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Performance Highlights
Performance Highlights
The A9782A and A9784A adapters when installed in an rp8400 with Server Expansion
Unit (SEU) provide exceptional connectivity, reliability, and flexibility for networking and
mass storage.
When both ports on the adapter are concurrently transferring data, the adapter provides
excellent fiber channel performance and good Gigabit Ethernet performance. The reduced
Gigabit Ethernet performance is due to the inherent bandwidth limitations of the PCI-X or
PCI-66 buses through which the adapter is connected.
When only one port on the adapter is actively transferring data, the active port provides
excellent performance.
The adapters can be configured and used to best meet your business needs as described in
the "Suggested Use" section that follows.
Suggested Use
If you use both functions (ports) of an A9782A or A9784A, this obviously provides
maximum connectivity. The data in this paper shows that when both functions of the
A9782A/A9784A are in use, (as opposed to a single function), the limits of the PCI and
PCI-X technologies can be reached, reducing performance. In summary:
Where connectivity is a higher priority than performance, use the adapters with both
•
functions operating concurrently.
However:
Where performance and high availability are the highest priority, HP recommends that
•
you use 2 adapters in a hot-failover configuration. See the next section and Figure 8 for
more.
Achieving Best Performance and High Availability
To get the best performance as well as high availability using the A9782A/A9784A, HP
recommends the following:
As shown in Figure 8, you can use two multi-function adapters together to achieve both
•
the best performance and high availability. In the event of a system slot failure or other
fabric / network failure, the alternate data port can take over – maximizing system up
time!
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