SAN Devices

The Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapter 5 Generation 2 (VFA5.2) Network Adapter Family for System x builds on the foundation of the previous generation of Emulex VFA5 adapters by delivering performance enhancements, including RoCE v2 support and management enhancements with improved support for Lenovo XClarity.

This product guide provides essential presales information to understand the VFA 5.2 adapters and their key features, specifications, and compatibility. This guide is intended for technical specialists, sales specialists, sales engineers, IT architects, and other IT professionals who want to learn more about VFA 5.2 adapters and consider their use in IT solutions.

The Emulex Virtual Fabric Adapter 5 Generation 2 (VFA5.2) Network Adapter Family for System x builds on the foundation of the previous generation of Emulex VFA5 adapters by delivering performance enhancements, including RoCE v2 support and management enhancements with improved support for Lenovo XClarity. These new features help reduce complexity, reduce cost, and improve performance with Lenovo servers.

The CN4054S and CN4052S are based on the new Emulex XE100-P2 "Skyhawk P2" ASIC which enables better performance, especially with the new RDMA over Converged Ethernet v2 (RoCE v2) support. In addition, these adapters are supported by Lenovo XClarity Administrator, which allows you to deploy adapter settings easier and incorporate the adapters in configuration patterns.

The CN4052S adapter now supports 8 vNICs per port using UFP or vNIC2 and with adapter firmware 10.6. This means a total of 16 vNICs are supported. The CN4054S still supports 4 vNICs per port.

QLE2562 Host Bus Adapter. The QLE2562 is a PCI Express, dual port, Fibre Channel (FC) Host Bus Adapter (HBA). The QLE2562 is part of the QLE2500 HBA product family that offers next generation 8Gb FC technology, meeting the business requirements of the enterprise data center.

Virtualization Optimized. The QLE2562 delivers enhanced security, Quality of Service (QoS), and enables dynamic provisioning. The QLE2562 allows multiple logical (virtual) connections to share the same physical port. Each logical connection has its own resources and the ability to be managed independently.

Power Optimized. The QLE2562 takes advantage of QLogic StarPower technology, ensuring power efficiency. QLogic StarPower technology offers dynamic and adaptive power management features such as power and bandwidth optimized intelligent PCI Express link training, low-power switching power supplies, and thermally efficient layout requiring lower airflows.

RAS Optimized. The QLE2562 provides the highest data integrity by ensuring Overlapping Protection Domains (OPD) on both the control and data paths. The QLE2562 also utilizes Enhanced Hardware Assist Firmware Tracing (EHAFT), allowing more comprehensive debugging with standard drivers.

Security Optimized. The QLE2562 enables SAN-level authentication (FC-SP), fabric-level isolation (NPIV), and is capable of end-to-end data integrity (T10).

Management Optimized. The QLE2562 is backward compatible with 4Gb and 2Gb speeds. A single common driver per operating system for three generations of FC HBAs (8Gb, 4Gb, and 2Gb) simplifies deployment. QLogic's unified driver model (firmware embedded in the driver) eliminates potential interoperability issues between firmware and driver versions. The QLE2562's API compatibility with 4Gb products accelerates deployment while ensuring application compatibility.

Investment Protection. For over 15 years, QLogic has been a technological leader with products that address the current needs of customers, yet provide strong investment protection to support emerging technologies and standards. QLogic stands alone in the industry with its product portfolio depth and experience in successfully delivering technological solutions that address the needs of today and tomorrow.