosting server CPU processing performance and
memory utilization while alleviating I/O bottlenecks.
The Broadcom NetXtreme II adapter includes a 10/100/1000-Mbps or 10-Gbps Ethernet MAC with both half-duplex and full-
duplex capability and a 10/100/1000-Mbps or 10-Gbps PHY. The transceiver is fully compatible with the IEEE 802.3 standard
for auto-negotiation of speed.
Using the Broadcom teaming software, you can split your network into virtual LANs (VLANs) as well as group multiple network
adapters together into teams to provide network load balancing and fault tolerance functionality. See
and Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet Teaming Services
of VLANs. See Configuring Teaming
systems.
Features
The following is a list of the Broadcom NetXtreme II adapter features. Some features may not be available on all adapters.
TCP Offload Engine (TOE)
Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) offload
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
NIC Partitioning
Data Center Bridging (DCB)
Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS; IEEE 802.1Qaz)
Priority-based Flow Control (PFC; IEEE 802.1Qbb)
Data Center Bridging Capability eXchange Protocol (DCBX; CEE version 1.01)
Single-chip solution
Integrated 10/100/1000BASE-T transceivers
Integrated 10GBASE-T transceivers
10/100/1000 triple-speed MAC
SerDes interface for optical transceiver connection
PCI Express 1.0a x4 (Gigabit Ethernet)
PCI Express Gen2 x8 (10 Gigabit Ethernet)
file:///T|/htdocs/NETWORK/BroadCom/71921/NetXtremeII/en/features.htm[9/26/2012 3:28:28 PM]
for detailed information about teaming. See
for instructions on configuring teaming and creating VLANs on Windows operating
Configuring Teaming
Virtual LANs, for a description