Intel X520-T2 Product Brief

Product Brief
Intel® Ethernet Server Adapter X520-T2
Network Connectivity
Intel® Ethernet Server Adapter X520-T2
10 Gigabit BASE-T Ethernet Server Adapter Designed for
Multi-Core Processors and Optimized for Virtualization
10 Gb Performance at the Low Cost of Copper
This 10 Gigabit X520-T2 Ethernet Server Adapter showcases
Intel's third-generation standards-based 10GBASE-T adapter
in a low-profile PCI Express* form factor. This new dual port
adapter provides bandwidth-intensive applications highly
affordable 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) network performance
with cost-effective RJ-45 connections for distances up to 100
meters.
10GBASE-T is the most cost-effective deployment of 10GbE
for connectivity and will be the primary media of choice for
volume 10GbE deployments as datacenters continue to drive to
reduce costs through network convergence and virtualization
while still providing increased application performance and
availability.
Next-Generation 10 Gigabit Performance
The drive to 10 Gigabit Ethernet comes from information tech-
nologies including virtualization, advances in storage architec-
tures, network convergence, server clustering, new forms of
information delivery using the Internet, and the next wave of
digital and social media content.
At the heart of tomorrow's network infrastructure, 10 Gigabit
Ethernet is the core of any next generation data center. Data
centers are demanding flexible and scalable I/O solutions to meet
the rigorous requirements of running mission-critical applications
in virtualized and unified storage environments. With the latest
server platform from Intel, customers can now realize the full
potential of 10 Gigabit Ethernet networking and realize up to 2.5
times the bandwidth supported by earlier generation platforms.
Performance-Enhancing Features for Multi-
Core Environments
When implemented within multi-core processor environments,
the Intel® Ethernet Server Adapter X520-T2 offers advanced
networking features, Intel® I/O Acceleration Technology (Intel® I/
OAT), for efficient distribution of Ethernet workloads across CPU
cores. Load balancing of interrupts using MSI-X enables more
efficient response times and application performance. CPU uti-
lization can be lowered further through stateless offloads such
as TCP segmentation offload, header replications/splitting, and
Direct Cache Access (DCA).
Best Choice for Virtualization
The Intel X520-T2 server adapter includes Intel® Virtualization
Technology for Connectivity (Intel VT-c) to deliver outstand-
ing performance in virtualized server environments. Intel VT-c
includes hardware optimizations that help reduce I/O bottlenecks
and improve the overall server performance. These technolo-
gies are Virtual Machine Device Queues2 (VMDq) and Virtual
Machine Direct Connect (VMDc). VMDq improves data processing
by offloading the sorting and queuing functionality to the I/O
controller from the VMM. VMDc provides direct connectivity to the
VMs to deliver near-native performance and VM scalability. VMDc