The Cisco UCS™ CNA M73KR-Q QLogic Converged Network Adapter (CNA; Figure 1) is a QLogic-based Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) mezzanine card that provides connectivity for Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers in the Cisco Unified Computing System™ (Cisco UCS).
Designed specifically for the Cisco UCS blades, the adapter provides high-performance connectivity for SAN and LAN traffic. One Cisco UCS CNA M73KR-Q can do the work of a discrete Fibre Channel host bus adapter (HBA) and Ethernet network interface card (NIC). This convergence means fewer cables, fewer switches, less power consumption, reduced cooling, and unified LAN and SAN management.
The Cisco UCS CNA M73KR-Q provides both 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 8-Gbps Fibre Channel functions using drivers from QLogic:
• Risk mitigation through compatibility with current QLogic adapter-based SAN environments and drivers
• Full hardware offload for FCoE protocol processing, reducing system CPU utilization for I/O operations and leading to faster application performance and greater consolidation in virtualized systems
• Reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) through consolidation of LAN and SAN traffic over the same mezzanine card and fabric, reducing the overall number of NICs), HBAs, cables, and switches
• Integrated management with Cisco UCS Manager
Figure 2 shows the Cisco UCS CNA M73KR-Q architecture.
Allows customers to use existing QLogic HBA software and drivers for storage
Unified I/O
• Supports three simultaneous protocols: TCP/IP networking, FCoE, and Small Computer System Interface over IP (iSCSI)
• Helps reduce TCO by consolidating the overall number of NICs, HBAs, cables, and switches because LAN and SAN traffic run over the same mezzanine card and fabric
Network architecture
Provides redundant path to fabric interconnect using dual 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports to the fabric carrying both Fibre Channel and Ethernet traffic
Unified management
Through Cisco UCS Manager, supports automatic updates of Qlogic firmware and drivers.
Support for lossless Ethernet
• Uses Priority Flow Control (PFC) and IEEE 802.3x pause to enable FCoE as part of the Cisco unified fabric
• Increases storage networking performance by eliminating retry and resend operations in congested fabrics
Product Specifications
Table 2 summarizes the features and benefits of the Cisco UCS CNA M73KR-Q.
• Priority-Based Flow Control (IEEE 802.1Qbb), Enhanced Transmission Selection (IEEE 802.1Qaz), Congestion Notification (IEEE 802.1Qau), and Data Center Bridging Exchange (DCBX) Protocol (IEEE 802.1Qaz)
Components
QLogic 3G CNA ASIC (Cisco UCS certified)
Ports
2x 10 Gigabit Ethernet and mezzanine connectors
Connectivity
1000BASE-BX and Cisco UCS midplane
FCoE performance
Single port: 250,000 I/O operations per second (IOPS; estimate)
Dual port: 450,000 IOPS (estimate)
Network management
Cisco UCS Manager Release 1.3.1 or later
Physical dimensions
• Length: 5.3 in. (13.5 cm)
• Width: 3.5 in. (8.9 cm)
Power dissipation
14.36 watts (typical)
Inlet operating temperature range
50 to 90°F (10 to 35°C)
System Requirements
The Cisco UCS CNA M73KR-Q mezzanine card is designed for use only on Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers. Each half-width server, including the Cisco UCS B200 M3 Blade Servers supports one mezzanine adapter. The adapter is not designed or intended for other purposes.
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