Description
Product Details of the Broadcom N210TP Dual-Port Network Adapter
The Broadcom N210TP Dual-Port 10 Gigabytes Per Second (Gb/s) Network Adapter is a cutting-edge networking solution designed to meet the demands of high-speed data transmission in modern 2-ports computing environments. In this description, we will delve into the intricate details of this adapter, exploring its key features, performance specifications, and compatibility factors, all explained in simple English for easy understanding.
Key Features
The Broadcom N210TP Network Adapter boasts a range of features that contribute to its effectiveness in high-performance networking scenarios.
- Dual-Port Configuration: The adapter is equipped with two ports, allowing for simultaneous data transmission on both ports. This dual-port configuration enhances overall network capacity and provides flexibility in configuring the network.
- 10GBASE-T Ethernet: The use of 10GBASE-T Ethernet technology ensures a data transfer rate of 10 gigabytes per second (Gb/s). This high-speed connectivity is crucial for handling large volumes of data efficiently, making it ideal for data centers, enterprise networks, and other bandwidth-intensive applications.
- PCI-Express 3.0 x8 Interface: The adapter utilizes the PCI-Express 3.0 x8 interface, enabling seamless communication between the network adapter and the host system. This interface ensures optimal performance and low latency, crucial for real-time applications and high-speed data processing.
- Open Compute Project (OCP) 3.0 Compatibility: The Broadcom N210TP is compliant with the Open Compute Project (OCP) 3.0 standards. This ensures interoperability with OCP-compliant systems and promotes an open and scalable infrastructure for data center deployments.
- Small Form Factor (SFF) Card: The compact Small Form Factor (SFF) design of the card makes it space-efficient, allowing for easy integration into various system configurations. This is particularly beneficial in environments where space optimization is a priority.
Performance Specifications
Understanding the performance specifications of the Broadcom N210TP Network Adapter is crucial for evaluating its capabilities in real-world applications.
- Data Transfer Rate: The dual-port adapter achieves a maximum data transfer rate of 10 gigabytes per second (Gb/s) on each port, resulting in a combined throughput of 20 Gb/s. This high-speed connectivity ensures efficient handling of data-intensive workloads.
- Low Latency: The PCI-Express 3.0 x8 interface contributes to low latency, minimizing delays in data transmission. This is particularly essential for applications that demand real-time responsiveness, such as high-frequency trading or video streaming.
- Jumbo Frame Support: The adapter supports jumbo frames, allowing for the transmission of larger data packets. This feature is beneficial in scenarios where optimizing network efficiency and reducing overhead are critical.
- Advanced Network Offload Features: The Broadcom N210TP incorporates advanced network offload features, offloading certain processing tasks from the host CPU to enhance overall system efficiency. This includes capabilities such as TCP/IP checksum offload and segmentation offload.
Compatibility Factors
Ensuring compatibility with existing infrastructure and systems is a vital consideration when deploying networking hardware. Here’s a detailed look at the compatibility factors of the Broadcom N210TP Network Adapter.
- Operating System Compatibility: The adapter is designed to be compatible with a wide range of operating systems, including popular choices such as Windows Server, Linux, and VMware. This broad compatibility ensures seamless integration into diverse IT environments.
- Server and System Compatibility: The Broadcom N210TP is engineered to be compatible with a variety of servers and systems that support PCI-Express 3.0 x8 interface cards. This includes servers from major manufacturers such as Dell, HP, and Lenovo, enhancing its deployment versatility.
- Open Compute Project (OCP) Compatibility: As an OCP 3.0-compliant card, the N210TP is designed to work seamlessly with OCP-compatible systems. This adherence to industry standards promotes a vendor-agnostic approach and facilitates interoperability within OCP-based infrastructures.
- Driver Support: Broadcom provides robust driver support for the N210TP Network Adapter, ensuring that users can easily find the necessary drivers for their specific operating system. This simplifies the process and contributes to a smooth deployment experience.
