Emulex supports Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

“With broad I/O connectivity support for Microsoft 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 I/O operations per second (IOPS), low latency and improved network throughput,” said Shaun Walsh, senior vice president of 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 virtual machine (VM) mobility and reduce complexity.”

Forthcoming Emulex 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. Emulex VNeX virtual network offload technology further accelerates Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V Network Virtualisation by offloading Network Virtualisation 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 the following virtualised data centre needs:
· Superior Gen 5 Fibre Channel Connectivity: Emulex LightPulse Gen 5 in-box driver support for Windows Server 2012 R2 increases the ability of virtualised platforms to scale cloud and virtual machine (VM) density to reduce costs, delivering more than 1.2 million I/O operations per second (IOPS) on a single port,[1] the highest level of Fibre Channel adapter performance available today, which is needed for the pervasive deployment of virtualisation and data centre and public cloud infrastructures. Emulex inbox 16GFC driver support, combined with Emulex LightPulse Virtual HBA technology allows cloud and virtual workloads to efficiently scale by dedicating logical resources to guest applications over a shared physical I/O and storage infrastructure.
· Support for Highly Virtualised and Shared Cloud Environments: Emulex Gen 5 FC adapters feature industry-leading performance with significantly increased IOPS and twice the data throughput of 8GFC adapters[2] for highly virtualised data centres; greater VM density required for shared data centre and public cloud deployments; and the performance needed to match current and new Intel Xeon E5-2600 v2 servers with optimised handling of very 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 Emulex 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 8GFC or 10GbE connectivity within Windows Server 2012 R2, upgrading is simple, with full 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-class virtualisation and cloud platform that can scale to continuously run customers’ largest workloads and support increased virtual machine (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.”