iSCSI off-load

robnicholson · Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:19 am

What is iSCSI off-load (as supported by Broadcom NIC options in PowerEdge R515), is it supported by StarWind and does it need a compatible card at the other end to offer any performance benefits?

Thanks, Rob.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 9:09 am

robnicholson wrote:What is iSCSI off-load (as supported by Broadcom NIC options in PowerEdge R515), is it supported by StarWind and does it need a compatible card at the other end to offer any performance benefits?

Thanks, Rob.

Please follow this link to read more about iSCSI off-load:
http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/po ... oadcom.pdf
It is supported by StarWind and should be used in both link sides to offer performance benefits. Please note that almost all NICs parameters (like iSCSI offload or Jumbo frames or...) should be the same on all NICs (client connection and sync connection) in your system to take effect.

robnicholson · Thu Apr 21, 2011 9:39 am

Thanks for the prompt response. Will get a Broadcom with iSCSI off-load for the server (as it only adds on £40) and keep it as an option for the future.

Regards, Rob.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:49 pm

It was critical to have TCP and / or iSCSI offload at the times of 1 GHz CPUs and limited bandwidth memory buses. With modern multi-GHz and multi-core / socket mainboards and triple channel DDR3 impact of lack of TCP and / or iSCSI offloack is close to missing

So VCs invested into companies specializing particularly on iSCSI offload (no names here Google is your friend) kiss their cash bye-bye.

P.S. And it's pretty difficult to find 1 GbE PHY silicon w/o TCP offload BTW.

robnicholson wrote:Thanks for the prompt response. Will get a Broadcom with iSCSI off-load for the server (as it only adds on £40) and keep it as an option for the future.

Regards, Rob.