Broadcom introduced a 200G Ethernet controller with 50G PAM-4 and PCIe 4.0.
The new “Thor” device, which builds on Broadcom’s widely-deployed NetXtreme E-Series architecture, combines a high-bandwidth Ethernet controller with a unique set of highly optimized hardware acceleration engines to enhance network performance and improve server efficiency. Broadcom is offering Thor dual-port 100G PCIe NICs and single-port 100G OCP 2.0 Mezzanine cards. Sampling is underway.
Highlights
- 200G Ethernet includes 400GbE network connectivity for high availability features and flexible port configurations including 4x100GbE and 2x200GbE
- 50G PAM-4 SerDes dramatically lowering TCO by reducing cable costs by 50% and doubling port density
- PCIe 4.0 x16 support maximizing the full potential of servers compliant with the PCI Express 4.0 specification, providing seamless interoperability and doubling server throughput while saving PCIe lanes
- Third generation TruFlow technology pushing the envelope of flow processing by accelerating applications, such as Open vSwitch (OVS), and reducing the server CPU usage
- In-band Network Telemetry (INT) with Broadcom’s Broadview software suite providing end-to-end real-time monitoring capability, enabling data center operators to fine tune their networks for maximum performance
- Best performing multi-host solution specifically enhanced for the OCP 3.0 specification, to which Broadcom has been a lead contributor
- Industry’s most secure Ethernet controller solutions for servers leveraging Broadcom’s BroadSAFE® technology, providing unparalleled platform security via Silicon Root of Trust
- 200G controller with smart congestion control engine for RoCEv2, enabling scalable deep learning clusters up to hundreds of nodes using NVIDIA GPUDirect technology
“I am excited we are bringing Thor to market just as customers pivot to 100G and higher throughputs,” said Ed Redmond, senior vice president and general manager of the Compute and Connectivity Division at Broadcom. “Being first to deliver a fully-featured, fully-accelerated, high-performance 200Gb/s Ethernet controller that features market-leading accelerators such as TruFlow, Broadcom’s Thor is key to the industry’s adoption of 100G and unleashing the power of our customer’s cloud and enterprise data centers.”