Network Interface Cards

Increasing growth in 5G RAN and edge deployments is driving demand for high-precision timing synchronization across the network. Meet these challenging requirements head-on with a standards-based PCIe adapter that provides greater flexibility at a lower price point than single-purpose timing appliances.

Most 5G RAN deployments use 1588 PTP, SyncE, or both to ensure required timing synchronization. Both of these synchronization methods are supported by the E810-XXVDA4T, while additional hardware enhancements ensure reliability and accuracy, and provide greater flexibility and simplicity for timing synchronization deployments.

Support for synchronization

Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) delivers frequency synchronization over Ethernet between SyncE-enabled devices. Extends traditional telecom timing architecture to commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Ethernet solutions.

IEEE 1588 PTP enables synchronization of systems on a network through the transfer of timing data (including frequency, phase, and time of day) with hardware timestamping in PTP packets.

Onboard high-precision oscillator maintains high accuracy during holdover (when the synchronization source is not available), providing up to four hours with less than +/- 1.5 microsecond of phase error.

Hardware features for deployment flexibility

Optional GNSS mezzanine enables integrated support for frequency, phase, and time-of-day synchronization with Global Navigation Satellite Systems, including GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, and QZSS. Available on E810XXVDA4TGG1 only. Subminiature version B (SMB) coaxial connector allows connection to an external active GNSS antenna.

Dual external SubMiniature version A (SMA) coaxial connectors allow connection to external 1PPS timing sources, such as GNSS signaling, devices and to timing recipients, enabling the network adapter to act as a grandmaster and as a timing source for other equipment. The output capability provides a way to audit the phase accuracy of each node.

U.FL connectors, embedded coaxial connectors, allow 1PPS signal connectivity between the adapter and motherboard or another adapter. Dedicated send and receive U.FL ports are embedded on the adapter. E810-XXVDA4T Product Brief Intel® Ethernet 800 Series Network Adapters

Flexible Configurations

Intel® Ethernet Optics, and specification-compliant Active Optical Cables and Direct Attach Cables, can support multiple configurations.

The Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710 addresses the demanding needs of an agile data center by providing unmatched features for both server and network virtualization, flexibility for LAN and SAN networks, and proven, reliable performance.

The Intel® Ethernet 700 Series Network Adapters. These adapters are the foundation for server connectivity, providing broad interoperability, critical performance optimizations, and increased agility for Communications, Cloud, and Enterprise IT network solutions.

• Interoperability - Multiple speeds and media types for broad compatibility backed by extensive testing and validation.
• Optimization - Intelligent offloads and accelerators to unlock network performance in servers with Intel® Xeon® processors.
• Agility - Both Kernel and Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) drivers for scalable packet processing.

Intel® Ethernet 700 Series delivers networking performance across a wide range of network port speeds through intelligent offloads, sophisticated packet processing, and quality open source drivers.

All Intel® Ethernet 700 Series Network Adapters include these feature-rich technologies:

Flexible and Scalable I/O for Virtualized Infrastructures

Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT), delivers outstanding I/O performance in virtualized server environments.

I/O bottlenecks are reduced through intelligent offloads, enabling near-native performance and VM scalability. These offloads include Virtual Machine Device Queues (VMDq) and Flexible Port Partitioning using SR-IOV with a common Virtual Function driver for networking traffic per Virtual Machine (VM). Host-based features supported include:

VMDQ for Emulated Path: VMDQ, enables a hypervisor to represent a single network port as multiple network ports that can be assigned to the individual VMs. Traffic handling is offloaded to the network controller, delivering the benefits of port partitioning with little to no administrative overhead by the IT staff.

SR-IOV for Direct Assignment: Adapter-based isolation and switching for various virtual station instances enables optimal CPU usage in virtualized environments.

• Up to 128 virtual functions (VFs), each VF can support a unique and separate data path for I/O related functions within the PCI Express hierarchy.
• Use of SR-IOV with a networking device, for example, allows the bandwidth of a single port (function) to be partitioned into smaller slices that can be allocated to specific VMs or guests, via a standard interface.

Intel® Ethernet Adaptive Virtual Function (Intel® Ethernet AVF): Customers deploying mass-scale VMs or containers for their network infrastructure now have a common VF driver. This driver eases SR-IOV hardware upgrades or changes, preserves base-mode functionality in hardware and software, and supports an advanced set of features in the Intel® Ethernet 700 Series.

Enhanced Network Virtualization Overlays (NVO)

Network virtualization has changed the way networking is done in the data center, delivering accelerations across a wide range of tunneling methods.

