Feature Description

NPAR

The MZ522 supports NIC partitioning (NPAR), that is, multi-PF. Each physical 10GE port can be divided into four PFs (logical channels). Each NIC supports a total of 16 PFs.

The four PFs on a physical 10GE port are independent of each other, and share the 10 Gbit/s bandwidth of the 10GE port. The NPAR feature leverages the PCIe function defined in PCI-SIG specifications, independent of the operating system (OS) or Hypervisor.

PFC

The 10GE ports on the MZ522 support the PFC feature. This feature supports flow control and back pressure on a class-of-service (CoS) basis. If both the MZ522 and its connected peer device support PFC, the link between them supports PFC. The MZ522 can identify PFC frames sent by the peer device and adjusts the transmitting bandwidth. If the inbound traffic exceeds the threshold, the MZ522 sends PFC frames to instruct the peer device to control the traffic.

The MZ522 can negotiate with the peer device about PFC parameters over DCBX. Typically, CoS3 is used for FCoE traffic, which is assigned by the FCoE Forwarder (FCF).

ETS

The 10GE ports on the MZ522 support the ETS feature. This feature assigns port transmitting bandwidth based on priority groups (PGs). Each 10GE port supports a maximum of eight CoS queues and two PGs. The minimum bandwidth and maximum bandwidth are assigned to each PG. The minimum bandwidth means the committed bandwidth, which is also known as the committed information rate (CIR). The maximum bandwidth means the maximum shared bandwidth, which is also known as the peak information rate (PIR). If other PGs are underloaded, the local PG can borrow their bandwidths and its maximum bandwidth can reach the full port bandwidth (10 Gbit/s).

802.1Q VLAN

The MZ522 supports a maximum of 4094 VLANs. When NPAR is disabled, each physical 10GE port supports 4094 VLANs. When NPAR is enabled, each PF supports 4094 VLANs. The VLAN IDs are integers ranging from 1 to 4094.

The MZ522 does not tag or untag outbound packets, but transparently transmits them. VLAN IDs are specified by the OS or Hypervisor. The MZ522 also does not tag or untag inbound packets, but transparently transmits them to the upper layer (OS or Hypervisor).

VLAN Filter

The MZ522 supports the VLAN filter function. A VLAN table can be set on the physical port or PF to filter and select VLANs.

The physical port or PF checks the packet VLAN in the transmit (TX) direction. The packets matching the VLAN table can be sent out, whereas the unmatched or untagged packets are discarded. If the port VLAN ID (PVID) of the physical port or PF is set and the PVID is a VLAN table entry, the PVID is added to the untagged packets and the PVID-tagged packets are directly sent out without processing. Other tagged packets matching the VLAN table are sent out, whereas the unmatched packets are discarded.

The physical port or PF checks the packet VLAN in the receive (RX) direction. The packets matching the VLAN table are received and sent to the OS or hypervisor, whereas the unmatched or untagged packets are discarded. If the PVID of the physical port or PF is set and the received packets carry PVID tags, the PVIDs are stripped and the untagged packets are sent to the OS or hypervisor. Other tagged packets matching the VLAN table are sent to the OS or hypervisor, whereas those unmatched or untagged packets are discarded.

The VLAN filter function can be used only on Purley-based blades.

Family Firmware supports the VLAN filter function from version 7.14.15.

The PVID is optional and is used for untagged packets. The VLAN_ID configured on the OS must be different from the PVID.

A NIC supports a maximum of 512 VLANs, and each chip supports 256 VLANs. The VLAN tables between the ports (or PFs in NPAR mode) can overlap with each other.

The VLAN filter and the FCoE can be used at the same time. However, the FCoE VLAN must be added to the VLAN table, and do not set PVID. It is recommended that the FCoE be used in normal mode (traditional NIC mode).

QinQ

The MZ522 supports the QinQ function and can process the outer VLAN tags of packets on the physical port or PF.

The PVID must be set for the physical port or PF. The EtherType (TPID) of the PVID is 0x8100 and cannot be changed.

The physical port or PF adds the PVID as the outer VLAN tag of the packet and sends the tagged packet out in the TX direction. If the original packet is untagged, a single-tagged packet is sent. If the original packet is single-tagged, a double-tagged packet is sent. The original double-tagged packets are not supported. The inner VLAN tag of the packet can be the same as or different from the PVID.

The physical port or PF checks the outer VLAN tag (packet tag of a single-tagged packet) of the packet in the RX direction. The outer VLAN tags of packets matching the PVID are stripped and sent to the OS or hypervisor, whereas the unmatched or untagged packets are discarded. The physical port or PF does not identify or process the inner VLAN tag.

The QinQ function can be used only on Purley-based blades.

Family Firmware supports the QinQ function from version 7.14.15.

In QinQ+NPAR mode, the PVIDs of the PFs on the same port must be different.

QinQ cannot be used together with the FCoE.

SR-IOV

The MZ522 supports the SR-IOV feature, allowing a maximum of four physical functions (10GE physical ports) and 256 VFs. Each PF supports a maximum of 64 VFs.

The VFs derived from each PF can be assigned to virtual machines (VMs). In this way, the mapping between VFs and VMs is set up.

NPIV

The MZ522 supports the NPIV feature when it operates in FCoE mode. Virtual N_Port_IDs can be assigned to VMs. In this way, the mapping between virtual N_Port_IDs and VMs is set up.

PXE and SAN Boot

The MZ522 supports PXE and SAN Boot.

• PXE is used for remote boot over the Ethernet or IP network. It enables users to connect to the remote PXE server for loading an OS.
• SAN Boot is used for remote boot over the FC or FCoE SAN. It enables users to connect to the remote FC or FCoE disk array for loading an OS.

  SAN Boot and VLAN filter cannot be used at the same time.