Broadcom introduced its next generation Gigabit Ethernet controller featuring an integrated transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) offload engine, iSCSI host bus adapter functionality, remote direct memory access (RDMA) technology, and remote system management. This integration allows a single server NIC to simultaneously perform storage networking, high-performance clustering, accelerated data networking and remote system management pass- through functions.
The TCP/IP offload engine (TOE) shifts the Ethernet protocol processing overhead from the host CPU to the network controller, freeing up the CPU and memory resources, thus allowing increased network throughput. The iSCSI functionality enables low-cost networked storage capabilities over an existing Gigabit Ethernet infrastructure (i.e. network cabling, switches, and routers). RDMA technology enables high performance server clustering and eliminates the burden of excessive memory copies when communicating between servers. The embedded in-band management pass-through technology allows for remote control of a server over a single network connection.
Broadcom said its new NetXtreme II Gigabit Ethernet Controllers represent a fundamental shift in networking because server vendors can now converge LAN, storage, clustering and remote server management onto a single Ethernet fabric. http://www.broadcom.com
