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Emulex Ethernet Adapters Optimized for Telecom Providers Implementing Network Function Virtualization
[June 11, 2014]

Emulex Ethernet Adapters Optimized for Telecom Providers Implementing Network Function Virtualization


LAS VEGAS & COSTA MESA, Calif. --(Business Wire)--

HP DISCOVER - Emulex (News - Alert) Corporation (NYSE:ELX), a leader in network connectivity, monitoring and management, announced new packet processing enhancements and enhanced programmability for the Emulex OneConnect® OCe14000 family of 10Gb and 40Gb Ethernet (10/40GbE) Network and Converged Network Adapters (CNAs). The new features enable telecom equipment manufacturers (TEMs) and telecom operators to accelerate the deployment of Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) solutions. 6WIND and Emulex are developing the Emulex Poll Mode Driver (PMD) for increased packet processing and performance updates to the Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK), a set of data plane libraries and network interface controller drivers for fast packet processing on industry standard servers. These updates are based on the new Emulex open SURF application programming interface (API) which speeds performance and deployment of NFV workloads.

"Emulex NFV solutions provide TEMs and telecom operators with an optimized solution to reduce cost and scale operations by transitioning to open server platforms," said Shaun Walsh, senior vice president of marketing, Emulex. "The forthcoming Emulex PMD with DPDK support, coupled with Emulex SURF programmability for Emulex 10/40GbE adapters, will provide customers with unmatched programmability and flexibility for increased server ROI, reduced CPU overhead, and reductions in operational expenditures."

By basing designs on open x86 server designs rather than building specialty appliances, telecom operations can speed up development times, provide greater agility and deliver exceptional capital and operational expenditure (CAPEX/OPEX (News - Alert)) reductions. Industry enhancements to the underlying technology, including virtualized hardware, software-defined networking (SDN), and faster fabrics, such as 10/40GbE, makes NFV suitable for use with industry standard hardware.

Emulex OneConnect 10/40GbE adapters will provide the following capabilities for NFV:

  • Rapid packet processing with enterprise-class DPDK and PMD support: DPDK and Emulex PMD support delivers high performance packet processing, specifically, performance improvements in small packets, and a more CPU efficient architecture for larger packets.
  • Advanced programmability with Emulex SURF API: The Emulex SURF API provides direct access to the networking processing capabilities of Emulex 10/40GbE adapters. With enhanced Layer 3 functionality and better programmability, the Emulex SURF API enables telecom providers to set parameters for queues and traffic steering, in order to build high performance and more cost effective applications for evolving NFV workloads. By deploying Emulex 10/40GbE adapters with the Emulex SURF API, telecom operators can standardize on one platform for all of their Ethernet connectivity needs including NFV, internal IT operations, telecom Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Cloud Radio Access Networks (RANs), and Content Delivery Networks (CDN) for video convergence.
  • More NFV flexibility for virtual functions with advanced Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) support: SR-IOV optimizes I/O for virtual machines (VMs), enabling higher host server virtualization ratios to deliver maximum server ROI. SR-IOV is a more cost-effective solution than multiple, physical adapter ports, and eliminates redundant I/O processing in the hypervisor, enabling higher I/O performance and lower CPU utilization.
  • Ability to build SANs at scale with iSCSI offload and boot from iSCSI support: Telecom carriers and TEMs can leverage the benefits of high performance SANs at scale with Emulex iSCSI hardware offload capabilities. This enables NFV solutions to boot from iSCSI SANs, and support iSCSI offloads, while minimizing server CPU utilization. This frees up server CPU cycles for applications processing, and delivers higher ROI, and power efficiency through more effective server utilization. Hardware offloads for iSCSI enable more NFV workloads to support the complete NFV hardware lifecycle. Furthermore, leveraging iSCSI for storage connectivity enables NFV workloads to be dynamically distributed, making NFV solutions more elastic, and server failover more efficient, all at scale.

DPDK support and the Emulex PMD driver fo the OCe14000 series of 10/40GbE adapters will be available in early calendar year 2015.



Additional Supporting Quotes:

"NFV delivers cost efficiencies, time-to-market improvements and innovation to the telecommunication industry infrastructure and applications," said Claus Pedersen, Director of NFV, HP Servers, HP. "Through Emulex's planned support of DPDK for HP servers integrated with HP Virtual Connect Flex-10, HP extends our leadership in delivering high performance NFV solutions to network operators."


"Virtualizing hundreds of networking functions on a single server requires high performance network bandwidth to be distributed to the virtualized functions. Our 6WINDGate packet processing software, in tandem with Emulex 10G/40GbE adapters, will provide not only the performance necessary to enable NFV workloads, but also the flexibility and ROI that are essential to NFV and SDN solutions," said Eric Carmès, CEO and founder, 6WIND. "This partnership and the new Emulex PMD allows us to collectively provide best-in-class NFV solutions that meet the needs of telecom carriers and TEMs."

Tweet This: #Emulex partners with @6WIND to provide Ethernet adapters optimized for #Telcos Implementing #NFV: http://ow.ly/xRf8s #HPdiscover

Read our Emulex Labs blog on today's news here.

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About Emulex

Emulex, a leader in network connectivity, monitoring and management, provides hardware and software solutions for global networks that support enterprise, cloud, government and telecommunications. Emulex's products enable unrivaled end-to-end application visibility, optimization and acceleration. The Company's I/O connectivity offerings, including its line of ultra high-performance Ethernet and Fibre Channel-based connectivity products, have been designed into server and storage solutions from leading OEMs, including Cisco, Dell, EMC, Fujitsu (News - Alert), Hitachi, HP, Huawei, IBM, NetApp and Oracle, and can be found in the data centers of nearly all of the Fortune 1000. Emulex's monitoring and management solutions, including its portfolio of network visibility and recording products, provide organizations with complete network performance management at speeds up to 100Gb Ethernet. Emulex is headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe. For more information about Emulex (NYSE:ELX) please visit http://www.Emulex.com.

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