QLogic VMflex NIC Partitioning Technology Available to Channel Partners

QLogic Corporation announced
that its NIC partitioning (NPAR) switch-agnostic, I/O virtualization solution
is  available to channel partners on QLogic 3200 Series intelligent Ethernet
adapters and 8200 Series converged network adapters.

Standard with QLogic 3GCNA
adapters, QLogic VMflex NPAR technology is an available solution
for critical I/O virtualization requirements in the data center and serves as a
precursor to industry-standard I/O virtualization technologies such as Single
Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) across a wide variety of operating systems.

QLogic
VMflex delivers the benefits of I/O virtualization for any of today’s
industry-standard or proprietary OEM virtualized environments. As enterprises
transition to virtualized and cloud-based environments, QLogic adapters with
VMflex reduce virtualized OS software overhead on the
physical controller to avoid bottlenecks and provide VM portability that can be
used to follow cloud-based and virtual resources wherever they are provisioned.

"ESG research indicates that just over 30
percent of server virtualization users cited that they will soon have 25 or
more VMs per physical host, dramatically increasing I/O traffic," said
Bob Laliberte, senior analyst for ESG. "QLogic developed VMflex and NPAR I/O virtualization technology
specifically to handle these increased loads and enable enterprises to enhance
performance and network utilization, while simultaneously reducing complexity."

The demand
and complexity of I/O traffic has increased significantly in the virtualization
era. If not properly managed, I/O can negatively impact application performance
and limit the number of VMs deployed. I/O bottlenecks and
memory performance issues can be reduced by giving VMs direct access to
hardware I/O devices, eliminating the overhead of embedded software switches
and improving system performance while reducing system power consumption and
providing cost-savings. While the SR-IOV specification will enable
multiple guest operating systems to simultaneously access an I/O device without
having to rely on the software (hypervisor), SR-IOV requires support that is
not yet available from most OS vendors.

To address
the gap between present and future, QLogic built the NPAR feature into
VMflex. NPAR allows users to divide a single physical Ethernet port into four
partitions or virtual ports with the capability to run TCP/IP, FCoE or iSCSI on any of the virtual ports in a converged environment. As the
industry gears up to support SR-IOV, QLogic NPAR, available, provides
the same benefits to customers today, as well as a path to future
SR-IOV deployments.

"As enterprises transition to virtualized and
cloud-based environments, virtual I/O is a primary consideration in any
company’s IT strategy," said Amit Vashi, vice president of marketing,
Host Solutions Group, QLogic. "With
the ability to create multiple partitions-each supporting TCP/IP, FCoE or
iSCSI-and take advantage of flexible bandwidth provisioning on our 10GbE
converged network adapters, VMflex reduces adapter, cabling, switch port, and
management costs and gives customers more options in choosing Ethernet
switches. VMflex enables the application of QoS to virtual
ports, improving I/O performance while maintaining a low total
cost-of-ownership."

By providing
NPAR technology to channel partners on the QLogic 3200 Series of intelligent
Ethernet adapters and 8200 Series converged network adapters, QLogic now ships switch-agnostic NIC partitioning technology to
end-users on its company-branded and OEM-branded adapters.