Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710-DA2 - Network adapter - PCIe 3.0 x8 low profile - 10 Gigabit SFP+ x 2

Product Information

No Implied License. Except for the express license in Section 2.1, Intel does not grant any express or implied licenses to you under any legal theory. Intel does not license You to make, have made, use, sell, or import any Intel technology or third-party products, or perform any patented process, even if referenced in the Materials. Any other licenses from Intel require additional consideration. Nothing in this Agreement requires Intel to grant any additional license. On the 10Gbps side, this is less of a concern than it is at 40GbE and dual 40GbE speeds, but the Fortville NIC does not have the same level of offloading that newer Columbiaville (Intel Ethernet 800 series) and other NICs have such as the Mellanox solutions. For example, RoCE V2 support Mellanox has been a major proponent of and we find in the Ethernet 800 series, but not these Fortville NICs. The 10GbE NICs here are low-enough speed where the impact on CPU performance does not necessarily require heavy offloads that we see in higher-end NICs. This is certainly more of a basic or foundational NIC. Final Words Especially as we move to the PCIe Gen4 server generation in 2021 we are going to see the OCP NIC 3.0 slot become ubiquitous. It can handle high-performance dual 100GbE networking or 10x what this card can achieve. Still, this is what Intel is selling as “basic connectivity” in this space. Some deployments will have servers with OCP NIC 3.0 slots and will not need 25GbE or faster speeds. Intel X710 NIC in Linux

The card we are looking at is the Intel X710DA2OCPV3. Server vendors re-brand this part. As an example, Dell says this is a W35V7 / Dell Part 540-BCOU. There is also an Intel X710DA4OCPV3 part which is the quad-port version of this card. We previously looked at a Intel X710-DA4 NIC if you want to see more about that solution in a traditional PCIe form factor. There is a notable difference. Technically this card is using the X710-BM2 controller (X710 2-port) while the DA4 version is using an XL710-BM1 essentially an XL710 40Gbps single port solution split into four 10GbE ports. Intel X710 DA2 OCP NIC 3.0 Cover Adapter-based isolation and switching for various virtual station instances enabling optimal CPU usage in virtualized environments We tested the X710 OCP NIC using two ports on a 1m breakout QSFP+ DAC to our 32-port Arista 40GbE data center switch. We then varied the port speed and connection type and tested transfer speeds from our network storage. Intel X710 OCP NIC 3.0 Performance

Introduction

Efficient networking Converging data and storage onto one fabric eliminates the need for multiple adapters, cables and switches

Next-generation VMDq: The X710 adapters support up to 256 VMDq VMs and offer enhanced Quality of Service (QoS) feature by providing weighted round-robin servicing for the Tx data. The adapters offload the data-sorting functionality from the hypervisor to the network silicon, which improves data throughput and CPU usage. License. Subject to the terms of this Agreement, Intel grants to You, for the Term, a limited, nonexclusive, nontransferable, revocable, worldwide, fully paid-up license under Intel’s intellectual property rights in the Materials, without the right to sublicense, to use the Materials in the development of Your Products, including modifying Materials delivered as source code, and distributing the Materials, including Your modifications, in object form, embedded in or for execution on Your Product and under terms and conditions consistent with Your rights and obligations under this Agreement. You may disclose the Materials to Your subcontractor for its work on Your Products under an agreement preventing the subcontractor from disclosing the Materials to others.From a performance perspective, the Intel X710-DA2 OCP NIC 3.0 performs just as we would expect. We have been using Intel’s X700 series NICs for over six years now (see Intel Fortville Lower Power Consumption and Heat as an example) so the driver support is very good. There was a Fortville re-spin to fix an early bug, but cards like this OCP NIC 3.0 form factor are all built many years after that occurred. It is something we do not worry about these days. In terms of power consumption, this is where the Fortville NIC series shines. It is specifically designed to be a low-power option. Here is the official spec table with different attach levels for the dual and quad-port OCP NICs from Intel. Intel X710 OCP NIC 3.0 Power Consumption Specs

Other brands of SFP+ optical modules will not work with the Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710 Series.

Intel® Data Direct I/O Technology

Effect of Termination. Upon termination of the Agreement, the licenses to You will immediately terminate and You must cease using the Materials and destroy all copies in your possession and direct Your subcontractors to do the same. Termination of this Agreement will not terminate the CNDA. NO WARRANTY. The Materials are provided “as is,” without any express or implied warranty of any kind including warranties of merchantability, non-infringement, title, or fitness for a particular purpose. The Materials may include pre-release software or algorithms and may not be fully functional. Intel is not required to maintain, update, or support the Materials. We are showing Linux here, but this NIC is supported in every major OS. Intel X710-DA2 OCP NIC 3.0 Dual 10GbE NIC Performance and Power Kindly share more details regarding the issue X710-DA2 does not initialize. Is it being detected from your BIOS and OS or the card does not work at all?