Not only does using NICs with TOEs provide immediate benefits in server performance, in the long run the server resource savings may reduce the number of servers required to provide adequate QoS (Quality of Service).
Server administrators often choose between scaling up in CPU resources or scaling out in the number of CPUs to satisfy computing demands. With TOEs, you can off-load TCP/IP processing and reserve more CPU power for application processing. The use of TOEs may also lead to a flattening of the network and convergence.
Traditional data centers use various network layers of routing and switching to optimize and accelerate server performance. For example, one layer may aggregate slower networks into gigabit pipes. Another layer may accelerate performance by leveraging dedicated server-side cache appliances and load-balancing technology. TCP/IP off-load technology lets servers fully use gigabit pipes without an aggregation layer. They may also reduce the need to accelerate server performance. In addition, TOEs support the proposed iSCSI standard and iSCSI uses more CPU resources than TCP/IP processing because of the additional packing and unpacking of block SCSI frames.
When 10 Gigabit Ethernet is standardized later this year, block-level data can be transported over TCP/IP faster than Fiber Channel's 2-Mbps speed. This will give enterprises an alternative to running a separate storage network and converge application and storage solutions over TCP/IP.
Sean Doherty is a technology editor and lawyer based at our Syracuse University Real-World Labs®. A former project manager and IT engineer at Syracuse University, he helped develop centrally supported applications and storage systems. Send your comments on this article to him at [email protected].
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