S26361-F5250-E201 — Technical Data Sheet

A Converged Network Adapter (CNA) is a Network Adapter that supports both the Ethernet and Fibre Channel standards. It provides 10 Gbps connectivity to Ethernet networks and also connects to Fibre Channel storage area networks (SANs) using Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and Data Center Bridging (DCB). The adapter consolidates Ethernet data and FCoE storage traffic, reducing the number of cables and adapters needed for a server.

The CNA provides 2 independent physical functions per port which can both be used at the same time for FC and Ethernet. Each port of the device provides separate NIC and HBA functions to the operating system or hypervisor. FC and network traffic are transmitted simultaneously over a common cable to a DCB-enabled FCoE switch which segregates Ethernet and Fibre Channel I/O to the appropriate network.