Intel QCIXF1002ED: A Technical Overview of the 10GbE Network Daughter Card

The Intel QCIXF1002ED is a high-performance 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) Network Daughter Card (NDC) designed to deliver robust, reliable, and low-latency network connectivity for enterprise servers and data center environments. Engineered to meet the escalating demands of modern networking, this adapter provides a critical interface for high-speed data transmission, making it an ideal solution for bandwidth-intensive applications, virtualization, and storage area networks (SANs).

Based on the Intel Ethernet Controller X550, the QCIXF1002ED offers two 10GbE SFP+ ports, supporting a range of optical and direct-attach copper (DAC) cabling for flexible deployment. It connects to the host system via a PCI Express 3.0 x4 lane interface, ensuring sufficient bandwidth to handle full duplex 10GbE traffic on both ports simultaneously without bottlenecking. A key feature of this controller is its support for Intel Ethernet Flow Director, which enhances network performance by intelligently directing traffic to specific CPU cores, significantly reducing latency and improving packet processing efficiency.

This NDC is particularly optimized for virtualization workloads. It fully supports Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV), allowing a single physical port to be partitioned into multiple virtual interfaces. This capability dramatically reduces I/O overhead and improves data throughput in virtualized server environments, making it a cornerstone for cloud infrastructure and virtual machines (VMs). Furthermore, it includes advanced offload technologies such as TCP/UDP/IP checksum offload and Receive Side Scaling (RSS), which distribute network processing across multiple processor cores to maximize system performance and minimize CPU utilization.

For network management and security, the Intel QCIXF1002ED provides comprehensive features including IEEE 802.1Qaz (Data Center Bridging - DCB) for converged fabric networks and IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) for highly accurate clock synchronization, which is crucial for financial trading and telecommunications applications. It also supports Jumbo Frames (up to 9.5KB), reducing CPU cycles and improving overall efficiency for large data transfers.

Designed for reliability and scalability, this daughter card is a testament to Intel's commitment to providing foundational networking technology for the next generation of data centers.

ICGOOODFIND: The Intel QCIXF1002ED 10GbE NDC is a powerful and versatile solution, integrating advanced offloading, robust virtualization support, and high-speed connectivity to drive efficiency in demanding enterprise and cloud server platforms.

Keywords: 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Intel Ethernet Controller X550, SR-IOV, Data Center Bridging, Network Daughter Card.