The Intel® Ethernet Server Adapter I210 builds on Intel's history of excellence in Ethernet Products. This adapter represents the next step in the Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) networking evolution for the enterprise and data centers offering Audio-Video-Bridging (AVB) support, along with power management technologies such as Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) and DMA Coalescing (DMAC).

Audio-Video Bridging (AVB)

The Intel® Ethernet Server Adapter I210 supports IEEE 802.1Qav Audio-Video Bridging (AVB) for customers requiring tightly controlled media stream synchronization, buffering, and reservation. The 802.1Qav is part of the AVB specification that provides a way to guarantee bounded latency and latency variation for time sensitive traffic and includes:

• Timing and synchronization for time-specific applications (802.1AS) Stream Reservation (SR) protocol to guarantee the resources needed for Audio/Video (AV) streams (802.1Qat)
• Forwarding and queueing enhancements for time sensitive streams (802.1Qav).

Performance Optimization

The I210 contains four transmit and four receive queues. These queues offer Error Correcting Memory (ECC) protection for improved data reliability. The adapter efficiently manages packets with minimum latency by combining parallel and pipelined logic architectures optimized for these independent transmit and receive queues. These queues, combined with Receive Side Scaling (RSS) and Message Signal Interrupt Extension (MSI-X) support, optimize the performance on servers with multi-core processors.

Power Management Technologies

Intel has introduced new, Advanced Power Management Technologies (PMTs) that enable enterprises to configure power options on the adapter and more effectively manage power consumption.

Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE)

Supports the IEEE802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) standard. During periods of low network activity, EEE reduces the power consumption of an Ethernet connection by negotiating with a compliant EEE switch port to transition to a low power idle (LPI) state.

The controller power is reduced by approximately 50 percent of its normal operating power, saving power on the network port and the switch port. When increased network traffic is detected, the controller and the switch quickly come back to full power to handle the increased network traffic. EEE is supported for both 1000BASE-T and 100BASE-TX.

DMA Coalescing

Another power management technology that can reduce power on the server platform is DMA Coalescing (DMAC). Typically, when a packet arrives at the adapter, a DMA request is initiated in order to place the packet into host (or server) memory. This transaction wakes up the processor, memory, and other system components from a lower power state in order to perform the tasks required to handle the incoming packet.

The Intel® Ethernet Server Adapter I210 builds on Intel's history of excellence in Ethernet Products. This adapter represents the next step in the Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) networking evolution for the enterprise and data centers offering Audio-Video-Bridging (AVB) support, along with power management technologies such as Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) and DMA Coalescing (DMAC).

Audio-Video Bridging (AVB)

The Intel® Ethernet Server Adapter I210 supports IEEE 802.1Qav Audio-Video Bridging (AVB) for customers requiring tightly controlled media stream synchronization, buffering, and reservation. The 802.1Qav is part of the AVB specification that provides a way to guarantee bounded latency and latency variation for time sensitive traffic and includes:

• Timing and synchronization for time-specific applications (802.1AS) Stream Reservation (SR) protocol to guarantee the resources needed for Audio/Video (AV) streams (802.1Qat)
• Forwarding and queueing enhancements for time sensitive streams (802.1Qav).

Performance Optimization

The I210 contains four transmit and four receive queues. These queues offer Error Correcting Memory (ECC) protection for improved data reliability. The adapter efficiently manages packets with minimum latency by combining parallel and pipelined logic architectures optimized for these independent transmit and receive queues. These queues, combined with Receive Side Scaling (RSS) and Message Signal Interrupt Extension (MSI-X) support, optimize the performance on servers with multi-core processors.

Power Management Technologies

Intel has introduced new, Advanced Power Management Technologies (PMTs) that enable enterprises to configure power options on the adapter and more effectively manage power consumption.

Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE)

Supports the IEEE802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) standard. During periods of low network activity, EEE reduces the power consumption of an Ethernet connection by negotiating with a compliant EEE switch port to transition to a low power idle (LPI) state.

The controller power is reduced by approximately 50 percent of its normal operating power, saving power on the network port and the switch port. When increased network traffic is detected, the controller and the switch quickly come back to full power to handle the increased network traffic. EEE is supported for both 1000BASE-T and 100BASE-TX.

DMA Coalescing

Another power management technology that can reduce power on the server platform is DMA Coalescing (DMAC). Typically, when a packet arrives at the adapter, a DMA request is initiated in order to place the packet into host (or server) memory. This transaction wakes up the processor, memory, and other system components from a lower power state in order to perform the tasks required to handle the incoming packet.