QLogic FCoE Adapters Certified On Red Hat Enterprise Linux

QLogic Corp. announced certification of its 8000 Series 10GbE Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) converged network adapters (CNAs) on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.7, which now offers enhancements for virtualization, encryption, security, performance tuning and debugging. After going through extensive certification testing, QLogic 8000 Series FCoE adapters are fully compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.7 which simplifies the process of deploying converged networks. Now customers can deploy QLogic 8000 Series FCoE converged network adapters that are fine-tuned and ready to run on their Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.7 platforms.

FCoE is the standard for transporting Fibre Channel frames over Ethernet. With this technology the dream of a unified fabric for the data center is on the road to becoming a reality. No longer will servers require different or even separate interfaces for networking and storage. IT professionals can increase functionality while reducing cost and complexity by using a single set of cables and switches. QLogic 8000 Series CNAs enable consolidation of data and storage networking into a single adapter which reduces total-cost-of-ownership while providing superior performance at 10Gb Ethernet speeds and full FCoE offload.

"In collaboration with the Linux community, QLogic has developed innovative solutions to deliver the numerous benefits of converged storage and networking solutions to enterprise Linux customers today," said Amit Vashi, vice president of marketing, QLogic Host Solutions Group. "With QLogic now shipping 8000 series converged network adapters for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, customers can begin to implement FCoE while preserving existing Fibre Channel investments and delivering superior performance."

"We see significant market potential for FCoE as businesses begin to move to 10Gb Enhanced Ethernet networks, which should be synergistic with the continued growth of open source Linux deployments," said Dennis Martin, founder and president of computer industry analyst firm Demartek. "Based on the vendor testing that we’ve observed the QLogic hardware approach to running FCoE has several advantages compared to a software/NIC model. Unlike 10GbE NICs that use software initiators and rely on the server CPU to handle the entire FCoE stack, QLogic is shipping a full-offload, hardware adapter solution that can process 10GbE speeds, which can be highly advantageous in virtualized environments."

For more information about Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.7