Use Cases and Applications
Understanding where the Broadcom N210TP Network Adapter excels can help users determine if it’s the right fit for their specific networking needs.
- Data Centers: The high-speed and dual-port configuration make the N210TP well-suited for data center environments, where rapid data transmission and scalability are essential. It can handle the demands of virtualization, cloud computing, and storage area networks (SANs).
- Enterprise Networks: In enterprise settings, the adapter’s compatibility with leading server manufacturers and support for jumbo frames make it suitable for optimizing network performance in large-scale corporate networks.
- High-Performance Computing (HPC): The low-latency characteristics and advanced network offload features make the N210TP a suitable choice for High-Performance Computing (HPC) environments, where real-time data processing is critical.
- OCP-based Infrastructures: Organizations adopting the Open Compute Project standards can benefit from the N210TP’s OCP 3.0 compatibility, ensuring seamless integration into OCP-based infrastructures.
- Physical: The adapter, being a Small Form Factor (SFF) card, can be easily into compatible PCI-Express 3.0 x8 slots on the host system. The dual-port configuration simplifies cabling and allows for flexibility in network topology.
- Driver: Users can download the latest drivers from the Broadcom website. The process typically involves running an executable file, and the user-friendly wizard guides users through the process, making it accessible even for those with limited technical expertise.
- Configuration Settings: Once the driver is, users can access configuration settings through the operating system’s network settings or a dedicated interface provided by Broadcom. Here, users can customize settings based on their specific requirements, such as adjusting jumbo frame sizes or enabling specific offload features.
Main Information about the Broadcom N210TP Network Adapter
- Manufacturer: Broadcom
- Model Number or SKU# N210TP
- Product Type: Network Adapter
Features
- Compliant with 10GBASE-T IEEE 802.3an and 1000BASE-T IEEE 802.3ab standards.
- Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) on 10GBASE-T and 1000BASE-T.
- Auto Sense Mode for adaptive operation.
- Detection and correction of pair swaps (MDI crossover), pair skew, and pair polarity.
- Auto-negotiation with Next Page support.
- IEEE Fast Retrain and Link Monitoring.
- Adheres to X8 PCI Express 3.0 standards.
- SR-IOV with support for up to 128 Virtual Functions (VFs).
- Function-level Reset (FLR) support.
- Employs a powerful flow processing engine for efficient data handling.
- Supports Virtual Network Termination for XVXLAN, NVGRE, Geneve, and GRE encapsulation/decapsulation.
- VSwitch acceleration for enhanced virtual switch performance.
- Tunnel-aware stateless offloads.
- DCB support including PFC, ETS, QCN, and DCBX.
- RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE).
- Network Controller Sideband Interface (NC-SI).
- SMBus 2.0 and MCTP over SMBus.
- PCIe-based UART and KCS.
- Jumbo frames support up to 9 KB.
- Advanced congestion avoidance mechanisms.
- Multiqueue, Netqueue, and VMQ support.
- IPv4 and IPv6 offloads.
- TCP, UDP, and IP checksum offloads.
- Large Send Offload (LSO), Large Receive Offload (LRO), TCP Segmentation Offload (TSO).
- Receive-side scaling (RSS) and Transmit-side scaling (TSS).
- VLAN insertion/removal.
- Interrupt coalescing for improved efficiency.
- Network boot options – PXE, UEFI.
- iSCSI boot support.
- Wake-on-LAN (WOL).
- MSI and MSI-X support.
- Conforms to the OCP 3.0 Design Specification Version 1.00.
Outline, The Broadcom N210TP Dual-Port 10Gb/s Network Adapter emerges as a powerful and versatile solution for organizations seeking to enhance their network infrastructure. With a focus on high-speed data transfer, seamless integration, industry standards compliance, and a space-efficient design, the N210TP addresses the evolving needs of modern data centers, enterprises, and edge computing environments. As technology continues to advance, the Broadcom N210TP remains at the forefront, providing a reliable and future-ready networking solution.
