Intel Unveils First Dual-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

Intel has unveiled what can only be another one in the long series of “world's first” releases, but the dual-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapter is definitely not a product easily overlooked. The Santa Clara chip maker has worked hard on implementing the highest level of energy efficiency in order to put together an adapter with two distinct 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports. The X520-T2 will give administrators the ability to use any of the two ports as a redundant connection in case the other should fail. This capability, however, is but a part of the product's functionality.

The X520-T2 10 Gigbit Ethernet adapter is an efficient solution that uses cost-effective RJ-45 connections that can operate over distances of up to 100 meters. While the high data transfers, scalability and flexibility of 10 Gigabit performance are noteworthy in themselves, the adapter also boasts performance-enhancing features for multi-core environments, such as the Intel I/O Acceleration Technology, which allows for the efficient distribution of Ethernet workloads across the different CPU cores.

In addition, MSI-X will improve the application response by minimizing the overhead interrupts. CPU utilization can also be reduced through the use of stateless offloads, such as the TCP segmentation offload, header replications/splitting and Direct Cache Access (DCA).

Besides the adapter's capability of using a port as a redundant connection in case of failure, there is another special feature that can be taken advantage of. The X520-T2 can actually combine both ports into a single pipeline running at a 20GbE speed. Another “world's first” feature within the adapter is the Intel Single Root I/O Virtualisation platform, which provides better communication between physical network inputs and virtualised machines. This enables the latter to operate just as fast as physical I/O connections.

The X520-T2 is meant for use in servers. Its price has not yet been specified, but the product brief may be downloaded from here.