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Enhanced Ethernet for Data Center

Data center

IT productivity and agility depend on how your network is connected as well as the relationship between applications and services and how they communicate. In an effort to help optimize these relationships while empowering IT, Intel is driving Enhanced Ethernet for Data Center (EEDC), a new collection of standards-based end-to-end networking technologies that make Ethernet the unified fabric for multiple types of traffic in the data center.

The EEDC Advantage

Intel is working with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to help develop standards for EEDC. These standards will provide:

  • Enhanced performance for Ethernet LAN
  • Lossless fabric for storage traffic on converged networks
  • Deterministic latency for High-Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) traffic
  • Virtual links by traffic class, applying pause-per-class, and end-to-end congestion management and notification
  • Seamless integration with classical Ethernet networks

In addition, EEDC-enabled networks will provide the foundation for next-generation initiatives such as Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE).

Learn more about FCoE

Discover the benefits of Fibre Channel over Ethernet implementation for the Linux operating system

Standards info

Download the DCB Capability Exchange Protocol Specification (PDF 799KB)

Read standards information from the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee

Simplifying the Data Center

Enabling multiple traffic types to use Ethernet fabric will simplify the data center by reducing the amount of equipment in the infrastructure. By enabling storage traffic over Ethernet, IT can eliminate the need for some storage-specific switches and host bus adapters (HBAs) in the network, creating a simpler network while reducing equipment costs.

As server virtualization and consolidation and 10 Gigabit Ethernet become mainstream data center requirements, EEDC will provide the simple, robust, and cost-effective networking needed to use these technologies to their fullest potential.

Read the White Paper

Commitment to IT

Intel is developing standards and open-sourcing critical kernel components to help lead the way for EEDC. Intel products will support EEDC in future Ethernet LAN controllers. Look for updates on this Web page including documents, specifications, and product news regarding EEDC.