Networking and Storage Adapter Recommendations | Windows Server Recommendations

Networking and Storage Adapter Recommendations

1. WHQL certified
2. 64-bit capability
3. Copper and fiber (glass) adapters
4. Dual- or quad-port adapters
5. Interrupt moderation
6. Receive Side Scaling (RSS) support
7. Offload capability and other advanced features such as message-signaled interrupt (MSI)-X
8. Dynamic interrupt and deferred procedure call (DPC) redirection

• WHQL certified:      Windows® Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) certification test suite.

• 264-bit capability : 64-bit-capable can perform direct memory access (DMA) operations to and from high physical memory locations

• Copper and fiber (glass) adapters : Copper adapters generally have the same performance as their fiber counterparts

• Dual- or quad-port adapters: Multiport adapters are useful for servers

    

 

• Interrupt moderation:Moderating interrupts can often result in reduced CPU load on the host

• Receive Side Scaling (RSS) support: RSS is a network technology that enables packet receive-processing to scale with the number of available computer processors

• Offload capability and other advanced features such as message-signaled interrupt (MSI)-X: Offload-capable adapters offer CPU savings

• Dynamic interrupt and deferred procedure call (DPC) redirection