Emulex Supports Windows Server 2012 R2

Emulex Corporation announced that its I/O connectivity solutions, including its LightPulse Gen 5 FC (16Gb FC) HBAs and 10GbE-based solutions provided by Emulex, support the release of Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2.

In addition, forthcoming Emulex Virtual Network eXceleration (VNeX) virtual network offload technology will support Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Network Virtualisation, enabling flexible workload mobility inside the data centre and public or hybrid cloud, reducing network reconfiguration from days to minutes.

“With broad I/O connectivity support for Windows Server 2012 R2 users, combined with our next generation network virtualisation capabilities, we provide a high performance, highly scalable solution for customers that enables the highest IO/s, low latency and improved network throughput,” said Shaun Walsh, SVP marketing and corporate development, Emulex. “In collaboration with Microsoft and other ecosystem partners, we’re bringing forth a new generation of Software Defined Networking (SDN) solutions that reduce the limitations of legacy data centre networks, enable VM mobility and reduce complexity.”

Forthcoming VNeX technology simplifies network scaling by enabling IT managers to adapt or provision the network as VMs start up, shut down, or move, based on the VM’s specific workload requirement, thereby shifting available resources for other workloads on the logical network. VNeX virtual network offload technology further accelerates Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Network Virtualisation by offloading Network Virtualization using Generic Routing Encapsulation (NVGRE), allowing environments to more efficiently scale to meet the needs of customers while improving network throughput and reducing CPU overhead.

In addition, Emulex I/O technology and management
addresses following virtualised data centre needs:

• Gen 5 FC connectivity: LightPulse Gen 5 in-box driver support for Windows Server 2012 R2 increases the ability of virtualised platforms to scale cloud and VM density to reduce costs, delivering more than 1.2 million IO/s on a single port,[1] the highest level of FC adapter performance available, which is needed for the pervasive deployment of virtualisation and data centre and public cloud infrastructures. Emulex inbox 16Gb FC driver support, combined with LightPulse Virtual HBA technology allows cloud and virtual workloads to scale by dedicating logical resources to guest applications over a shared physical I/O and storage infrastructure.
• Support for virtualised and shared cloud environments: Emulex Gen 5 FC adapters feature industry performance with increased IO/s and twice the data throughput of 8Gb FC adapters [2] for virtualised data centres; greater VM density required for shared data centre and public cloud deployments; and the performance needed to match current and new Xeon E5-2600 v2 servers with optimised handling of large multi-core configurations.
• Time-saving I/O management: With a single driver model, the Emulex Gen 5 FC adapters can be controlled, configured and managed from a single console using OneCommand Manager, enabling increased enterprise scalability with time-saving features that provide more than twice the adapter management functionality and take half the time to install and manage compared to other I/O solutions. [2]
• Backward compatibility: For customers taking advantage of 8Gb FC or 10GbE connectivity within Windows Server 2012 R2, upgrading is simple, with backward compatibility, a common driver stack and management tools across multiple generations of I/O connectivity products.

“Windows Server 2012 R2 delivers ground-breaking innovations for evolving virtualised and shared global-scale cloud environments, offering a proven, enterprise virtualisation and cloud platform that can scale to continuously run customers’ largest workloads and support increased VM densities,” said Rajeev Nagar, group program manager, Windows, Microsoft. “Emulex adds high performance connectivity solutions for Windows Server 2012 R2 that further the transition to software-defined networking, with forthcoming VNeX virtual network offload technology, which enhances performance with improved network throughput and reduced CPU utilisation.”

[1] Demartek Emulex LPe16000B 16Gb FC HBA Evaluation, October 2012
[2] Based on Emulex Labs benchmark testing