Whitepaper: Whitepaper: The importance of multi-port network adapters in a virtual server environment

HP with Intel and VMware released a paper about its HP NC7170 and NC6170 dual-port server adapters:

This white paper discusses the IT benefits that enterprises can gain from VMware GSX Server and VMware ESX Server virtualization software when using HP multi-port network adapters with Intel technology.

High-speed Gigabit Ethernet NICs in a small form factor play an essential role in the virtual infrastructure model—server networking functionality is important for secure management of ESX Server, for enabling VMotion technology and for meeting the network throughput requirements of multiple virtual machines.

In particular, best practices for VMware ESX Server call for at least three dedicated network connections. Multi-port HP adapters are the optimum solution, providing extra ports to support the virtual infrastructure in one server slot and freeing input/output (I/O) slots in servers that require additional ports. HP multi-port NICs with Intel technology also allow IT administrators to configure redundant ports to improve throughput and reliability…

Download it here.